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Cubit Should Be in Every Designer’s IRL Toolbox

There’s nothing like living in an old house to emphasize the importance of measuring before starting on any project involving walls or floors. Even in modern-built spaces, dimensional accuracy can prove more of an ideal than a reality. Thus abiding by the axiom, “measure twice cut/drill once” is never a bad idea. Cubit is a laser guided, augmented reality measurement tool that seems like an even better idea, a handheld device outfitted to simplify spatial measurements and calculations with precision without the need to manage an unwieldy length of tape.

Photo: Gregory Han

Cubit precisely measures the dimensional data of nearly any room and even object using a pair of lasers in partnership with a rolling sensor. Data collected is tallied and presented graphically via Bluetooth to a connected app, then utilizing augmented reality to present measurements in real time and in real spaces using a mobile device camera. Cubit’s developer Plott likens the technology to GPS, permitting precise positioning of objects onto walls or floors. In the sample video below, Cubit is shown measuring a collection of frames/artwork to display onto the wall in a gallery grouping, with all accurately aligned across through the center:

Cubit’s wheel measuring system is rated for an accuracy of up to .02%, with the lasers accurate at the industry standard of within 1/8 inch for every 30 feet (with a maximum of 100 feet length), and right out of the box it can just be used in lieu of a traditional tape measure even without the app, its large numerical display showing changing length in real time.

The Cubit’s recognizable shape looks and feels like a traditional tape measure, and rolls smoothly across surfaces like a computer mouse. Our own complaint: the slippery and glossy ABS plastic housing.

For architects and interior designers who rely upon quick and accurate measurements, the imagined utility is obvious (landscape designers are served by Plott’s outdoor measurement tool, Carta, winner of a 2019 iF Design Award). But even for the layperson faced with a DIY wall art, mirror, shelving, or cabinetry positioning project, the confidence of seeing what an object may look like using an augmented reality view before committing to that first strike of the hammer could be the difference between home improvement or home repair.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.