Coolest Gadgets You Never Heard Of: Part II

Anti Sleep Pilot Keeps You Awake During Long Drives

After CES, I'll be driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, a four-to-five hour jaunt filled with long stretches of empty, endless desert. Considering I'll still be recovering from this week-with-no-sleep, I'm likely to be exhausted, which makes me a prime customer for the ASP – the Anti Sleep Pilot.

To make a long story short – I have four pages of notes on it – the tiny round thingie sticks to your (my) dashboard. After some pre-configuring, ASP's LED lights slowly turns red, warning you (me) to stop for 10 minutes before you (I) fall asleep at the wheel and you (I) slam into a cactus. You (I) have to go through some hoops to let the ASP know when you (I) might conk out.

To keep you awake, ASP entertains you with "alertness maintenance tasks," lighting up orange and making noises until you touch it.

For what it is – some molded plastic and a chip set powered by a single AAA – it'll be ridiculously pricey, around $200 when it debuts in the next few months. It seem far more appropriate as an iPhone app. Or, maybe I'll just set my iPhone's alarm to go off every 15-20 minutes or so during my drive.