Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Imaging

Little Occhio pairs with your smartphone to explore the microscopic

Many inventors and companies alike are catching onto the smartphone’s potential as an intermediary between the people who use them and the microscopic world alien to us. Smartphones can add a new dimension to a microscope, freeing us from the shackles of bulky, cumbersome equipment and letting us wander into the world and discover nature as it was truly intended — provided, of course, we have the right tools to do so. Luckily, Little Occhio is aiming to be that tool.

This product is a portable micro-cam that lets users see the world around them, wherever they happen to be. Users can then share what they see with an app that transmits photos and videos at 30fps to up to 10 smart devices at range of up to 50ft, making Little Occhio equally versatile for families and classrooms alike. The app also acts as a control, letting you focus the camera among other adjustments. It does this with its own built-in Ad-Hoc Wi-fi mode, generating its own connection so that smart devices in the vicinity can connect. In addition, LED lights are prominently featured as a way to continue discovering more as night sets in so long as the built-in rechargeable battery is powered enough to keep going.

The Little Occhio has promise, despite its $145 price tag. The upside to the price, though, are the included sharing features which trump other similar products like the Microscobe and the Micro Phone Lens. The company is looking for a cool $35,000 to start manufacturing — let’s hope it goes off without a hitch.

Categories
Home

ChiliBud is a tube to provide for your peppers

Chili lovers and tomato lovers can now have a friendlier environment in which to enjoy growing the plants that will make their favorite foods more readily available. And there’s nothing like a fresh pot of chili or steaming plate of spaghetti with homemade sauce on a brisk autumn or winter day. ChiliBud is a 500mm high cylindrical greenhouse that promotes a micro-climate while still allowing for proper pollination. In addition, the tube wall perimeter helps reduce slug attacks, while the spherical reflector means that the best use of light is being made for the most optimum plant growing environment. This is especially true for potted plants since the tube promotes an enhanced heat storage situation, even for the more northern side of the plant. A smooth balcony or patio will be required to get the best results for stability from the rubber rim. For £25, backers get one product with an expected delivery of November 2015.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Virtual Reality

ShareVR is another way to get virtual reality using your smartphone

At the top of many holiday wish lists this year will be VR headsets. However, many of the devices that are already household names are not ready to go to market just yet and almost all of them will be rather expensive. shareVR is an interesting new way to make VR possible with head-tracking functions by connecting a smartphone to a PC. With just a micro USB cable, a head mount, and the software that communicates with the PC, shareVR can give a consumer a functioning VR headset for less than $50.

The device works with any game using DirectX 9, 10, or 11, and head-tracking through an Inertial Measurement Unit. With only 30ms of latency, the time between the action on the main screen and what’s happening in the goggles is minimal for most kinds of applications. shareVR inventor Marcin Grygiel is raising £50,000 (~$78,250) to complete the software. For backers, the program will cost only £9 (~$14) and they can use their head mount of choice. shareVR offers an interesting DIY way of bringing VR home, and will be a great entry point for many customers. However, the specific compatibility requirements and technical limitations may be off-putting to purists.

Categories
Safety Travel

Winks is one of the least awkward airplane sleeping aids

Even if one can get past the noise, sleeping on a plane can be nearly impossible because of the awkward positioning of the seats. The 40 Winks travel pillow aims to change that. This unique design supports a person’s head by using opposing pull from the user’s own body in order to offer optimum support and comfort for the head from either side or from behind.

The pillow must have proper pressure distribution in order to work effectively, which means that the arms of the pillow must be wrapped wide and flat around the user’s body so that pressure is evenly distributed over a broad surface. This provides that necessary counter balance action and a nice way to get some much-needed rest while traveling. For those interested in checking out other travel sleep aid ideas, Forward Front Face Pillow Cushion, BoosterPalz, JQ Headrest, and Sky Tent may be of interest. For $29, early bird backers get one pillow with an expected delivery of February 2015.

Categories
Home

Soapseat provides a goop escape route for your wet soap

Most soap dishes allow your bar soap to sit in its own gooeyness resulting in mold or, at the very least, a soggy soap puck. SOAPSEAT promises to CHANGE that. It’s essentially a soap dish with raised ridges in the middle that spill into the sink. One side curves downwards while the other side grips the edge of the sink. In this way, the water can flow down so that your soap stays fresh. This product comes in three different finishes, all dishwasher safe. One of these vamped up soap cradles will cost backers $25 for estimated delivery in February 2015. SOAPSEAT has a Kickstarter campaign goal of $10,000.

If fresh soap really means a lot to you, then this is a useful product. Most probably don’t care, or opt for those soap dishes with holes in the bottom so the liquid collects in a bottom tray that’s cleaned out. SOAPSEAT is lower maintenance, but still a high price for such a simple product.

