New “Hop” suitcase follows its user

There’s a new suitcase on the market that follows its user, ensuring travellers never lose their luggage again.

The suitcase, dubbed Hop, contains three receivers that are able to receive, identify and triangulate different signals from within the user’s mobile phone.

A microcontroller interprets these signals, calculating the phone’s position in relation to the suitcase.

The same microcontroller operates a caterpillar system based on compressed air, which follows the user at a constant distance.

If the signal is lost, the user is alerted by the vibration of the phone and the suitcase locks itself.

The bags can be programmed to follow one another or can be controlled jointly by the baggage staff at airports or stations.

“With current technology that is present today in lawnmowers or automatic vacuum cleaners, a suitcase can embed the function of the bellhop,” Hop says on its website.

But why stop at suitcases? Surely the same idea could be applied to handbags, laptop bags, etc.?