Home Tags Posts tagged with "kickstarter"

kickstarter

A revolutionary Kickstarter project – carbonized coffee fused into futuristic socks – promises to spell the end to stinky feet as it filters and adsorbs sweat and odor.

UK’s Ministry of Supply (MoS), who designed the garment, hope for £20,000 ($30,000) of funding but with more than two weeks to go until the opportunity to back them ends, they have already surpassed their goal four times over.

MoS’ previous inventions include the £65 ($100) Apollo 2 dress shirt, a revolutionary garment that got widespread recognition.

The shirt is made using anti-microbial fabric with moisture wicking qualities and NASA heat-regulation technology.

The high-tech firm has now turned their hands to socks for their latest sartorial innovation.

Named Atlas, MoS once again evoke ancient Greece for the name of their invention. The garment comes with a promise of cool and comfortable feet thanks in part to coffee.

The socks are made from a mix of cotton, recycled polyester and carbonized coffee which filters and absorbs sweat and odor to keep feet cool. MoS say that this is exactly how a Brita water filter works.

MoS Atlas socks infused with coffee promise to spell the end to smelly feet

MoS Atlas socks infused with coffee promise to spell the end to smelly feet

Carbonized coffee “attracts molecules” (composed mostly of carbon) with its spongy structure. The trapped molecules are released in the wash, ready for a whole new dose of smells the next time they’re worn.

The coffee is reclaimed from coffee roasting factories and shops and then subjected to a pharmaceutical process to remove oils and that coffee smell. It is then infused into the company’s recycled polyester yarns.

Atlas has undergone lab tests that MoS claims showed it to be three times more effective at absorbing smells than regular cotton.

The firm used 3D strain analysis to visualize how the skin stretches in 3D and adjusts, so that the sock doesn’t have to bend and stretch to accommodate foot movements as conventional socks do.

They also used pressure mapping to locate points that require extra support, a similar to technology used in the production of customized orthotics. This technique combined with thermal imaging identified hot spots and help improve ventilation.

They “hope to provide new levels of comfort that were not previously possible”.

MoS says the socks are durable, easily passing the eight month stress-test.

Manufacturing will be outsourced to specialist textile mills that use techniques such as robotic knitting, which MoS says is like 3D printing but for knitwear.

MoS has poured as much clothing technology into ATLAS as it can, even down to the robotic knitting machines it uses to make the coffee socks.

Robotic knitting machines are like 3D printers for clothing, and offers the same level of precision and customization industry 3D printers provide.

The sock project is now fully funded on Kickstarter four times over, so the MoS team’s goal to product the garment in a variety of colors other than black is most likely to become a reality.

The Atlas performance dress socks, a “Brita filter for your feet”, will come in medium and large and will cost £18 ($28) for two pairs. The project is still open for funding on Kickstarter for another 15 days.

Ouya games console, which industry experts say could disrupt the industry, has begun shipping to customers.

The Ouya costs $99 and runs on Google’s Android operating system.

Games on the system will be a fraction of the cost of traditional console games, more comparable to those found on mobiles and tablets.

However, Ouya may struggle to muscle in on a market dominated by big players such as PlayStation and Xbox, one analyst predicted.

Ouya games console costs $99 and runs on Google's Android operating system

Ouya games console costs $99 and runs on Google’s Android operating system

The Ouya was financed using crowdfunding website Kickstarter, where it attracted over $8 million in funding from 63,416 backers.

The company has begun sending out consoles to the first supporters of the project – while other interested gamers can pre-order the device.

The Ouya will look to capitalize on a growing popularity for cheap, often independently produced games.

Mobile devices have eaten into the handheld gaming market, attracting millions of casual gamers who are not prepared to invest in bespoke gaming devices, but are still keen to dabble in gaming.

While traditional platforms, such as Nintendo’s DS or Sony’s PlayStation Vita, have titles costing of $50-$60, games downloaded from app stores are considerably cheaper, and often free.

Developers on these newer platforms are instead looking to other monetization methods, such as in-game upgrades.

The Ouya is the first major attempt to bring that same kind of disruption to the home gaming industry, says gaming analyst Piers Harding-Rolls, from IHS.

While Ouya is the first major launch of this style of gaming device – it will soon have plenty of company.

Gamestick, a UK-based firm, is also developing its own Android-based console.

Nvidia, traditionally a manufacturer of high-end graphical hardware, announced its Project Shield console at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Perhaps an even greater threat comes from Valve, the PC gaming giant which confirmed it was to make its own “Steambox” – a console utilizing the already massively popular Steam network to deliver games.

But Ouya is the first, and likely to be the cheapest.

Ouya console, a small cuboid, can be opened up and upgraded if users wish. It uses off-the-shelf components, minimizing manufacturing costs.

[youtube 0d_0fFFEdlk]