I’m a big fan of Kickstarter as it’s empowering entrepreneurs to come up with a whole range of interesting products that may not have seen the light of day through traditional funding mechanisms.
I’ve personally backed a Kickstarter project called Light by Moore’sCloud. The product is billed as:
Beautiful, intelligent, connected light. Open hardware, open software, endless possibilities for play and delight.
Not only are they developing a fun product, but they are pioneering the way intellectual property is distributed as well. As the team says in their latest update; they are an organization dedicated to sharing all of our intellectual property as freely and as widely as possible.
I caught up with Mark Pesce, the Sydney-based serial entrepreneur behind this project and asked him a few questions:
>What prompted you to build this?
It’s something I’ve attempted several times over the last decades, but only now have we gotten to high-performance (what used to be called ‘workstation class’) computing at an incredibly affordable price point – around $12 in components. It opens the door to entirely new design methodology. And it’s why we’re named Moore’sCloud.
> What is the biggest challenge you face in getting the product to market (not including fundraising)?
There are a lot of subtle UX issues involved in creating a device that has a lot of interiority; how do you present that depth in a way that is not confronting to people without deep technical skills?
> When can I expect my own Light – in the Xmas hamper?
We hope to have them rolling off the assembly line in May.
> Is this the first of a range of products you plan on releasing – what else do you have in mind?
Christmas lights, for one thing. And room lighting. But we see ourselves as getting a toe into the pond of the Internet of Things. We’ll learn a lot that can be applied to other possible forms and appliances.
Thanks Mark! I am certainly looking forward to playing with the product.
They’ve currently got 1,721 backers with $202k pledged towards their $700k goal. 13 days to go – sign on and make a pledge!