[ 014 ]
Senstone
A WEARABLE VOICE RECORDER
senstone.io | Goal: US$ 50 ,000 | Raised: US$ 266 ,116 from 2, 465 backers | RRP: From US$ 145Today, it’s rare we’re very far from our mobiles, but it still happens — meetings, exercising,
grabbing the mail, popping to the loo, chasing your children around the back garden... If you’re
someone who needs to record your ideas, and a great one sneaks up on you while you’re away
from your mobile, how can you record it? Senstone is a wearable dictation device that’s
apparently five times faster than an app and a great deal less cumbersome than a mobile in your
hand. By automatically converting your spoken words into text, it will capture your thoughts
and file them away for when you next need them (after adding both tags and location info),
so you can keep getting on with what you were doing before. Its companion app is available for
both iOS and Android, and it comes with multiple different ways to wear it, so you can have it
clipped to your collar, on a necklace or around your wrist. It has a screen that provides flashing
sequences as feedback and a button for start/stop controls. There’s work currently underway to
link the Senstone with apps like Evernote and Trello, too, for greater convenience.EYE
THE iPHONE CASE THAT’S MORE
FEATURES THAN CASE
http://www.esti.me | Goal: US$ 95 ,
Raised: US$ 290 ,062 from 2, 087 backers
RRP: US$ 189The Eye is a thin and durable polymer/rubber
cover for your iPhone 6/6s/ 7 and 6/Plus/6s
Plus/7 Plus. On the back is a 5-inch FHD
AMOLED display with a res of 1,920 x 1,080;
it has an SD card slot so you can expand your
storage up to 256GB; its onboard battery
extends your phone’s battery life and
introduces wireless charging; it includes two
extra SIM card slots; it houses a 3.5mm
headphone jack; and that extra screen is
capable of running “pure” Android Nougat,
so you can have the best of both worlds.
There’s a whole heap of other features
available, too, which makes this one hell of
a package. This thing is focused more on
features than it is actually protecting your
phone, though, so you’ll need to weigh up
your priorities.THE ERGO
HELPING YOU FORCE YOURSELF
INTO A BETTER POSTURE
http://www.ergobacksupport.com | Goal: US$5,
Raised: US$ 240 ,120 from 2, 133 backers
RRP: US$ 149.Working at a desk all day sucks, no matter
how amazing the subject matter. If you, like
us, only get up for loo and lunch breaks, then
you’ve likely got yourself a posture problem.
Enter the ERGO. This futuristic-looking piece
of tech (seriously, it looks like something
Commander Shepard would wear) can
apparently help you effortlessly find that
proper posture. It’s not just for sitting down,
though. You can wear the ERGO whenever you
need it. Do you slouch while you walk? Don
this piece of kit and you’ll improve your
balance and adopt a more natural gait. It has
four different settings — looking after your
head, shoulders, chest and abdominal
positioning. There’s a lot to say about this
thing but not much space — so definitely
check it out for yourself.[ CROWDFUNDED ]Kickstarted!
FROM THE PRACTICAL TO THE QUIRKY TO THE DOWNRIGHT
STRANGE, CROWDFUNDING WEBSITES HAVE ALLOWED THE
CREATION OF AN AMAZING RANGE OF PRODUCTS. HERE’S A
SELECTION OF LATEST PROJECTS THAT PIQUED OUR INTEREST.
[ CARMEL SEALEY ][ CONFUSED TROMBONE ]
The ‘not quite there yet’ crowdfunder of the month
SOMETIMES, A GOOD IDEA ISN’T SEEN BY THE RIGHT CROWDFUNDING PEOPLEINMOTION SMART PHOTO ALBUM
BOTH DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL PHOTOS TOGETHER AT LAST?
http://www.inmotionalbums.comThis product is an interesting one. Though it looks very unlikely to succeed in its Indiegogo
campaign, it did receive an Innovation Award at CES 2017 — so clearly, some people (and probably
more technical minded ones at that) think it’s a good idea. So what is this thing? This device is a
book with actual pages, though rather thick ones, where you can place your physical photos, but at
the bottom of each right-hand page is a photo-shaped cutout, which allows you to see the digital
photo frame sitting on the back cover. It registers which page you’re on and shows additional pictures
or videos. Select a few favourite pictures from, say, your wedding and combine that with a video of
the vows or a montage set to music. Or perhaps
you’ve just had a big birthday bash, a spectacular
holiday or you’ve simply got to accompany those
pictures of your cat with a video of her going
mental. Not everybody will like the idea of the
InMotion — especially those who are more
digitally minded — but the option of having
mixed media like this is definitely a draw card
for some. In fact, the resident photographer
in our office is keen on the idea.HOTSPOTKICKSTARTED!