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Technology

WATCH: Life-enhancing cubes, Facebook for pets, and more Web Summit start-ups

We spoke to start-ups at the international conference to see what they had on offer.

OVER THE PAST two days, Web Summit 2013 has played host to hundreds of start-up technology companies.

From a way to know when to call it at a night when out in the pub, to a way of helping those with Alzheimer’s disease rekindle old memories, there was a mobile app or computer program on offer that could do pretty much anything you wanted.

Here are five of these budding companies TheJournal.ie spoke to at the international conference, and we’ll have more for you tomorrow.

LumaFit

LumaFit, partly based in Dublin, have created a small device which attaches to your ear and helps you exercise more efficiently.

It tracks the progress of work-outs and monitors other elements of your exercise routine such as your heart or breathing rate. It can even help you meditate.

CEO Darren Hughes demonstrated the device using some squats:

YummyPets.com

As you sit gleefully strolling through Facebook, does your pet ever look up at you with sad, sad eyes, as if to say “Oh I wish I could be social networking like you”?

YummyPets.com might help. It’s a social network for pets with thousands of users, and founder Matthieu Glayrouse explains below how it has evolved and helped form real-life relationships between humans:

CubeSensors

This small cube is packed full of, as the name suggests, sensors, which monitor the environment around you.

If factors such as the temperature or air quality are sub-standard, the smartphone app that comes with the CubeSensor will tell you how you can fix it. One of those behind this from this Slovenia start-up, Alja Isakovic, explained how it works:

RemPad

This app is aimed at benefiting those with Alzheimer’s disease.

Aided by their carer, the patient can access old songs or video clips, which often triggers older memories that are still intact, using RemPad, something which can prove to be therapeutic. Julia O’Rouke explains:

Alcohoot

This plug-in device for your smartphone allows you to track your alcohol intake using a breathalyzer. Once a reading is taken over a set-limit, Alcohoot will prompt you to order a taxi or get some food.

Co-founder Jonathan Ofir shows how it works below:

All videos by Nicky Ryan/TheJournal.ie. We will be highlighting more start-up companies from the Summit tomorrow.

Read: AOL chief issues battle cry at Web Summit >

More: Elon Musk’s advice to Enda Kenny on fostering Ireland’s digital economy >

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