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Geeks, Your Dream Has Become Reality – You CAN Own a Light Saber

bladehilt1Ok, it will not slice the arms and legs of Anakin Skywalker, but it looks just as cool. Oregon designer, Phillip Isherwood, has been building these things for years… and this isn’t just some kid that goes to renaissance fairs that makes crude weapons in his parent’s basement – he really makes them… as in he has a 5,000 sq. ft. facility with 20 employees that work on these things all the time. Yes, geeks. You can rest assured, you are not alone in your desire to own a realistic light saber. There is enough of a steady need for these that twenty adults get paid well to work on these full time, year round. Seriously.

Isherwood just upped the ante by making adaptive saber kit parts so you can construct your own saber, just like any young Jedi should do. You don’t think Obi Wan Kenobi just went to Walmart, do you? Isherwood started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the mass production of these kit parts so you can have different saber to take with you to every sci-fi convention you attend. With more than 2 weeks to go on the campaign, it’s already earned more than double its goal.

You can follow Isherwood’s company, Saber Forge, on Facebook, Twitter, Etsy, YouTube and their website.

Low Tech Finished Wood Meets High Tech Insides to Make the World’s Most Charming Toy

Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 8.27.48 PMIf you have read my blog long enough, you know I love tech. I love finished, polished, machined and handcrafted gizmos of all sorts and I dig blinking lights – and you probably do, too. 🙂

German designer Matas Petrikas has blended all these things into a super charming toy for kids and is presenting this figurine of sorts in a Kickstarter campaign. It’s not a doll, it’s not an action figure. It’s like a totem of sorts, beautifully crafted like wooden toys 60-70 years ago were built, and with innocent tech inside.

Unlike smart phones that blast 60 cycles per second of flickering light to a kid’s eyes and get them more engaged in machines than in people, the Avakai is something your child clutches like a beloved keepsake.

The technology inside Avakai allows it to sense proximity, touch and movement. It reacts to sounds and gives haptic avaphonefeedback. The Avakai works best in pairs, but a single figurine can communicate and play with a mobile device that has the mobile app installed.

This Kickstarter campaign ends in less than 3 weeks and as of this writing, there are still some early bird options left for early backers.

These charming figures are intoxicating in their simplicity and charming sounds and interactions.

This wooden figure can tell the difference between a hug, a gentle stroke or a tap. This intelligent toy can be programmed for different reactions via the app and parents are in control of who and when the Avakai can communicate with another child’s Avakai.

You can follow Matas Petrikas’s company, Vai-Kai, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and their website.

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