Kickstarter is full of weird, wonderful and wacky innovations. Some of which are real gems. Here are five of the latest campaigns that you simply have to see to believe.
Tiny Arcade
In a nutshell: A retro tiny playable game cabinet
Arcade games are awesome. But they’re undoubtedly even more awesome when they can be played on a palm-sized arcade cabinet. You still get a full color OLED screen a long with a retro analog joystick and two push buttons to enjoy all your old favourites. Games are simply loaded via an SD card and they are all free and open source, so if you’re feeling really creative you can even have a go at writing your own.
Gest: Work With Your Hands
In a nutshell: Use simple hand gestures to control your computer
Because using a mouse and keyboard is just boring, right? Gest is a clever little device that allows you to control your computer through hand gestures. Simply twitch your fingers, point, grab or do whatever feels most natural to you by setting up your own custom gestures. Don’t throw out your peripherals just yet, but this could well be a glimpse into the future of how we interact with our devices.
The World’s First Heated Down Jacket w/ 6X Mobile Charging
In a nutshell: A jacket that lets you control the heat
As we enter the chilly depths of Winter, this heated jacket from Ravean looks rather appealing. It’s a light jacket suitable for wear all year round, but it has built in temperature control to allow you to adjust the jacket’s heat to your desired level. There are also accompanying touch-screen compatible gloves featuring the same heating technology so your hands can be equally as toasty. The battery built into the jacket acts as a power bank too, there to charge your smartphone on the go.
CellRobot: 100 ROBOTS in ONE
In a nutshell: Build and control your own modular robot
What’s better than a robot? 100 robots of course! The CellRobot is a modular robot which you can assemble into any form you choose. Every module or ‘element’ you add unleashes new possibilities for movement, all controlled by your smartphone or tablet. It’s advertised as having both entertainment and education purposes and certainly appears to be a interesting way of getting children excited about programming.
THERMOWAND
In a nutshell: Human temperature readings from a distance
The THERMOWAND looks to reduce the risk of caregivers catching contagious illness from patients or family members. Research has shown that “infectious agents usually only spread within three feet of an individual” and the THERMOWAND allows accurate temperature readings to be taken at a three foot distance using a combination of the reading from the device and knowledge of the patient’s BMI. Clever stuff indeed.