Home to some of the most imaginative and ambitious tech ideas, we pick out our favourite crowdfunding projects of the month from the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Whether you want to build the world’s first hoverboard, an umbrella made of air, or a smartring, the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo have a captive audience willing to put their money where your mouth is.
Some have enjoyed great success like the Oculus Rift and Pebble, others like Ouya, perhaps not so much. As developers pitch ideas to a virtual equivalent of Dragon's Den, we will select five projects each month we think has the legs to get funded.
So read on to see our pick of the ccurrently active crowdfunding pitches vying for your money.
Seen a great project we missed? Let us know in the comments section below
Coolbox multiuse toolbox
We called the Coolbox “the Swiss army knife of toolboxes” when we covered it earlier this month, and it’s a pretty good description for the gadget’s appeal.
Seldom has a toolbox been so useful. Outside of simply carting your tools around, it features a rechargeable battery for juicing up your phone, as well as a built-in phone dock and speakers.
Open it up and you’ll find a white board on the inside lid for working out designs and drawing rude pictures on. Just below that, a tablet stand will be ideal for all you 21st century DIYers.
Perhaps the best feature of all is the one that helps give the Coolbox its puntastic name - an ice compartment for chilling drinks in. There’s a bottle opener on the front of the box, naturally.
Other useful features include a built-in LED light for those times where you forget your torch, and a magnetic lid that will keep all your nuts and screws from tumbling off. There’s also a retractable power cord and built-in power bar.
Over on Indiegogo, the Coolbox has already hit around two and a half times its $50,000 (£33,000) funding target, and the campaign only started a on January 26.
Still, it’s worth getting in early if you like the sound of what’s being offered - the Coolbox Early Adopter package (of which there are still around 150 left) will get you a Coolbox for $169(£112), which is $130 (£86) less than its final retail price. There’s a fairly hefty shipping fee to add to that if you’re not based in the US, though.
Link: Coolbox Indiegogo page
Listnr listening assistant
This neat-looking and flexible tool recognises sound to a fine degree, and uses it either as a trigger for smarthome appliances or notifications for your smartphone.
For example, it can be programmed to activate smart lights with a specific type of sound, whether that’s a clap of the hands or a stamp of your feet.
It can also be used as a sophisticated baby monitor. Listnr’s sound recognition engine, which appears to have received some input from Panasonic, can distinguish between four types of baby sounds and send out notifications accordingly - so you know if a kid is screaming its head off or just burbling contentedly.
Slightly spookily, the blurb claims that “with additional development, Listnr will be able to understand peoples’ feelings by hearing their voices.” It will then be able to output a particular colour via its in-built light depending on the “emotional tenor” of the voices in the room.
It still feels a little like the Listnr is a great piece of technology waiting to be applied in a comprehensive way, but maybe it just needs fleshing out or explaining more. Either way, it’s an intriguing device.
If you’re interested, the Listnr was half way to its $50,000 (£33,00) goal at the time of writing, but with a good 37 days left to go. A pledge of $99 (£66) at this point will get you a Listnr device as part of the Early Bird deal.
There’s also a Kickstarter limited edition colour scheme, which can be had for $129 (£86). Shipments are expected in September.
Link: Listnr Kickstarter page
Luna smartbed
We’ve known that the Internet of Things was going to make even everyday household objects and tools smarter, but did you ever think that would apply to your bed?
That’s precisely what the Luna smartbed is promising. If you’re wondering what possible use you could have for a smartbed, well, that’s probably why you don’t have a successful crowdfunding project on the go.
The Luna is a cover that can be slipped onto any mattress, granting it a number of cool features. It’ll monitor the temperature overnight and warm up accordingly, and it can do this independently across two zones.
The Luna will also track your sleep using breathing and heart rate detectors, as well as accelerometers and microphones.
As with so many smarthome gadgets, the Luna uses your smartphone as the controller and hub for all of its functions, hooking up through a dedicated app.
Speaking of the wider smarthome, the Luna will slot in with your existing smartphone set-up. This means you could program your thermostat to turn the heating off, your front door to lock, and your living room lights to turn off when you get into bed.
Luna has already partnered with Nest, Emberlight, Beep, and Lockitron to that end, but it should work with any device set up to support IFTTT.
Luna’s Indiegogo campaign started on January 27, but it has already scored three times its $100,000 (£66,000) target. Signing up for the $199 (£132) featured package will get you a queen size Luna, which represents 20 percent off the full price when it ships in August.
Link: Luna Indiegogo page
DAMO Android touchscreen projector
The DAMO project carries an intriguing promise - to project whatever’s on your Android phone through a normal projector, and then to allow you to interact with that projected image directly.
Essentially, it appears to imbue the wall or projection screen with touchscreen capabilities.
What it actually does is wirelessly project the picture from your phone as normal, then employ a ring or a pen device to bounce back in infrared signal to the DAMO unit. This plugs into the projector using HDMI.
Being able to run demonstrations and presentations from your phone with easy remote control sounds pretty great. If the experience is slick enough and truly plug and play, this could be a winner - although the Android-only nature of the project is a bit of a shame.
DAMO only launched on January 27, and it had made a little under $3,000 (around £2,000) of its $90,000 (£60,000) goal at the time of writing - which is with 39 days to go.
Pledge $99 (£66) and you’ll get the DAMO on launch day (estimated to be August), which represents a saving of $70 (£46). If you’re outside of the US or Taiwan (where the team is based), you’ll need to add $30 for shipping.
Link: DAMO Indiegogo page
Bluewire Bluetooth headset recorder
Those who need to record telephone or VoIP conversations as part of their - be they journalists, PAs, or international super spies - will know that it can be a surprisingly fiddly process.
Bluewire looks to be one of the most convenient solutions. It’s a Bluetooth headset with a recorder built in, and it works for phone calls and VoIP calls.
Both sides of your phone conversations are recorded onto the headset itself, stored on a microSD card.
These calls can be played back using a dedicated Bluewire app. If you have an Android phone with NFC, you can share the files across with a physical tap.
What’s more, you don’t even need to use the headset to conduct the conversation. Once it’s paired up, it will record the calls regardless of the device you opt to use to take the call - as long as the Bluewire itself is within 33 feet of the phone.
Add in wireless Qi charging and a ‘find my keys’ function in the Bluewire app, and you have a potentially very useful professional tool.
Bluewire had just crept over its $40,000 (£27,000) goal at the time of writing, but there’s still time to get in on the Early Bird deal. This is $149 (£99) for a 16GB Bluewire device, which represents a discount of $120 (£80).
Link: Bluewire Indiegogo page
Did you invest in any crowdfunding campaigns this month? Let us know in the comments section below