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ICYMI: One Pen to rule all and video you can manipulate
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab formulated a way to interact with existing videos, so they can prod and move objects within the frame. The Cronzy Pen samples colors from anything, anywhere, and mixes its own ink the match any shade. It's on IndieGoGo now so good luck scoring your crowdfunded thing. If you want to check out video of Jupiter's moon Io, the Washington Post explained it all well; and the charming paper craft animations from yelldesign are here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Kickstarter created over 300,000 jobs, study says
Kickstarter has created 29,600 full-time and 283,000 part-time jobs, as well as 8,800 companies thus far, according to a study by Professor Ethan Mollick from the University of Pennsylvania. Mollick, who's been keeping a close eye on Kickstarter for years, surveyed 61,654 successful projects from 2009 to 2015 to look at how the crowdfunding website has been benefiting creators. His study says projects tend to get $2.46 in revenue outside of the website for every dollar pledged, though the amount tends to be higher in food and product design. In all, he estimates that Kickstarter generated a whopping $5.3 billion for the creators and their communities.
Amazon announces category just for Kickstarter projects
Looking for a crowd-sourced gadget, but don't actually want to run the risk of backing a Kickstarter? Good news: Amazon just launched a hub for completed, successful Kickstarter products. The product category lives on Amazon's Launchpad page -- a digital store for start-ups that sell crowdfunded and first run products on consignment. Kickstarter projects have always been present on Launchpad, but now they have there very own category and landing page.
Nightdive Studios' 'System Shock' remake is coming to PS4
The Kickstarter-funded System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios is coming along swimmingly, having already reached its funding goal of $900,000 with 7 days to go in its campaign. Because of the huge demand from fans, it's now coming to an additional platform: PlayStation 4.
The Kafon Drone clears minefields 20 times faster than people
The manufacture, dissemination and use of anti-personnel mines were effectively banned in the late 1990s when 133 nations signed the Ottawa Treaty. But despite that international agreement, an estimated 100 million mines remain buried beneath former war zones where they kill or maim an average of 10 people per day. Using conventional methods -- whether that involves detector animals, human deminers or armored vehicles -- we'd need more than millennium to deactivate them all. The creators of this mine-hunting UAV, however, figure they can get it done in a little over a decade.
The Zeeq smart pillow is the Swiss Army knife of bedding
Sleep tracking has never taken off the same way activity tracking has, probably because no one wants to wear their smartwatch to bed. (That's when you should be charging it anyway.) The Zeeq from REM-Fit aims to fix that by taking the tech off of your wrist and putting it in a place that's a lot more comfortable when you're asleep: inside your pillow.
The Das Keyboard 5Q is for working smarter, not harder
Das Keyboard is behind some of the most impressive mechanical keyboards around. If you're a keyboard snob, you've probably used one or two in your life. If you like customization and keyboards that do way more than just help you put words together, you're going to want to check out the Das Keyboard 5Q.
This intelligent tape measure may be the world's smartest
Regular tape measures are so last year. Forward-thinking creators (and anyone who needs to measure anything) should turn to Bagel, the "smart" tape measure. It also looks vaguely like a bagel. Sort of.
'System Shock' remake is now live on Kickstarter with free demo
Welcome back to Citadel station. We hope your somnolent healing stage went well. We also hope you've ventured over to the official Kickstarter for Nightdive Studios' reboot of the seminal FPS/RPG hybrid System Shock, because it looks like one hell of a ride.
iScout HUD helps drivers with directions and blind spots
With no standouts on the market, heads-up displays (HUDs) for cars never really caught on. For instance, Garmin's unit is proprietary, Hudway's concept is cool but simplistic and Navdy is already a year late and still hasn't shipped. A new contender called iScout is trying to address many of those issues. It works with any smartphone, shows notifications from apps like WhatsApp, takes or reject calls with a hand-wave, and has blind-spot cameras. Now comes the gotcha: It's launching on Kickstarter, so before breaking out the plastic, bear in mind that it may never ship.
The Blocks modular smartwatch is finally (almost) ready
Years after the Blocks modular smartwatch first popped up on our radar, the company seems to finally be close to hitting assembly lines. The company has at least 5,500 orders from Kickstarter to fulfill, and if you'd like to add to that number you can pre-order the set for $330.
