Kickstarter can be a bit of a crapshoot. There are tons of projects on the site, and the vast majority can seem to be, shall we say, a waste of time. That said, the site also hosts some really cool and very serious projects looking to get off the ground. Below we've done the legwork for you and have rounded up 5 cool projects from people right here in Colorado. If you like them, help them out – if not, you can always help this guy make the documentary ‘Baptized in Cannabis’. He even says he’s going to use the money for pot and gas.
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Roost Laptop Stand: Free Yourself From Laptop Neck Pain
Denver; 4,432 Backers, $446,409 or $475,000 Funded; 11 Days to Go
Lets face it, if you work in a tech startup you probably spend a lot of time staring at your laptop. All that bad posture can have long-term effects on your health – which is one of the most uncool parts of working in tech. This Kickstarter promises to improve your posture and help eliminate pain from craning your neck to see your laptop screen all day.
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Colorado Springs; 12 Backers; $785 of $65,000 Funded; 8 Days to Go
Basically, this is a quarter sized 8x8 LED light display that you can program with an app – or at least that’s what the developers want to happen. Should this project come to fruition you’ll be able to click on each individual pixel you want to light up, then tell it how long you want it to stay lit for and the app does the rest. It’s like Lite Brite for modern kids.
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Ft. Collins; 155 Backers; $9,615 of $8,000 funded; 17 Day to Go
Speaking of LEDs, this project wants to make tiny LED stickers with conductive adhesive and ink. That means you’ll actually be able to draw circuits on paper, stick on a tiny LED light and it will light up. I’m guessing some very creative people are going to figure out some really cool ways to utilize this technology.
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DENHAC: Denver’s Collaborative Hacker Space
Denver; 11 Backers; $1,076 of $10,000 Funded; 9 Days to Go
The Open Media Foundation is partnering with DENHAC to bring a hacker space into OMF’s building off of Kalamath Street. There’ll be access to 3D printers, a laser cutter, silicon and circuit workshops, video equipment and work studios. Sounds pretty sweet, right?
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Denver; 8 Backers; $1,351 of $15,000 Funded; 54 Hours to Go
Ok, so this isn’t technically a tech-project, but it’s just too cool not to include. This project wants to create a motorized skateboard that is powerful enough to tow a trailer or go offroad. They are, apparently, stabile and easy to use, and can reach 35 mph or tow 300 lbs. Why you’d ever want to do any of this on a skateboard is well beyond me, but it’s pretty sweet.
BONUS: CS1 Cinematic Smartcase
This particular project hasn’t even been added to Kickstarter yet, but the creators reached out to us to tell us that it would be added soon. Basically, you slide your smartphone into this contraption and it turns it into a full-on video camera. You get an intuitive trigger, a place to add a microphone, and even a hot shoe. It’ll also come with the Cinematic App to make video editing robust, fun and easy. Sure to be a hipster essential, right?
