Have you ever looked at your phone charger and thought “Surely, there must be more?” The folks at Saforian think so, and they are out to change the way you power up your mobile device. Boogli is a cute little monster that plays the role of charging dock and interactive pal.

Boogli founder Todd Rice has 20 years of experience in the digital space. Along with user interface designer Greg Bosque, he set out to explore the possibilities of melding digital design with hardware products like this one.

Beyond its charging capabilities, Boogli can function as a night light and alarm clock. The accompanying app can also function as a music player. If you dock your phone into the monster’s outstretched arms, its animated mouth will appear on your screen and lip sync along with your music.

“Creating something simple is never easy.  There were so many directions that we could go in (and will), but we had to narrow it down to what this system would really be,” the company wrote on the Boogli homepage.

Bluetooth functionality enables your monster to light up when it senses your phone in its presence, which can be helpful. For example, if you walk into a dark room with your phone in your pocket, it will light up.

Boogli can repeat what you say and react to movement. The alarm clock, sounds, and other functions are customizable.

A variety of monsters will be available, each with its own sounds and personalities. To give the monsters a voice, sound designer Steve Bissinger Googled a list of emotions, then had a vocal actor record them with improvised monster sounds. Different sounds for the alarm, powering up, and powering down were also recorded.

Partnered with a team that includes Frédérick Alves-Cunha, an artist who worked on Despicable Me, Saforian has created a functioning prototype. As preproduction kicks into gear, the company is preparing to launch a Kickstarter campaign.

Related Posts

Uber wants to drive you straight into ski season, literally

The vehicle options include Uber XL (fits two passengers with gear) and Uber XXL (fits four with equipment), and can be reserved up to 90 days in advance.

Grab This Professional Ionic Hair Dryer for Only $24.99

A good hair dryer should be fast, lightweight, and gentle enough not to fry your hair. The NEXPURE 1800W Professional Ionic Hair Dryer checks all those boxes. Right now, it is heavily discounted down to $24.99, a big drop from its usual $88.99 list price, which makes it one of the better value-focused hair tools you can pick up today.

ChatGPT finally fixes the em-dash habit, because punctuation matters

The update addresses a long-running complaint that ChatGPT’s heavy reliance on the em-dash made its output look "bot-written."