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Personal Transportation

Innovation is reduced to a Single Foot Skate

It seems like every day in the crowdfunding world brings yet another way to shave down the commute or simply get around in a new and novel way. And while there are many respectable alternatives (FIT and the Freedom Trike both come to mind), some aim to create a completely new experience — sometimes pushing the boundaries a little too far.

The Single Foot Skate (SFS) is exactly what it says it is: a skate designed to be used with one foot. Although it is admittedly light, easy to carry, and potentially somewhat easier to use, it certainly looks as awkward as it sounds. It also incredibly DIY-looking and is far from any sort of a finished product. The SFS is going for $180 and is expected by June 2016. The campaign is looking for $3,150 by January 18th, 2016 to begin the process of injection molding the product.

The product seems half-baked. Subtracting a skate from the pair does not a good idea make. On the plus side, it’s made from completely recycled materials, so kudos to the eco-friendly nature of the product. The equally silly Walk Wings are a better idea as at least they offer retractable wheels on a entire set of skates, but at the point you might as well risk catching fire on a hoverboard. 

Categories
Connected Objects

Map your face to better skin with the MAPO connected face mask

The largest organ the human body has — its skin — is probably the most misunderstood. While it’s certainly tough, over time it puts up with stresses ranging from pollution to excessive sun, requiring constant care to make sure it stays in top shape. This is doubly true for the face. Going to the dermatologist routinely, though, is a difficult proposition given a lack time and, in many cases, the money needed.

Designed to maintain optimal levels of water content, the MAPO connected beauty mask is equipped with Bluetooth LE and interfaces with a companion app to make it easier to stay on top of skin health. Within the mask are flexible electronics featuring a four-electrode array that work together to analyze skin characteristics in less than one minute. Over time, these analyses form a profile that is compared to others in the MAPO community to offer helpful, crowdsourced solutions to particular problems.

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Imaging Sensors/IoT

Flail your arms to control apps in-home with ZKOO gesture camera

Leap Motion made a splash a few years ago when it debuted a fascinating add-on product for Macs and PCs that allowed anyone to interface with their devices via gestures. But since it only worked for Macs and PC, the number of situations in which it was truly useful was limited.

Exvision’s ZKOO gesture-tracking camera is touted as the most advanced in the world, but truth be told it doesn’t do much more the Leap Motion can. Using a camera that tracks motion at 100 frames per second it is able to deliver a gesture-tracking experience that boast low latency for both PCs and Android devices, working with hundreds of existing apps out of the box.

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Categories
Displays

360Mini projector shows your vistas wherever you look

An increasing number of cameras, including PanoCam3D, enable 360-degree shooting. But there are only a limited number of display devices that allow such still photos and videos to be seen the way they were shot.

360Mini is a media projector that can display 360-degree images and videos the same way they were shot: as a seamless 360-degree panorama. The three-foot-tall projector can be accessed via Wi-Fi to edit and upload data, and mobile devices can be used to navigate through the uploaded content or to control the projector, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

The projector ships in July. Future pricing isn’t provided by the campaign, but early bird backers can get one at pricing that starts at about $978. Its makers are hoping to raise $92,356 by Jan. 24.

360Mini is a clever concept and it’s likely going to be appealing to many people who have shot 360-degree photos or video. But it remains to be seen how popular 360-degree imaging is going to be and how often even fans of the technology are going to want to view such images.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Pinout decks out your camera with enhanced features

Camera accessories are among the most popular devices on crowdfunding sites, but many of them are focused on enhancing a single bit of functionality.

patent-claimedPinout is a small device that connects to DSLR cameras and provides them with enhancements including remote shutter release, geotagging, time lapse, high dynamic range (HDR) and loss prevention. It uses Bluetooth LE technology and works in conjunction with an app for Android and iOS mobile devices.

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Connected Objects Organization

QUICKCUBE combines smart design and touch of tech for more orderly stuff

Fully functional yet aesthetically beautiful storage solutions are few and far between. Usually, those horrid looking blue tubs or even spare cardboard boxes are used to put away extra things in the home. For the Boland family, these weren’t good enough. Thus, the QUICKCUBE was born.

The QUICKCUBE’s design is based solely on physics. While its nigh-transparent plastic walls may look weak, they’re made from a plastic that is three times stronger than the standard, supporting 450lbs in weight. This, along with its honeycombed lids for even more strength, all comes together to form an incredibly strong and perfectly stackable set of storage solutions for anywhere in the home.

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Categories
Automotive Sensors/IoT

GStop’s out to stop rear-end collisions

Car safety has become one of the most common goals of crowdfunding projects.

GStop is a connected brake safety light for cars that’s designed to prevent rear-end collisions. The device gets connected to a consumer’s third brake light and, when its sensor detects heavy breaking, it immediately causes rapid flashing to the high-level rear brake light to inform drivers behind the user’s car that they should slow down or stop. GStop also works for bikes, motorcycles and vans.

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Connected Objects Imaging

The bright side of the Luna is filmed in glorious 360°

The advances in imaging technologies have resulted in ever smaller form factors incorporating an increasing amount of functionality. But while established companies are creating insane rigs for 360° video and VR content, Luna is offering the same functionality in a much more petite package.

Luna is a billiard ball-sized sphere containing two HD cameras that are able to create full 360° video without a single blind spot. Its durable, IP68 waterproof shell is super portable and can withstand tough conditions. Embedded Wi-Fi allows it to connect to iOS and Android devices to transfer data, geotag photos and videos and even live stream 360° video or virtual reality content.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Enlaps Tikee enables endless time lapse photography

Time-lapse photography is a popular film and video shooting technique that allows viewers to see a long event completed in just a few seconds, such as the full blooming of a flower or the construction of a building from start to finish. But there are three common obstacles to shooting over an extended period of time with a digital camera: battery space, storage capacity and processing.

patent-claimedEnlaps Tikee is a plug-and-play device that removes all of those constraints and allows unlimited time-lapse photography, according to its Kickstarter campaign. It’s powered by an integrated adjustable photovoltaïc solar cell that allows for long-term time-lapse capability. Once captured, photos are wirelessly transmitted to the cloud, which provides a theoretically endless amount of storage space.

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Categories
Lifestyle Technology

TableTalk lets you hear others talking no matter the noise level

It’s often annoying when the noise is so loud in a restaurant or other public gathering spot that it’s hard to hear what companions are saying.

patent-claimedTableTalk is a patented assisted listening system made up of a base station and headsets. The digital signal processor (DSP)-equipped system uses Bluetooth and advanced noise cancellation technology to make conversations clearer regardless of how noisy it is, according to its Kickstarter campaign. TableTalk connects up to five people.

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