kickstarter
Latest
Kickstarter shuts down sketchy Adoptly campaign
About a week ago, a brain-dead campaign hit Kickstarter. Adoptly promised that adoption was "just a swipe away" through its Tinder-style app that let you find adoptable children. It was a terrible way to frame such a service, and something about the whole situation just didn't make sense, despite assurances from the company that it was legit. Apparently, Kickstarter also feels that something is amiss here: the Adoptly campaign was just suspended.
The US Army successfully flies its hoverbike prototype
The Army has proven that the hoverbike its contractors are developing actually works during a flight demo with the Department of Defense. Dr. William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office for the Secretary of Defense, watched the large rectangular prototype quadcopter take off at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland on January 10th. The hoverbike began as a Kickstarter project by creator Malloy Aeronautics. Once Malloy secured a contract with the military, it teamed up with defense company Survice Engineering Co. to continue the bike's development. It has since become a joint project between the Army and the US Marine Corps.
Steadicam comes to smartphones with the gyro-stabilized Volt
Steadicam changed the film industry with unrestricted tracking shots in films like Rocky and The Shining, and now, it's going after smartphone users. Parent company Tiffen has unveiled the Steadicam Volt, a handheld gimbal up for grabs on Kickstarter for $139. Unlike models you may know like DJI's $299 Osmo, the Volt (built in collaboration with drone-maker Yuneec) is not an entirely electronic affair. Rather, it uses a combination of Steadicam's traditional balance-type gimbal and motorization to give you a smooth tracking shot with more control over tilts, pans and other moves.
3D-printed ceramics and metals might finally arrive this year
Remember 3D printing? A couple years ago it was hotly tipped to revolutionize manufacturing, since you could have a whole factory in your home! Except, really, it wouldn't, because spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a box to make cute plastic doodads wasn't really what most folks wanted. A few years later, having a 3D printer at home is still generally unnecessary, but that may change, and soon. Ish.
The 'Basslet' puts a haptic subwoofer on your wrist
Bass: It's music's final frontier. By that, I mean it's the part of music that needs to be done right. Too much, and songs sound like a mess. Too little, and there's no guts. Enter Basslet, from a company called Lofelt. In a nutshell, Basslet looks like a watch, but it actually houses a transponder that converts the low frequencies of your music into vibrations that "feel" like bass. It doesn't vibrate like a phone, though; it matches the music, so if bass rises from low to high pitch, you feel that sweep. It's a very unusual idea to grasp, but once you try it, you instantly get it. It's a little bonkers and also a lot of fun.
Smart stove knobs help you prevent a house fire
You can already buy connected ranges that offer remote control and prevent kitchen disasters. But what about your existing range -- are you really going to replace it just for some extra convenience and peace of mind? You might not have to. Inirv is crowdfunding the React, a smart stove knob system that upgrades most any electric or gas stove. You can control individual burners through your phone, of course, but the real star of the show is a sensor that sits on your ceiling. If it detects gas, smoke or prolonged inactivity, it automatically shuts off active burners. You shouldn't have to worry about sparking a house fire just because you forgot to switch the stove off before you left for the movies.
Fove starts shipping its eye-tracking VR headset
Fove, a successful Kickstarter project, was supposed to release its VR headset way back in early 2016. Unfortunately, it encountered difficulties sourcing components and had to delay the device's shipments. Now, the company has finally begun shipping the virtual reality device, which tracks not only your head but also your eyes. By following your eyeballs' movements, it can emulate how you see the real world -- it sure created a realistic experience when we tried it out -- and prevent motion sickness.
ZTE's crowdsourced phone gets a name and a Kickstarter campaign
It's only been a few months since ZTE tapped the wisdom of the masses and started work on its first crowdsourced device: an eye-tracking, self-adhesive phone. No, seriously. A surprising number of people thought we should be able to stick our phones onto walls and navigate through websites and menus just by glancing all over the place. While the phone itself is far from finished, ZTE did give us a few new details here at CES: it's called the Hawkeye, and you'll be able to pre-order one on Kickstarter starting today for $199.
Even smart toothbrushes have AI now
Before the likes of Oral-B started selling Bluetooth-enabled, app-connected toothbrushes, there was Kolibree. The startup developed one of the first smart toothbrushes that incentivized regular brushing and documented oral hygiene habits. We caught the first Kolibree brush at CES several years ago ahead of its successful Kickstarter campaign, and this year the company is back at the tech show with a new model: the Ara. So, what's the latest innovation in smart toothbrushes? AI, of course.
Crowdfunded laptop dock for Android phones misses launch date
The Superbook, a device that converts your smartphone into a laptop, is the latest high-profile Kickstarter project to delay shipping to backers. The $99 device, basically a screen and keyboard shell powered by your smartphone's processor and memory, raised nearly $3 million after garnering pledges from 16,732 backers. However, the company has announced that it will postpone shipping from February 2017 to June 2017 because design changes and supplier issues.
