Great things can come from humble beginnings, and crowdfunding has led to some pretty wonderful ideas coming to fruition. Here at MEGATech News we realize the importance of getting the word out about these projects, and that’s exactly what Crowdfunding Corner is all about: sharing the news about cool and exciting new campaigns. Some of these campaigns have just begun collecting pledges, while others are well on their way and some have even sailed past their goals already. We’ve tried to keep it to campaigns that still have at least a few weeks left.
Now, not everything is going to appeal to everyone, but we try to vary it up so everyone sees at least something that speaks to them. If you see something that you absolutely must have, now you can be in on the ground floor.
The Crank Juice Box
Having your battery go dead is the absolute pits. What am I supposed to do for entertainment? Read a book? A book made of dead trees? Nice try sicko, have fun with your tree corpses. Portable batteries can be life savers, especially if they can power more than just your phone. The Crank Juice Box can power your phone, laptop, camera – any USB-compatible device you can get your hands on, USB-C included. And it doesn’t just stop there. The Crank Juice Box comes with jumper cables, because it can even start your car. No more wandering around the store parking lot, awkwardly asking people if they can give you a jump.
The Crank Juice Box Kickstarter
The Aloe Self-Care Reminder App
The world as a whole and especially the western world is just know starting to realize that mental health is more than a little important. The United States is notoriously bad at recognizing the importance of mental well-being, despite physical health being something of a current trend. The Aloe App is a reminder app, of which there are many, but Aloe reminds you to take care of yourself. The idea behind the app is that self-care should be something you do on a regular basis, not just when you’re burned out. It lets you modify the specific tasks you want to accomplish, and has built-in recommendations to make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep, taking breaks, allowing yourself to indulge, and more. Treat yo’self!
Polar Seal Heated Tops
Writing this during the summer, it’s easy to long for the cold of the winter, but being too cold is a bummer. Staying warm while outdoors during the cold months usually involves layers of clothing, but the fine folks at Hong Kong-based Polar Seal have found a different way: heated shirts. Professional skiers have sung the praises of the Polar Seal heated tops, which are controlled via buttons on the sleeve. There are three different settings, and even on the highest heating level with both heated zones activated, the 10,000 mAh power bank can still last a whopping 8 hours.
The Polar Seal Heated Tops Kickstarter
Defend Six Safety Wearable
As someone who often goes for walks with music pumping in my ears, I’ve been startled by people coming up behind me more than I care to admit. This is coming from a 6-foot, heavyset male; I can’t imagine how uneasy a woman must feel. That’s why Defend Six is a good idea. It’s a device that can detect people or animals once they get within 25 meters of you, and then interrupt your music to alert you. The usual advice in such a situation is to simply not wear headphones, but it’s frustrating when you can’t indulge in the simplest pleasures. Hopefully Defend Six helps create an effective compromise.
BackFlare Smart Vest for Motorcycles
Not to take anything away from those who practice road safety, but motorcycles are inherently dangerous, at least when compared to other vehicles. What would be a minor incident for a car or a truck could easily be a fatal one for a motorcycle. Motorcycle safety goes two ways. The motorcyclist must be vigilant, but other drivers need to be aware of motorcycles, too. The BackFlare Smart Vest uses LEDs on the driver’s back to replicate the bike’s running lights, brake lights, hazard lights, and turn signals. Not only does it increase visibility by a wide margin, it also looks pretty rad.
The BackFlare Smart Vest Kickstarter
Swidget Smart Outlet
I’m not sure where the name Swidget comes from – likely the combination of smart and widget – but I like to think swiss army knife factors in there somewhere, because that was my first thought when checking out the project. Swidget is an outlet that connects to your home through the wiring that’s already there and functions like a normal outlet, but also provides additional functionality through the use of inserts. Your swidget can be a bluetooth speaker, power monitor, motion sensor, video camera, carbon monoxide sensor, and way more. And what’s even better, it works with your existing smart home technology.
The Swidget Smart Outlet Kickstarter
E-Skin Apparel
Upon first glance, I thought the e-skin motion capture apparel was strictly for VR gaming. It allows for immersive gesture tracking, which should really heighten the virtual experience. That alone would be enough to recommend it, but it happens to have other uses, too. It tracks your movements, so you can analyze the results and hone your sports skills. It monitors your respiration and condition in your daily life, like a full-body fitness tracker. And you wear it just like you wear your clothes, because it is an article of clothing. No bulky wristbands or unwanted accessories. Very convenient and very cool.
The E-Skin Apparel Kickstarter
Million Mile Light
I live in a very rural area, and because of this there are long stretches of road with no street lights, even when there are homes and businesses nearby. Due to this lack of light, vehicle-on-pedestrian collisions are not uncommon. It’s very important to remain visible when you’re on foot at night, and Million Mile Light helps you achieve that with zero hassle. It doesn’t use a battery, because it’s powered by the motion of your body, and it’s hypersensitive so even if you’re a light stepper, you’ll still be able to use it.
Million Mile Light Kickstarter
Pinning Garage Door Reminder
Leaving the garage door open is a pretty big deal. It gives anybody and everybody access to your garage and, if you didn’t lock up properly, the rest of your house, too. And if you’re gone all day at work, or even worse, out of town for a few days, that gives would-be thieves plenty of time to do some serious damage. Pinning is a small device that plugs into an outlet, while offering an outlet on the device itself to plug the garage door into. The companion piece plugs into your car’s lighter socket and beeps and flashes to let you know if you’re pulling away with the garage door open. A pretty simple solution for what could be a disastrous problem.
The Pinning Garage Door Reminder Kickstarter
The Terminator Multimedia Alexa Speaker
This one is just pure self-indulgence on my part. I’ve tried to populate this list with helpful (and hopefully, in some cases, life-saving) creations, but this one just spoke to me. There have been countless Skynet jokes made as effective artificial intelligence becomes closer to a reality, and AC Worldwide have just gone ahead and turned the joke into a product itself. And not only would it make an awesome mantel piece, but one of the eyes is an HD camera. How cool is that? Your digital assistant is literally watching you! If you buy this, you clearly welcome your new robot overlords.
The Terminator Multimedia Alexa Speaker Kickstarter
Crowdfunding Corner Continues
So those are our MEGATechNews picks for August 2017. From the downright weird Terminator Multimedia Alexa Speaker (I hope they cleared this with the Governator or their lawyers will be saying “Hasta La Vista”) to the potentially life saving BackFlare Smartvest for Motorcyle.
Are there any cool up and coming crowdfunding products that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below!