The lunchbox-sized Launbot uses heat and air pressure to quickly dry your laundry indoors, and get rid of wrinkles on them too. It can dry everything from shirts and pants to dresses and underwear, and it 'irons' all types of shirts and pants.

Here's how it works: you plug the Launbot's power cord into a wall outlet, hang the device anywhere in your room, attach an included torso or pants airbag to the bottom, and then place your clothing over it. The Launbot will inflate the airbag under your garment and heat it from within, drying it out and straightening wrinkles simultaneously.

The dampness of freshly laundered clothes actually helps with the de-wrinkling, sort of like a steam iron. Zera Labs, the company behind this gadget, says a t-shirt should take about 30 minutes to dry and straighten out; the time will vary depending on the type of garment and its material. You can also simply dry clothes in the Launbot's drying bag by placing them inside it; it'll be able to hold about five to six items.

Inside the airbags, a pair of small turbines compress and circulate air from the outside at a stable speed, while a graphene-based heater increases the temperature, with a chip monitoring it to ensure it doesn't get too hot. There's also a UV light to tackle microorganisms inside the drying bag. The whole thing operates relatively quietly at about 45 dB, which is commonly described as about the same as ambient room noise in a typical home.

The Launbot measures 5.7 in (145 mm) by 2.3 in (170 mm), and weighs 21.2 oz (600 g), making it pretty compact and easy to pack for business trips. It'll handle clothing in sizes up to American/European XXL, and will come with your choice of power plug type, with support for 100-240-V outlets. Zera says the drying bags are made of a durable lightweight material that should last several years.

That all sounds promising, especially if you travel often and don't always have the luxury of time or square footage to get any ironing done. With its limited capacity, it certainly won't replace the dryer you've got at home, and you'll of course want to pay attention to the care labels for clothing made from finicky materials; cashmere, for example, is better off being air dried. So while it's novel, it'll make sense for people who have a hard time accessing laundry services on the road, as opposed to being a must-have for every type of traveler. Oh, and you'll need to find something to hang it on to use it.

The Launbot is expected to retail at about US$139, but it's discounted to $109 at the time of writing on its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. That gets you the device, a drying bag, and a hanger. Although priced higher, you'll likely get more use out of the bundle, which additionally includes the pants airbag, torso airbag, and a case for the Launbot, at $119.