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.

Categories
Sports

X Ball may help your putts by stretching your balls

xballThe X Ball puts some what-what into your putt-putt. With an oval shape and balanced center point, the X Ball gives golfers the chance to putt straight every time. Used to improve putting accuracy, the X Ball is a great learning tool for those looking to become the next Tiger Woods or great mini-golf champion. X Ball boasts a way to develop muscle memory for a more accurate putting game, but obviously the challenge will be putting the putting practice to work with more spherical products . X Ball’s creators are looking to raise $25,000 in their 46-day Indiegogo campaign. At $10 each, X Ball is estimated to be delivered by May 2014.

Categories
Camping Food and Beverage

Anywhere-Fridge can use the sun to charge up a chill

AnywhereFridgeCamping or picnicking can be messy activities, especially when it comes to food. Both are made a lot easier with the Anywhere Fridge-Freezer-Warmer. As a portable three-in-one food storage product, the Anywhere Fridge-Freezer-Warmer can recharge in the car and is also solar powered. It travels well and looks like a suitcase, complete with a handle and wheels on the bottom. Prices for the Fridge range from $199 for the small version to $499 for the large version, a significant discount over the Solar Cooler, with an estimated delivery date of August 2014. The Anywhere-Fridge is looking to raise $125,000 on Indiegogo in a 60-day campaign.

Categories
Pets

Pop-Up Playland welcomes hamsters to a portable paper pet playground

The Premise. Gerbils, hamsters, mice, lizards, hermit crabs and other small quirky pets generally live in small habitats in their owner’s homes. The drawback is that the habitats can sometimes be too small for these pets, but take up too much room at the same time. In addition, not all offer the props needed for enough exercise or interaction.

The Product. The Pop-Up Playland offers a fun alternative for puny pets pursuing a place to play. Similar to a pop-up books, the product is a cardboard area that folds and unfolds to provide fun and excitement for small pets. When popped up, the playland, which mimics an urban playground, has ladders, seesaws, wheels and other fun features for pets to play with.  When playtime is over, the Playland folds back up into what looks like a large cardboard book that is easy to store. The sides of the Playland have little doors that make it possible to connect several Playlands together in order to expand the space your pet can ran around in.

The Pitch. Pop-Up Playland’s creators Shawn and Olivia, a father and daughter team, talk about how and why they wanted to invent a better solution for small pets in their video. Their pet hamster, Munchkin, was crowded in his enclosure and needed more room to run and play. Shawn and Olivia hope to raise $20,000 in their 35 day run on Kickstarter. More information can be found on their Web site.

The Perks. Early-bird backers can pledge $25 for the Pop-Up Playland, which otherwise goes for $35. Reward tiers go all the way up to a $750 tier, which includes the opportunity to name one of Olivia’s future pets (subject to her approval of course) and a few other perks. Reward tiers that include the Pop-Up Playland itself have an estimated delivery date of August 2014.

The Potential. There are of course lots of options for play areas geared towards small pets. Many are made out of solid materials that don’t store easily. Some, like the Prevue Small, call themselves playpens, but don’t actually provide interactive features and require additional wheels and toys, The Pop-Up Playland is unique in that it offers an all inclusive play area for pets that it is easy stored and completely portable. While there may be some concerns about long-term durability for such a product, the Pop-Up Playland seems to offer at least as much fun for pet owners as the pets themselves.

Categories
Lifestyle

Morella makes umbrellas into multitasking wonders

MorellaIf rainy days and Mondays get you down because it complicates bringing your java on the road, Morella has a solution that will likely make you chuckle with delight: cup holders for your umbrella. Each cup holder has a custom designed clamp that fits any umbrella, high-griped material for increased stability, and a specialized pivot system to keep drinks upright. By the way, when it stops raining, your folded umbrella can still multitask, functioning as a drink stand. Morella appears to be a one-of-a-kind creation for drinkin’ in the rain. For £10 backers can get their very own Morella umbrella transforming cup holder, with an estimated delivery of June 2014.

Categories
Organization

Organi aspires to bring organization with recyclable materials

OrganiThe Organi system of organization is completely made of recyclable materials such as boxes, wine bottle corks and more. Organi components are cut into sets using a laser cutter and then assembled by hand. One of the goals of the founders is that all parts would be manufactured and assembled in the USA. Perhaps one of the bigger challenges for this campaign is the very basic college dormish appearance of the components – especially when Amazon can offer items such as wall pockets, mountable shelving units and other options for becoming more organized. There are also a couple of similar campaigns focusing on organization. For a contribution of $15, a backer gets the basic Minimalist SE set, which consists of an acrylic link and two pivots. Larger donations include more components. Expected delivery is July 2014.

Categories
Health and Wellness

iseewhatyousay seeks to ease communication with deaf and hearing-impaired

The Premise. Hearing loss is an issue that affects 10% of the world population, and it remains a significant barrier for human communication. Often times, hearing loss comes later in life, and it can thus be a difficult obstacle to overcome having not learned sign language.

The Product. The iseewhatyousay is a small and simple device that makes it easier for people with hearing loss to communicate in a one on one conversation. Currently available only for Android users, the iseewhatyousay is a speech-to-text reader that displays the text of a conversation to person with hearing loss. The person speaking holds down a button within the iseewhatyousay app on their phone, and it shows up on the screen of the device almost immediately. The goal is to make conversation smooth and effortless.

The Pitch. On the Kickstarter page, little is mentioned about what the device actually does or how it works. There’s a video that shows the creator and his father having a conversation with a prototype of the iseewhatyousay, but that conversation seems slow and labored.

