



Twine makes a great impression out of the box. Its brown cardboard packaging befits the product's humble Kickstarter origins, but it's emblazoned with an attractive design on the outside and thoughtful compartmentalization when opened. Each sensor has its own labeled section, making it easy to tell which spartan part is which, and Twine itself rests in a tray on top of the whole package with its battery section exposed. That's another nice consideration, since it's actually pretty hard to open the device up again — the main Twine unit is a white plastic box encased in a teal silicone sleeve that has an incredibly snug fit. Once your batteries are in and the sleeve is on, though, you're left with a simple palm-sized square about 2.8 inches on each side.

Twine's corrugated pattern recalls a ball of wool

A Micro USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack let you hook up external sensors with a male-to-male cable, and your sole hardware output comes via a blueish white LED that glows when Twine is responding to something. The most distinctive part of Twine's design is the corrugated pattern that breaks away at one end, recalling a ball of wool. It's not just for show, either; the wayward "string" leads to a hole in the top left corner, which goes through the whole box and makes it easier to attach or fit Twine to otherwise awkward places.

The standard Twine unit comes with three functioning sensors that detect orientation, temperature, and — enabled via a recent software update — vibration. The basic package knows which direction it's facing, can tell you the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit, and tracks whether and how intensely it's in motion. For anything more than that, though, you'll need to connect some external sensors, which you can order in various configurations from Supermechanical. The company also recently launched an accessory called the Cloud Shield, which attaches to an Arduino board and sends information straight to Twine.

My Twine shipped with three sensors: a moisture detector, a magnetic switch (plus an adhesive magnet), and a breakout board that dramatically expands your options for connectivity. With the board, you'll be able to connect photoresistors and other components that Supermechanical doesn't sell itself. All of these attach via an included 3.5mm male-to-male cable, and Twine detects them automatically. In appearance, though, the sensors are everything Twine isn't; the exposed circuitry jars a little with the sleek and friendly package offered by the main box. The moisture sensor in particular was a little alarming when I first started using it — is it really okay to put something like this outside in the rain, exposing its elements to the elements? The answer, so far at least, appears to be yes, but I have to admit to a degree of trepidation in my first days with Twine. Since then, however, Supermechanical has updated its website and blog with more useful information on how the sensors are supposed to work, which should give owners a bit more peace of mind.