Joué's MIDI controller adds tactile fun to music-making
The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) arrived in the '80s to help digital instruments communicate with each other. Nowadays, with much of the action on computers, a new breed of MIDI controllers has emerged. Many of today's designs include built-in pressure sensitivity to provide a semblance of analog expression when played, but Joué is a bit different. It was developed to free digital music artists from the lockstep confines of keyboards, button rows, glowing displays and marching lights, while providing modular flexibility and, above all, fun. The name Joué, translated from French, literally means "play" or can be interpreted as "I play," and the company would like you to approach the device with an open and creative mind. It's a USB-powered pressure-sensitive board that works with a variety of soft -- and occasionally squishy -- pads that are detected and uniquely identified through embedded RFID tags. You map portions of each pad to any MIDI-capable program like Ableton Live, Apple Logic, Garage Band or iPad apps to help bring your music to life. They're swappable on the fly, and the tactile interfaces offer an alternative to high-tech distractions. The device is currently on Kickstarter; the company is raising funds to move from industrial prototype to final product, and as usual, early bird deals are available. You can buy a Joué board and starter pack of pads for just over $300, with the eventual retail price expected to be under $500.
Pre-orders open for the 'first internet-connected' keyboard
Das Keyboard is best known for its high-end mechanical keyboards, and now it's taking them online. Next month at CES the company will debut "the world's first cloud connected keyboard" that streams info from the web right to the input device. Rather than putting a display on the keyboard itself, info and notifications pop up as user-defined colors on the 5Q's standard QWERTY layout.
VR treadmill creator cancels pre-orders outside the US
Virtuix's Omni treadmill is very alluring to virtual reality fans who want freedom to walkwithout the fear of tripping over cables or running into walls. However, it's also massive and complex... and that's forcing the company to scale back its ambitions. Virtuix is telling its Kickstarter backers that it's cancelling all Omni pre-orders outside of the US, as the logistics of shipping the treadmill are just too much. It's not just the 175-pound, 48- by 43-inch shipping package that's the problem -- it's honoring regulations and maintaining enough replacement parts to handle a global audience. The initial plans to ship worldwide were "naive and unfeasable," the startup writes.
Tech host Will Smith needs help funding his VR talk show
News of tech journalist Will Smith's VR talk show broke in April and he's looking for help funding the first season. Smith has taken to Kickstarter to raise money for the The Foo Show's 5-episode affair that will debut on Oculus Home and Steam in December. After the premiere, the plan is to release two episodes in both January and February and the entire first season can be yours with a pledge of $20.
ICYMI: Basketball is about to get even more stats-heavy
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The National Basketball Association signed a seven-year agreement to use a computer-vision, artificial intelligence system that analyzes on-court action in ways average viewers couldn't spot as they watch.
ICYMI: Robots want us to rely on them for daily tasks
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-2").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The latest servant robot to join the Pepper and Buddy crew is Big-I, a Kickstarter bot that uses 3D vision, motion tracking and facial recognition to help out the humans in their household. We say it looks like a rolling trashcan with a disturbingly large eye, but for those looking for an IoT hub that's more mobile than Alexa, it could certainly work.
A game about butt-sniffin' pugs is coming to PS4 and PC
Butt Sniffin Pugs, a fun simulator featuring cute pugs exploring New Yorkie City (get it?), rescuing citizens in danger and sniffing food and butts, has conquered crowdfunding pledgers' hearts. It has successfully reached its goal on Kickstarter, and it's now scheduled to be released for PS4, Windows and Mac in the first quarter of 2018. Inspired by cute, open-ended games like Kirby and Animal Crossing, it was designed to cater to everyone, from people who barely play to big AC fans.
Kickstarter's first sex toy has arrived
Crowdfunded sex toys aren't new to the scene, but until now, the most well-known crowdfunding site has steered clear of the category. Now, Kickstarter is hosting a campaign for Dame Products' Fin vibrator. Cofounder Alexandra Fine tells Motherboard that proximity helped it break in, since "Kickstarter is literally around the block from us." The company is familiar with the process, after launching its Eva vibrator for couples with an $835k campaign on Indiegogo.
Kickstarter Live lets project creators stream directly to backers
Thanks to sites like Kickstarter, creators all over the world have been able to bring their product visions to life via the medium of crowdfunding. Many of the website's successful projects utilize a formula of a nicely-produced pitch video, a bunch of glossy photos and (normally) a promise that its creator(s) won't run off into the night with your pledge. A new tool launching today called Kickstarter Live not only attempts to better connect creators with potential backers, but let them demonstrate their passion in a way that only live video possibly can.
'Night in the Woods' brings cynical cats to PS4, PC in January
Adorable independent adventure game Night in the Woods has been in development for just shy of three years, following a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2013 that asked for $50,000 and ended up earning $209,000. In an update to that very same Kickstarter page on Wednesday, developers Alec Holowka, Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry announced that Night in the Woods will land on PC, Mac, Linux and PlayStation 4 on January 10th, 2017.
