Crowdfunding Roundup: GlassUp, Ziphius Aquatic Drone, Kickstand Projector, more

Scott Buscemi | Jul 10 2013 - 12:25 pm PT

As the success stories keep piling up, so do the number of projects filling up crowdfunding websites with, among other things, neat hardware- and software-related products. Some projects, like Pebble, gain thousands of supporters as well as millions of dollars in funding (and end up at Best Buy’s retail stores). Other projects flop and don’t reach their necessary funding amount.

Rather than make you sift through all of these projects, we’re rounding up the best or most notable projects from around the web and delivering them to you in a simple roundup.

Glassup (Indiegogo project) – you can pick up these Google Glass-like glasses for $199 with the Super Early Bird special. It displays texts, turn by turn directions, emails, incoming calls, and more. Not as attractive as Google Glass, but the information is displayed to you without having to look up in a weird direction.
Ziphius Aquatic Drone (Kickstarter project) – “The first app-controlled aquatic drone that plays augmented reality games and shows autonomous behaviors”. The project is currently sitting around 50% funding with just 14 days to go, so it will be a close call when it comes to reaching the funding goal.
Kickstand HD Projector (Kickstarter project) – It doesn’t look like this project is actually going to reach its funding goal, but it’s a really neat design concept nevertheless. This projector folds up into a simple, “carry-able” form factor for those that need to bring projectors to meetings or other events.
CulCharge (Indiegogo project) – Promoted as the “smallest USB charge and data cable”, this project has already met its $15k goal. At just 6cm long, it’s great for those who just need a small accessory to plug in their phones for charging. Personally, I usually use my phone while it’s charging (calls, texts, etc.) so the small size wouldn’t work out that well.
BOLT: Portable USB Battery Backup with Built in Wall Charger (Kickstarter project) – It looks to be just a tad bigger than a regular iPhone wall charger, but this neat device is a battery backup as well! Oddly enough, the company is selling the device as a USB battery backup with the wall charger function added on, rather than the other way around. The company is now working on stretch goals, since the original goal of $44k has been met. By becoming a backer now, you’ll be the first to get it before it goes on sale to the general public.
Snuglet (Kickstarter project) – Sometimes the MagSafe cord falls out just a bit too easily. This is probably the smallest product you’re ever going to buy. It’s a small metallic ring that “lives inside your MagSafe 2 connector”. By inserting the Snuglet, it makes it just a bit tougher for the cord to disconnect, but it still comes out if someone trips on the cord (or some other accident).
Firefly Pick (Kickstarter project) – It’s a pretty simple idea (with lots of engineering behind it) – every time you strum with this pick, it lights up. They worked with a professional musician to make sure the pick was just as versatile as any other while adding a cool feature to the otherwise traditional piece of plastic. Check out the video below: