The sun isn’t the only hot thing this summer. Check out the coolest new ideas brewing at creative crowd funding platform Kickstarter this month. Neat freaks, pet lovers, and parents—you’re in luck.
JUST KEEP SWIMMING
You’ve seen dogs on wheels. You’ve seen turtles on wheels. You’ve seen pretty much all animals on wheels. But what about fish, I hear you cry? When will our be-scaled friends be able to hit the open road? Well, that time has now come thanks to Fish on Wheels—a roller aquarium that lets fish drive. Yes, you read that correctly. The electric car moves in the direction that the fish swim towards, allowing them to break the monotony of their fin-based lives and get a new aquarium experience. With enough space to fill up the tank with pebbles, fake seaweed and all the other gunk that goldfish blow bubbles at, this mobile home can open up a whole new world for our water-bound friends.
BRUSH LIKE NO ONE’S WATCHING
Okay, so nobody actually enjoys cleaning their teeth, but Kolibree are attempting to create an interactive dental experience by connecting your toothbrush to your cell. Track whether you’re brushing your teeth for the right amount of time and hitting all the correct zones in your mouth to improve your dental prowess, and save money avoiding preventable procedures in the future. The app supports multiple users on any one profile so families can monitor all of their important oral hygiene info in one place. It produces daily and weekly reports on your brushing stats as well as incorporating games into the app to entertain the kids as they clean, which sounds like the perfect way to get little ones interested in dental health and keep your teeth pearly white.
HOT WHEELS
Sick of sitting in traffic or crowded subways on your way to work? Look no further than Marbel, the record-setting, streamlined electric skateboard that weighs less than 10lbs. When fully charged, it can go for 10 miles, has enough power to go 20 miles per hour and all of its electronics and batteries are safely integrated into its Kevlar deck. Marbel also connects with your smartphone so you can customize your riding style, with a range of different modes to suit you. There’s ECO Mode, which looks at your past hour of riding and adjusts your next journey accordingly, Sport Mode, which puts the board on full pelt and Starter Mode, the anti-daredevil’s choice that cruises at 6 miles per hour. Acceleration and braking come courtesy of either a handheld remote or the phone app, allowing you to speed up and slow down with the simple slide of a button.
SIT, STAY, PLAY
If you’re a dog owner feeling guilty about leaving your pooch alone in your apartment while you’re at work then fear not, because this project has the perfect solution for all day play. CleverPet, a gaming console, is WiFi connected and seeks to “entertain and educate” your dog while you’re gone. Using behavioural science-inspired algorithms, the device encourages dogs to engage with its touch-sensitive pads using their nose or paws, and rewards them with food when they solve puzzles correctly. Games include word learning, where canines have to respond to pre-recorded commands of your voice, doggie DDR, where they press the pads as they light up, and odd-one-out. The console also links up to your cell, so you can monitor your pup’s progress while you’re out of the house.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Children and smartphones aren’t always the greatest combination, but if you want to contact your kid on the go without worrying they’ll be posting selfies all over Facebook, try Tinitell—a wearable cell. Designed to look like a wristwatch, the software is equipped with a voice recognition system which is activated by the push of a button. Say the name you want to dial and the device connects you with mom or dad immediately. Dreamt up as a means of encouraging kids to play outside while giving parents peace of mind, Tinitell is water resistant, has volume control and is a great solution for keeping tabs on kids on-the-go.
Stop worrying—start Kickstarting.
