The wearable tech industry is projected to swell by 200,000 percent by 2018, so the nascent sector could easily realize its potential of becoming a $12.6 billion industry with ideas such as those featured in this week's Crowd-Fueled Kickstarter Thursday roundup.
HattrickWear
Wearable tech's augmented reality aspirations are broken dreams right now, with the top players content in fragmented offerings, according the team behind HattrickWear. The developers of an AR attachment for hats state their product aspires to take a universal approach to fostering the adoption of projected interfaces.
With a smartphone nestled inside HattrickWear's bill and the handset's weight supported by a band, the accessory refracts the mobile device's display through two prisms. Users can interact with the projected interface using voice commands and hand gestures tracked by their smartphone's camera.
Hattrick only sought a modest goal of $300 to 3D print the accessory in the campaign's "kitchen," though its 11 backers have pledged $10,975. With the first stage of funding complete, the campaign will pursue $100,000 in pledges.
"Why should you care? Because, you're awesome. And HattrickWear will make you the center of attention wherever you go," states the campaign.
Ear-O-Smart
Samsung recently announced it's finally getting close to eventually releasing slimmer bands for its Moto 360 smart watch. Samsung, like other smart watch manufacturers, has failed to impress a good deal of women with its bulky wearables, but a Kickstarter campaign has an answer for women who want to track their health in style.
Ear-o-smart claims to be the first out with smart earrings. The smart earrings will track and transmit biometrics such as heart rate, activity level and calories burned.
"Would you want to wear a bulky wrist monitor to a party or on a date? We think not," states the campaign. "We believe that wearable electronics should be embedded into the products we use in our everyday lives; for that reason, we created Ear-o-smart."
With more than a month to goal, BioSensive Technologies still has hope it will receive the pledges needed to fund Ear-o-smart. But, honestly, $557 CAD is a long way from $30,000.
Dazln
Wearables that deliver both functionality and efficacy are most likely to enjoy a long life in production and on the market, but novelties will have their place in keeping people interested in the sector. With its NFC nails, Dazln claims to be nothing other than a novelty.
"We're not out to save the galaxy, bring peace to all mankind or cure a deadly disease," states Dazln's campaign. "We're just hoping to spread a little holiday cheers in our own method."
Dazln's tiny LED ornaments are applied to polished nails, where they lie dormant until they're near a smartphone that has near-field communications. So when a bedazzled individual lifts his or her smartphone, the LED-specked nails start dazzlin'.
With only $689 pledged and roughly two weeks to go, Dazln's hopes appear on track to be dashed. The campaign hopes to draw $10,000 in support before Nov. 29.
Check out on last week's Crowd-Fueled Thursday report to find out about other wearables and a campaign that sought to teach turtles how to fly for a day.
