Hanfree: Your next cool iPad accessory?

The Hanfree is a new iPad accessory under development that allows for hands-free usage of your tablet device.

This morning I was sent a link to an interesting video by the creators of the Hanfree, a new accessory for iPad that will allow hands-free manipulation of tablet devices in settings that otherwise would be made impractical or less desirable for a laptop computer or a handheld.

Hanfree is a project that was started at Kickstarter, a website that helps jumpstart creative projects in the early developmental or gestation stages. The project has asked for $15,000 in seed capital and has already exceeded that goal by over $5000. So the project has actually exited gestation and will be going into actual manufacturing shortly.

Essentially, the device looks like something straight out of IKEA where the iPad (or any other tablet device, theoretically) attaches via a swivel magnetic mount to a an ergonomically curved tubular metal post bolted to a wooden boomerang-shaped stand.

While simple in concept, I actually find the idea quite compelling because it would allow the iPad to be used in the kitchen while cooking (imagine watching your favorite cooking show on-demand and tasking between email and other applications) or in hospital settings where a bed-ridden patient might accidentally drop the unit.

There are other applications shown in the video which are more along the lines of "are you so lazy that you can't even hold the thing?" but I like the notion of being able to use the device perhaps in a college dorm room or even in say, an office cubicle, where your hands might be engaged in another activity, such as taking notes on a piece of paper or working on a desktop computer at the same time.

[And no, I haven't missed the other obvious "Hands-free" uses, but I'd prefer my colleague Violet Blue on her new blog, Pulp Tech, elaborate on that one.]

Early pledgers to the Hanfree project with a $50.00 commitment can pre-order the device at a discount. The initial intended retail price will be $79.95.

What do you think of the Hanfree? Talk Back and Let Me Know.