ICYMI: Pennyfarthing reboot, ice box fridge and more
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: SnikkyBike wants to get folks on its electrified pennyfarthing of a bike, except that it doesn't even have pedals, only a place for people to stand. Surechill Technologies made a refrigerator that takes the best parts of old school, pre-electricity ice boxes and reimagines it to use low amounts of energy. The game Surgeon Simulator has a re-skinned version that lets users practice operating on Donald Trump, which looks just as uncomfortable as any presidential candidate being laid out an operating table should, party affiliations notwithstanding. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: AI earbuds, 3D-printed casts and more
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: A Kickstarter project to give you artificial intelligence in earbud form is out in the world and we couldn't help but make just a little bit of fun. A startup wants to create 3D-printed casts for the broken-boned masses, since previous versions have been too expensive for all but the most elite professional football players. And a new drone would have you up your selfie game in a way you didn't even know you wanted. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Wrap yourself in a cone of sound with this directional speaker
If you work in a crowded office, you're probably considerate enough to wear a pair of headphones so you don't disturb your co-workers with your raucous tunes. But headphones can be uncomfortable, plus they're cumbersome to put on and off if all you want to do is catch a few seconds of a YouTube clip. The Soundlazer VR, however, offers a different solution. Debuting today on Kickstarter, it's a unique kind of speaker tech that aims to resolve that issue by surrounding you in a private cloud of sound.
Lionhead alumni turn to Kickstarter to fund 'Fable' card game
Lionhead Studios may have been shuttered, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the beloved Fable franchise. Flaming Fowl Studios, a studio created from the ashes of Lionhead's closing in March, is looking to revive the series, albeit in a very different format.
Barisieur's coffee-brewing alarm clock might actually happen
When we first spotted the Barisieur coffee-brewing alarm clock back in 2014, it was a pet project for designer Joshua Renouf. The plan was always to turn it into a gadget for the masses, and in the months that have passed since, the overall design and the tech that drives the bedside system were refined for production. To help make waking up to a freshly brewed cup of pour over coffee or loose leaf tea a reality, Renouf and his team are looking to Kickstarter to get them over the hump.
The US Olympic cycling team is training with smart glasses
When the US cycling team heads to the Olympics in Rio this summer, it'll have an ace up its sleeve: training with smart glasses. Solos has worked with the team to create augmented reality glasses that show vital data in mid-ride (such as cadence and heart rate), making it ideal for athletes looking to push themselves a little harder. It talks to common cycling apps, too, such as MapMyRide, Strava and TrainingPeaks. However, the best part may be the availability -- Solos is running a crowdfunding campaign to get everyday cyclists using the eyewear.
Tech alliance asks the FCC to investigate data cap exceptions
Some big names in tech don't believe that the FCC's net neutrality rules do enough to keep internet providers honest. A group of dozens of companies and advocacy groups (including Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Mozilla and Reddit) has sent a letter to the FCC asking it to publicly investigate the practice of zero rating, or exempting services from data caps. While the strategy isn't strictly illegal, the alliance is worried that internet providers are using zero rating to make an end run around net neutrality. After all, the ISPs are favoring certain sites over others -- you may be less likely to try that new video service if it cuts into your data allotment.
Pebble's first non-watch is basically a next-gen iPod Shuffle
One of Pebble's big goals for 2016 was to focus its efforts on health and fitness. It updated its Health app to provide more-meaningful stats, and just today, it announced two new smartwatches with built-in heart rate monitors. But that wasn't quite enough. The company also wanted to make something that would let people run without their phones: It needed to have GPS and be able to play music. Unfortunately, bundling all of that functionality into a watch would make it very expensive, so Pebble didn't want to go that route. Instead, it built something entirely different. This is the Pebble Core, the company's first-ever non-smartwatch. It's an Android-powered wearable designed for runners. It has GPS so you can track your runs and -- here's the interesting part -- a built-in 3G modem that lets you stream music over Spotify. Think of it as a next-generation iPod Shuffle.
Paramount will end its lawsuit against 'Star Trek' fan film
Lawyers from Paramount/CBS have been pursuing the makers of a crowdfunded Star Trek fan film, Axanar, for months, but according to JJ Abrams, they're finally going to back off. Abrams made the announcement at an event last night on the studio's movie lot where the studio dedicated a street to the memory of Leonard Nimoy, premiered the second trailer(which you can watch below) for Star Trek: Beyond, showed about 15 minutes of footage from the movie, and announced plans to screen the flick on an outdoor IMAX screen at Comic-Con.
