Good day. This is the second part of the article about the most popular Kickstarter projects of 2014.
Drones HEXO + and AirDog
In recent years, drones have become very popular – flying unmanned vehicles, which are a cross between a children's radio-controlled toy and quite a serious robot. Theoretically, it can be used in a variety of ways, from the delivery of goods and monitoring traffic congestion to industrial espionage and destruction of military targets. But if we talk about models for the consumer market, then first of all, this is photography and video filming. Fans of extreme sports will especially appreciate it. After all, where a team of professional operators with a pair of helicopters was required until recently, now a single drone is enough, which automatically follows the owner and takes pictures from the most spectacular angles.
Last year, two projects of such drones were shot on Kickstarter at once, which raised almost the same amount. And although they really have a lot in common, there are also enough differences.
Their driving performance is almost identical. Hexo + develops a speed of up to 70 km / h, flight time is 15 minutes. AirDog flies a little slower – the maximum speed reaches 65 km / h, the flight time is from 10 to 20 minutes. And if there are no complaints about speed, then the duration of the flight, of course, is frustrating. Perhaps, it is the battery life that remains the weakest point of all drone models available to ordinary buyers.
The design of the devices differs markedly. The Hexo + resembles a futuristic six-rotor helicopter. This design will allow you to confidently stay in the air even in windy weather, ensuring optimal quality of shooting.
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AirDog is more like a flying frog. It has only four screws, but they are mounted on retractable legs, and during transportation they can be easily folded.
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Communication with the vehicles and the determination of the operator's location by the drone is also carried out in different ways. Hexo + is guided by the location of the host's smartphone to which it connects via Wi-Fi. But to work with AirDog, you need an additional device called AirLeash, which is attached to your hand. On the one hand, it is less convenient, especially for athletes performing dangerous stunts. On the other hand, thanks to this solution, the drone will be able to track the owner from a distance of up to 350 meters, which is about 6-8 times more than that of the Hexo +. In addition, AirLeash's case (unlike most smartphones) is waterproof, which will come in handy for water sports enthusiasts.
Finally, the approach to shooting of these droids differs markedly. Hexo + tries to shoot everything as smoothly and reliably as possible, and the operator will be able to mount a spectacular change of angles on his tablet after shooting, for which special software will be supplied with the drone.
AirDog, apparently, is more 'sharpened' for shooting from the first take, for which from the beginning it supports many different tracking modes. So, he knows how to circle around the operator, taking pictures of the object from different sides or patrolling a predetermined route, as well as alternating frontal and side angles while following the owner.
The AirDog project was financially supported by 1,357 people, and the collected amount was $ 1,368,177 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is $ 200,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
The HEXO + project was financially supported by 2,336 people, and the collected amount was $ 1,306,920 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is $ 50,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
PowerUp 3.0 – Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane
Of course, for any operator or extreme sportsman, a device like the HEXO + or AirDog is a real godsend. But those who are not fond of video shooting or extreme sports will be delighted with a flying droid at first. A child lives in every adult. And in childhood, they let paper airplanes or dreamed of buying a kite or radio-controlled toy, probably everything. Another thing is that not everyone will be ready to pay that kind of money for an ordinary toy. Yes, and she will get bored pretty quickly – these are not home-made models that can be endlessly improved, achieving the most smooth and long flight. With a droid, there is no room for creativity – this is a complex technical device, which is strictly not recommended to be modified on your own.
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However, there are exceptions to every rule. In the world of droids, such an exception is the PowerUp 3.0 project, which, despite its simplicity, will surely please not only boys and girls, but also their parents.
In fact, this is not even a droid, but a simple technical device that can turn any paper airplane into a radio-controlled one. The propeller, rudder, Bluetooth Low Energy module and a tiny battery that will last for 10 minutes of flight – that's the whole device. All that is required of the user is to fix it on a paper model and download a special application to a smartphone, with which it will be possible to control the plane. Moreover, you can not only control the steering wheel, but also adjust the engine thrust.
Of course, this project can be treated in different ways. Someone will smile at childhood memories, someone will say a loud 'fi', and someone will decide to buy such a toy as a gift for their children. I personally like him very much, and I am not at all surprised that he collected the required $ 50,000 in just a couple of hours. Even if the device itself is quite simple, it opens up great prospects for lovers of paper models. After all, you can endlessly experiment with the shape of the wings, the density of the paper and the assembly scheme. And every flight will be different.
The project was financially supported by 21,412 people, and the collected amount was $ 1,232,612 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is $ 50,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
LUNAR MISSION ONE: A new lunar mission for everyone
We are smoothly moving from paper airplanes to flights of a completely different scale. After all, we are talking no less about launching a satellite to the moon! True, it is slightly alarming that scientists from the UK developed it. We can only hope that these are not the same infamous 'British scientists', but their colleagues.
