Technology has splendidly changed how we spend our time, money and resources and it has amazingly changed our perception about everything. Over a past couple of decades gadgets well ahead of their time have been translated into reality. Gadgets like Smart Watches, Smart-phones, Google Glasses and iPad’s have inundated our daily life. But the real paradigm shift that deserves appreciation and respect is that funding of new ideas has shifted from plutocrats to philanthropists.
Websites like Kickstarter, IndieGogo, CrowdFunder, Rocket hub, CrowdRise allow people to raise funds for their creative technological or business ideas. The only problem though is that most of these websites follow an All-or-none protocol. It means that if your idea is brilliant enough to intrigue funders, then only can you raise pledged money. This statement itself hints at the quality and uniqueness of crowd-funded tech products, so it becomes a little more than daunting to pick and choose the coolest ones. Despite all that, we scoured for the best and we have compiled a list of 5 Cool Crowd-Funded Tech Products .
1. KickStarter MaKey MaKey Invention Kit By Jay Silver
Goal: $25,000 | Raised: $568,106
Most people put Pebble Smart Watch first on their list, but I personally believe that MaKey MaKey reflects best the concept of crowd-funding projects. The kit can be connected to daily objects to turn them into touch-pads, drum sets, musical instruments, joy pads and possibly everything imaginable. With Makey Makey, imagination is literally the only limit.
2. KickStarter Pebble E-Paper Watch by Pebble Technology
Goal: $100,000 | Raised: $10,266,845
Pebble connects to your iOS and Android device, displays time of course and a multitude of other customizable information. It features an e-paper display (Similar to the one found on Kindle) that can display information from your smartphone like notifications and can be used as a fitness tracker and other such customizable app functions.
3. IndieGogo Gecko by Bahubali Shete
Goal: $50,000 | Raised: $114,651
Gecko is a multi-functional minimalistic gadget that can drastically enhance your smart-phone experience. It is about the size of a dime but its size certainly doesn’t limit its functionality. Gecko can be used to gesture control your smartphone functions; you can create endless possibilities like music control, motion alarm, camera trigger, location traction (Like for Keys and other valuables) and much more.
4. Indiegogo Angel Open Sensor By Eugene Jorov
Goal: $100,000 | Raised: $253,398
There are many fitness and health trackers available now, but Angel is unique, because it is Open Source. And because it is Open Source, the freedom is bound to attract developers which in-turn is a huge treat for end-users. It can track workouts, monitor sleep/heart rate, calculate fertility propensity and perform other out-of-the-box functions.
5. KickStarter Remee The REM enhancing Lucid Dreaming Mask by Bitbanger Labs
Goal: 35,000 | Raised: $572,891
Welcome to the elite class of lucid dreamers. This Cool Crowd-Funded Tech Product pushes the boundaries of mundane reality into programmable awesome dreams. You can spin your dreams to your advantage; the possibilities are limitless, like you can rehearse your speech, get rid of public speaking fear, solve mathematical problems, dive into living cells, dig deeper into physical concepts and much more.