The Perks. The iseewhatyousay is relatively cheap at only $50, with an expected delivery of July 2014. There are options for those who want to help produce these devices with contributions in the thousands.

The Potential. The iseewhatyousay has the best intentions in mind and the product’s eventual small form factor could be an advantage, but this product faces significant hurdles. The creators have not yet created a refined product ready for mass production and the product’s featured could be handled and far surpassed by the cheapest of used smartphones, There are countless of other speech-to-text devices available, and there are certainly alternative and more effective solutions for people with hearing loss.

Categories
Aquatics

UBA takes snorkeling to a new height, er, depth

The Premise. Nothing quite compares to scuba diving, but it’s not without its challenges. Without a scuba license, underwater enthusiasts are limited to snorkeling. While a fun activity, snorkeling has its limits. It doesn’t allow for diving too far beneath the water’s surface and presents the constant risk of inhaling saltwater water into the tube. Perhaps the solution lies in removing the first two letters from “SCUBA.”

The Product. UBA offers a more evolved and versatile version of the traditional snorkel. The UBA looks like a traditional snorkel, except with a  much more flexible tube that has a red fin attached to the top. Inspired by the anatomy of dolphins, UBA’s floating fin-like apparatus keeps the top of the tube above water no matter what position the diver is in and hides the top of the tube well enough so that water can’t get in. The fin on top also shuts the tube when underwater, giving the diver a little pocket of air for deeper diving. When resurfacing, the tube opens up again automatically. In addition, UBA includes a separate valve that allows for easy water purging if necessary, unlike traditional snorkels that need a big exhalation of air to clear out.

The Pitch. UBA’s Kickstarter campaign isn’t quite as cool as its product. UBA’s creators would benefit from including a better explanation of their product’s different features. The video showcases UBA in action, with swimmers on and below the surface of the water using UBA. UBA hopes to raise $50,000 in its campaign. More information can be found on the product’s Web site.

The Perks. UBA offers several early-bird reward tiers in addition to a regularly priced tier. For $55, $60, $65 (the early-bird prices), or $70 (regular price) backers get a UBA with travel bag from UBA’s first production run. The top tier goes for $1,000 and includes not only a UBA with travel bag, but also a chance to help UBA’s creators test new products as they come out. Estimated delivery is set at May, June, August, September and May 2014 respectively for the reward tiers listed above.

The Potential. There are no other well-known snorkel alternatives quite like UBA. UBA allows for range of motion and other conveniences that a traditional snorkel simply fails to provide. In addition, UBA presents a much cheaper alternative to divers who can’t afford or don’t have the time to get their scuba license. Its flexible tube and unique fin make it a must-have for water enthusiasts in summertime or on vacation.

Categories
Tools

Screw Grabber makes tricky projects behave

Screw Grabber d94bc2cfe931ca94706b9e8cedca61e7_large[1]One little, two little, three little screws dropped! Nothing more aggravating than trying to get a screw balanced on the head of a screwdriver because of a project that calls for it in one or two awkward spots. Screw Grabber aims to solve that problem. The transparent, tapered, rubber sleeve slides onto the screwdriver and holds screws of any size in place, giving you the needed stability for getting screws properly placed within tricky angles. Its ability to work with plastic screws provides a bit of an edge over magnetized screwdrivers. And for $7, backers can be the judge by receiving a set of four Screw Grabbers with an expected delivery date of June 2014.

Categories
Connected Objects Imaging

Flink photo frame shares pictures instantly over the cloud

The Premise. Sharing photos becomes easier almost every week. The digital revolution continues to streamline the process through smartphones, social media, and sites dedicated to photo sharing, but can the process be made even simpler?

The Product. The Flink Cloud Photo Frame is designed to take digital photo frames to the next level with simple usage and cloud-based storage and sharing. Using their mobile app and proprietary sharing site, once users have decided who to share with and what photos to share, frames around the world can be updated with new pictures as they’re taken. With an 8 inch, high resolution touch screen and only one physical button on the frame, crisp, beautiful photos  of friends or loved ones can appear at any time of day free of complex technical knowledge or cumbersome updates. The Flink app also works to import photos from Facebook or Instagram accounts, and later updates look to introduce slideshows and audio/video sharing.

The Pitch. Patrick Ho, one of the three founders of the Flink, walks viewers through the simple process of using a Flink, then ups the ante later down the page with a video of the prototype uploading a photo  to the frame in less than a minute.  Campaign photos include the evolution of the frame’s design and some key details that clarify how the product will be operated. The Flink Team is hoping to raise $80,000 to help prepare a server base for storing and transmitting photos, complete manufacturing, and get FCC certification.

The Perks. With a May 2014 delivery date, all backers at the $99 pledge level will receive a Flink Cloud Frame and unlimited storage space on the Flink photo site. At twice that cost, the frame can be personalized, and at the $250 tier, a wooden frame cover can be substituted for the black or white plastic versions.

The Potential. Can the digital picture frame by reinvented from the ashes of products such as the Kocak Pulse? Flink bets that mobile is the key. Once a hot holiday category, other digital photo frames with cloud connectivity are already on the market. The companion app makes the process a little easier for the Flink to single out specific photos specifically for sharing, but overall there isn’t much to this product that will change the marketplace, and little to distinguish it from its competitors. Electronic stores could easily carry the Flink, but for the most part, smartphones and tablets have stolen much of the appeal of the digital frame.