It’s time again for our weekly round-up of Kickstarter’s most innovative campaigns and projects. It’s not easy narrowing it down to a small selection and this week was no exception, whether you’re a photographer, musician or even looking to change up your diet (not for the faint of heart) there’s surely something to pique your interest.
Enlapse – Time Lapse Photography Solution
In a nutshell… a unique solution to creating quality time lapses.
You can get some absolutely stunning results from Time Lapse photography particularly when focused on crowds or the weather, however there are a few concerns for those looking to make their own, namely battery and storage. This is where the Enlaps comes in. Powered by a built-in solar panel you can easily set up a long term time lapse without worrying about a dead battery and luckily Enlaps is also set up to sync any photos to the cloud so you’ll never run out of space.
The Enlaps also comes with a web app that lets you control your it remotely whether this be setting a schedule or adding/editing filters and time periods.
µPeek – Professional Smartphone Microscope
In a nutshell… A credit card sized microscope that connects wirelessly to your smartphone.
With all the focus on epic panoramas and time lapse photography, people can often forget that there’s a beautiful world much much closer. Thankfully there’s the µPeek, a microscope attachment for your phone barely thicker than a credit card. It offers a magnification range of 35 – 350 x and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. It also features a motorized focus for more controlled shots and has IP65 water resistance.
Fleye – Personal Flying Robot
In a nutshell… A safer, more robust and autonomous drone.
Drones, and in particular the ever popular quadcopters are great. Sadly they are often lacking in personality and visual differentiation so it’s a nice surprise to see the Fleye having a successful run on Kickstarter. One of most unique selling points of the Fleye is its unique spherical design which makes it substantially safer then most current drones. All moving parts are fully shielded so you can hold, touch, push or bump the Fleye without any risk of injury.
The Flyeye is controllable by a smartphone app which allows you to choose between automated control (you can select between selfie, panorama, virtual tripod and more) and manual control using either the virtual gamepad or a physical controller.
Kurv Guitar
In a nutshell… a stringless digital guitar played using touch, motion and gestures.
Playing Air Guitar is a popular past time for rock fans, equal only to playing actual guitar. The Kurv combines the two with its innovative take on guitar playing. Its touch pad detects the pressure of your fingertips enabling you to have a finer control of the sound whilst the rocking out in comfort. The Kurv comes with an initial selection of 60 songs to play along with so you won’t be sort of choices for a while.
As with almost all smart technology nowadays, the Kurv is accompanied by an app which includes ‘intelligent tutorials’ (great for practicing) and the ability to compose and record your own music.
Sound Reactive Mask
In a nutshell… An electro-luminescent mask that displays an outline to the music.
Is it practical? Probably not. Does it look amazing? Absolutely! Taking the idea of equalizer t-shirts and running with it, Montréal-based creatives Outline Montréal have developed a Sound Reactive Mask. Quite unlike anything else on the market the Sound Reactive Mask has, as the name suggests, implemented Sound Reactive Technology which transcribes musical beats into light, reacting to the rhythm of the music.
LIVIN Farms Hive
In a nutshell… a world first desktop hive for edible insects.
With recent suggestions by the UK Government waste agency that bugs and insects should become a regular part of our diet, it makes sense to dip your toes in the water and get involved.
Although it may not be too appetizing to those who are a little squeamish, there are solid recommendations behind it particular that it uses a substantial amount less of resources whether this be land, food or water. According to the project page, the LIVIN Farms Hive enables you to grow 200-500g of ‘meat’ (in this case, mealworms) per week. If you can get past the ‘yuck’ factor, this provides the same amount of protein as 500g of normal meat. A word of warning before you set this up at work, this may not be appreciated by colleagues with a more delicate disposition.