Categories
Cycling

Quick Caps provide convenient security for your bike

Bike security is the foremost concern for cyclists around the world. Making sure someone doesn’t make off with your precious ride is difficult, especially if the bike in question has quick release wheels. Despite having to carry an additional lock for the front tire, many people choose this kind of wheel for the sheer convenience of being able to quickly take it off at a moment’s notice. After numerous years of doing just that, inventor Curtis Dorrington created Quick Caps, a product that eliminates the hassle while retaining the quick release wheel’s convenience.

Quick Caps is a small, weatherproof lock that fits around the quick release lock’s lever itself, preventing anyone who would be daring enough to try from doing so. With the product being made from marine-grade aluminum and requiring 900Nm of force to break, even attempting the feat is a tall order. The product’s 51g weight will be a welcome relief to anyone that has been looking for this sort of solution, so ponying up just £10 (or £14 if you happen to have the wrong type of quick release) will be an easy decision. The creator is looking for a £15,000 infusion to start mass production.

Categories
Accents

LeggyHorse takes your wall photos to another dimension

There’s something about framed art and photos that makes a house a home. Usually, the personality of these items is limited to a single dimension. But LeggyHorse has found a way to use picture frames to create new dimensions for framed art and photos. The frame itself seems to be made of leather and acrylic. It’s lightweight and doesn’t require any tools for pictures to be hung on the wall, but the campaign does not clearly indicate what alternative hanging method is used.

Once in the LeggyHorse frame, pictures can be hung on nearly any flat surface, including wood, plastic, glass and ceramic tile. This product seems like a great way to release that “inner artist” without having to put a great deal of effort and time into being creative and imaginative. For $46, backers get a set that includes 12 connect frames and four regular 4×6 frames. More support gets the larger sizes. Expected delivery is set for February 2015.

Categories
Sports

Wingboard lets you capture air in a wild new way

Thrill seekers can’t get enough of skydiving, bungee jumping and wingsuit flying. Now, they can up the ante with the WingBoard. This product combines wake boarding with sky diving. The user stands atop the WingBoard which is attached to a plane. YES, a plane. Okay, one of those little planes, but still. It has wheels on the bottom for take off and, in the sky, the rider holds onto a rope much like when water skiing. One will cost extreme backers basically $600 for only the kit and manual to create a 1/16 scale version of the product. WingBoard hopes to raise $32,000 on Kickstarter to continue developing their product.

Thus far, the creators of WingBoard are still in the very early stages of development. They’re slowly scaling their product up to ensure safety. Speaking of which, it’s unclear what happens to the rider if they let go of the rope or lose their balance. Those water skiing can just float around in the water, but do WingBoarders just fall to the ground? Or do they perhaps wear a parachute? Either way this sport seems like it could require exceptional safety controls with wind and cold altitudes making it downright unpleasant. It will be interesting to see if this product ever fully develops with the approval of all the necessary acronymed organizations.

Categories
Food and Beverage

Splash Infuser drops in to add flavoring to water

Sugary beverages are the bane of many people’s diets, adding an entirely unnecessary amount of sugar to their daily intake everyday. We’re recommended about 40g of sugar a day, but most drinks have 10 times that amount. Many drinks also come laden with unsafe chemicals in plastic containers made with harmful materials, compounding the issue even more. Companies have tried marketing infused water as an alternative to unhealthy drinks, but even those can prove unsafe.

The people over at Cardboard Helicopter have long considered these problems and have created the Splash Infuser in response. It takes the form of a small container with holes large enough to let muddled fruit mingle with water without letting a bunch of seeds into the drink. Made from BPA-free, food grade plastic ensures that no unwanted chemicals find their way into your infused drink as well, whether it be water or alcoholic in nature. The company has already ironed out the model but needs $15,000 to start a large production run. Just $15 gets you in the door to all the watery infused goodness you can handle.

Categories
Personal Transportation

Ion Smartscooter looks like non-electric models, gets you on your way

The last miles of any commute are some of the most painful. Who wants to walk twenty minutes at the very beginning of the day or after having worked eight hours every day? Although there are some solutions, bikes and scooters are either too bulky to transport easily or too dirty in terms of fuel.

Probity Cell LLC has created the ion SmartScooter as a low-cost, clean alternative that will get you where you need to go, fast. It’s top speed of 15mph is powered by a lithium-ion battery that charges in three and a half hours and lasts for more than 1,000 cycles, ensuring a long and sustainable life. In addition, its foldable nature makes it so that it can be more easily transported than a bike, especially because it only weighs 26 pounds. The ion SmartScooter joins scads of other personal transportation devices like the Me-Mover and Halfbike.

The company is starting off slow with just two production runs, but they want to minimize any issues through their Kickstarter campaign. They were aiming for a modest $40,000 to do so, a goal that has shown interest by many. If they’re able to back up their claim of squeezing 500 miles out of the scooter for less than a dollar’s worth of electricity, they’ll be able to convince many more to grab one of their own for the introductory price of $399.