A new, soon-to-be-available device is promising to provide some much-needed assistance to residents across the New Jersey area. For individuals with dexterity difficulties–particularly senior citizens—one of the most simple and important household tasks can also prove one of the most frustrating: locking or unlocking doors. Even younger people will be able to empathize with the irritating fumbling that often comes along, especially at night.
Bright Wave Ergonomics Corp., the brainchild of New Jersey-based entrepreneur Armond Floyd, will launch its debut product, the Light Wave Key Grip later on this year. With a sleek, minimalist design, the Light Wave Key Grip is both stylish and practical for everyday use. Floyd especially envisages that it will be of particular interest to those with dexterity issues, or the AARP crowd, as it will streamline a task which, while simple, can be frustrating or even painful.
The actual idea of the Light Wave Key Grip is remarkably simple, and therein lies its beauty. With a flashlight cleverly designed within a sleekish key grip, the design enhances the torque of your twisting hand when locking and unlocking doors. The light, of course, will make this even more useful at night. Floyd’s device will help end blind probing and jamming of your key while trying to find the keyhole. The key grip makes the locking and unlocking of doors far more comfortable for everyone.
It is not particularly difficult to imagine to whom this product appeals. In the United States, over 20 million people suffer from osteoarthritis, and over two million suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The Light Wave Key Grip’s ergonomic features can provide a serious benefit to this community. Indeed, that is who Floyd hopes will benefit the most.
In the Northeastern United States alone, around seven million adults (not to mention tens of thousands of children) have been diagnosed with arthritis. Floyd hopes that this specific region will be the first to benefit from his invention, although a nationwide rollout is certainly on the books for the future.
Floyd’s invention was not just a clever idea thought up on a rainy day; he has had firsthand experiences with the frustrations of fumbling with keys and locks. Prior to founding Bright Wave Ergonomics Corp., Floyd was heavily involved in the culinary industry. While working as a line cook at a New Jersey hotel, shifts would drag on long into the night, especially on weekends.
Stressful and repetitive, he would spend long hours on his feet before returning home, only to then search through the jagged ends of metal keys to find the right one, or insert the wrong key into the lock altogether. Floyd thought, and rightfully so, that there must be some product that can assist with this.
“Several years back, I thought of an idea for a key cover after coming home late after a shift, he explained. “Every time I arrived home to open either my front or back door, despair would set in. Aside from a single porch light, it would be pretty dark and then came the annoying task of taking my keys out and searching for the right one. In the process of this, I’d always find myself complaining about the general lack of leverage and how those jagged ends dig into your palms.
“Shortly after, I started visualizing ways to create a house key cover that is super ergonomic with a slightly squishy feel, and would fully conform to a user’s hand. This is when the lightbulb switched on in my head and I went to work drawing illustrations, paintings, poster boards and making mockups out of wood and clay.”
It was not long after this that Floyd founded Bright Wave Ergonomics Corp. and created the company’s first product, the Light Wave Key Grip, which skillfully blends design and innovation. As Floyd himself has said, it purposefully combines “lifestyle, design, fashion, and merit,” and the calming blue aesthetic is reminiscent of the ocean. In this respect, the beachgoing community will find it particularly appealing. Floyd hopes that the surfer crowd will appreciate it not only for its practical simplicity but also for its fashionable looks.
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Photo by Jaye Haych
Tom is a lifelong New Jersey resident, Rutgers and FDU alumni and the publisher of The Digest.
