Here’s a question: If your tape measure and carpenter’s pencil were one in the same, would you lose or misplace either of them as often as you do now—or ever? Probably not if the tool cost $150.
Meet the 01—a measuring instrument that rolls over straight, curved, or contoured surfaces. It comes in pen, pencil, or stylus form, each with a wheel on top that you roll across a surface. With it, you can take, log, and share dimensions via a smartphone. In its current form, the 01 doesn’t look like it belongs on the jobsite. However, the makers, InstruMMents, say that they are currently working on a version specifically aimed at the construction trades. It’s hard for me to imagine how you’d measure, say, the height of a piece of casing and then transfer that measurement to the piece you need to cut. And it’s hard to imagine why you’d want to.
It may seem a little gimmicky—but come on, you have to admit it’s a pretty cool innovation. Obviously there are limited uses for it in construction—but for smaller work, like built-ins, furniture, or finish carpentry, it might become as common a tool as a laser measure. An obvious cool feature is that you can use it on drawings to scale off of—so in that sense it could very well replace an architect’s ruler.
Features:
- You can choose between metric and imperial (the tool is accurate to a tenth of a millimeter).
- Functions as a laser pointer
- Scale: dimension drawings to any scale
- Capture width, height, and depth automatically
- Set up grids or gauge rough dimensions
Check out the video below to see the 01 in action, and to hear more about its features. Don’t be distracted by the crowdsourcing investment request at the end—they’ve far exceeded their goal. I am sharing this video merely for its content before the request.