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The authors of the project are not going to exchange for trifles. Their global goal is to build a full-fledged base on the moon. But this is an extremely difficult matter, and there is simply not a lot of necessary information to start designing. It is to collect the missing information that a satellite will be sent, which, among other things, will collect soil samples at the proposed construction site.
As can be seen from the results, the project not only managed to collect the required amount, but even received a little more. The reason for the success of such a specific project is simple – the creators not only asked to donate a substantial amount for the benefit of science, but also found something to offer users in return. Each contributor who donated more than £ 600 to the project could leave a message for posterity (text, photo or even a short video), which will be recorded in a 'time capsule' and remain on the Moon. According to the authors of the project, it has every chance to exist there for a couple of million years.
The project was financially supported by 7,297 people, and the collected amount was £ 672,447 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is £ 600,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
Pono Music – Where Your Soul Rediscovers Music
I've always been a little jealous of those who, from the first seconds, feel the difference between 'good' and 'bad' sound and understand perfectly well that those headphones are good, and these are so-so. I have no ear for music and in most cases I don't hear any difference. In my case, good sound is loud sound. So the players for me differ, first of all, in the amount of built-in memory and design, and headphones – in the form factor and the presence of volume control buttons.
Oddly enough, and among those who are chasing 'high-quality sound', there are enough people who have stepped on their ears. Their appreciation of sound is usually directly proportional to the popularity of a brand, and they may well begin to genuinely admire the sound of a low-quality knock-off if they see a popular logo on it. And vice versa – it is absolutely impossible to appreciate the sound of a player of an unknown brand, convincing himself that it is far from the products of famous companies in any case.
What requirements for the player real audiophiles may have is very difficult for me to imagine. I only know that many friends complain that it is getting harder and harder to find a quality player every day. How much such people will like the idea of ordering a player on the Internet blindly, without being able to estimate its sound in advance, is also a mystery to me. But something tells me that very few people will be willing to take such risks.
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As a result, it may seem like any attempt to go to Kickstarter with a quality player project is doomed to failure. Fashion seekers will never buy products from an unknown brand. Those who are more important not the label, but the sound, are unlikely to want to buy a pig in a poke. Nevertheless, the PonoMusic Team was not afraid of all these difficulties. They decided to take the risk, and as a result, they managed to please both.
First of all, it should be noted that the player was presented by the Canadian rock musician Neil Young. As far as I understand, this musician has enough fans, and the question with an unknown brand has disappeared by itself. Plus, a professional recommendation definitely carries weight among those for whom sound quality matters most.
Another reason for the popularity of the player is its positioning. This is a solution from connoisseurs of good sound for connoisseurs of good sound. And besides ordinary users, many musicians supported him. Young says that he himself is not satisfied with the sound quality of most portable players on the market. And he wanted to create a device that, despite its compact size, will provide studio quality sound. FLAC will be considered a 'native' format in the player, which will achieve amazing sound frequency, wide frequency range and minimum noise. Indeed, compared to mp3, this format fits six times more information. In addition to it, support for ALAC, mp3, WAV, AIFF, AAC is declared.
The body of the device is triangular with a touchscreen display on one of its edges. Fortunately, the developers did not forget about the support of physical keys either, although there are only three of them: the pause key and the volume buttons. At the top of the device there is a headphone jack and an additional audio output. The player's weight is relatively light – about 130 g.
According to the musician, hearing the sound of the Pono Player for the first time is like going out into the sun after being imprisoned for a long time. Whether it is true or not, I will not undertake to judge.
The project was financially supported by 18,220 people, and the collected amount was $ 6,225,354 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is $ 800,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
3Doodler 2.0: The World's First 3D Printing Pen, Reinvented
WobbleWorks LLC. is not coming to Kickstarter for the first time. Their 3D pen project called the 3Doodler 3D Printing Pen was a hit in 2013, grossing $ 2,344,134. Now the authors have presented its improved version, which is called 3Doodler 2.0.
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For those who at one time missed this project, I will briefly recall its essence. This is a very interesting device, which is a kind of hybrid of a ballpoint pen and a 3D printer. He draws such a pen not with ink, but with melted non-toxic plastic, which immediately solidifies. Thus, 3D models can literally be drawn in the air. Moreover, the rods can be of different colors, and some of them even glow in the dark. I don’t know how convenient all this is in practice, but the video looks amazing. I think that a few years ago such 3D pictures, drawn by hand in the air, would not have been called anything other than magic.
The new model differs from the old one in its compact size and beautiful design. The first version of 3Doodler was frankly ugly and even had a fan built into the case, but 3Doodler 2.0 looks just fine. In any case, if you believe the official photos and videos.
The project was financially supported by 10,160 people, and the collected amount was $ 1,552,256 (the minimum amount for the successful completion of the project is $ 30,000).
Project page on Kickstarter
