Hands-on with the 01: the ‘dimensioning instrument’ that can measure any object

A pen-like device linked to a smartphone app, this gadget claims to be more accurate than a ruler - but will it go the distance?

Billed as "the world's first dimensioning tool", the InstruMMent 01 looks like a pen, writes like a pen and doubles up as a handheld measuring device. Late last year, its creators raised $464,000 (374,000) on crowdfunding site IndieGoGo, and last week InstruMMent 01 went on sale at Selfridges in London, advertised on the shop's website as "the future of design". It has been described by tech magazine Wired as a gadget "on a mission to finally kill the tape measure", much to the annoyance of the man behind it.

"We hear this over and over," says Mladen Barbaric, CEO of Instrumments, at the product launch. "But we've never said that we're trying to replace the measuring tape." The firm's repeated reference to "dimensioning" emphasises the distinction from mere measuring - but is it even a real word? "It is. You can look it up," says Barbaric. "The real scientific definition is 'quantifying in space'."