Categories
Arts Kids/Babies

Real Crayon Maker reuses wax in its tracks

Real Crayon MakerSeems like after a while, there are more broken crayons strewn around a house with school-age kids than whole crayons. The Real Crayon Maker offers an interesting idea that may make for a fun indoor activity on rainy days, or when the kids come inside to warm up after creating backyard snow cities in the coming months. Broken crayons can be melted down in a heat safe system to create new crayons, or the melted crayons can be molded into interesting new shapes and characters.  Seems like something useful to have on hand to offer kids something new to do, but new crayons really aren’t all that expensive if the focus is on replacing the broken ones. The refurbished fun begins with $34, and an expected delivery of November 2014.

Categories
Sensors/IoT

The Nix Color Sensor makes everyone a color expert

 The Premise. There are millions of different tones and colors that illuminate the world. Getting the exact color you want is difficult with the variety of color types and brands. Color swatches are bulky, expensive, and brand specific, while the human eye is prone to error. There needs to be a reliable color sensor that can provide the customer with an accurate and affordable color reading.

The Product. The Nix Color Sensor may be familiar to designers and color purists. The company already had one very successful campaign that funded the design and production of the first sensors. The creators are now back looking for more early contributors to fund and receive their next batch of sensors. Once the color is scanned, the Nix Color sensor sends the palettes to your phone and direct you to the nearest store to purchase that color paint.

The Pitch. The video is a wonderfully animated two-dimensional video that shows just how the Nix Color Sensor works. The vibrant colors are very appropriate for the purpose of the device, and it’s design can make anyone a color expert. The Indiegogo page keeps it simple, but goes more in-depth behind the scenes of how it was made.

The Perks. The second batch still offers early adopters a great deal. The early bird special, which includes the Nix Color Sensor, carrying pouch, calibration card, and USB cable, is 50% off the retail value at $99.

The Potential. Designers, artists and picture and video editors are clear markets for the Nix. Beyond that, most folks don’t have a pressing need to pursue a Pantone value. Still, the Nix seems well-implemented and could bring accurate color matching to a broader range of professionals or the simply curious.