Gift Ideas: 10 Techie Crowd-Pleasers Born on Kickstarter

Maybe you associate Kickstarter with one-off art projects, or inexplicable potato-salad parties. But in the mere five years since its launch, the famous crowdfunding platform has also been a launchpad for a slew of intriguing gadgets and tech products.

Normally we would advise caution about doing holiday shopping on Kickstarter — fledgling creators launching new campaigns for untested product ideas may not end up shipping promptly (or ever).

But lots of those creators do deliver and have come up with cool stuff that’s crossed over into the real marketplace. Here, then, are 10 Kickstarter-born possibilities that strike us as crowd-pleasing gifts.

1. Kano

This build-it-yourself computer kit is kid friendly but billed as an “all ages” item. And it does indeed seem like a suitable educational gift for anybody who wants to channel her inner Wozniak: Kit components include a Raspberry Pi chip, keyboard, and “DIY speaker,” but it’s up to you to figure the thing out and determine its ultimate function. More than 13,000 people pledged more than $1.5 million to the original Kickstarter campaign in 2013. Today the Kano is $149.99 at Kano.Me.

You can read more about the Kano and its creators here.

2. 3Doodler

Think of this as a cross between a 3D printer and a soldering iron: Load it up with strands of colored plastic and use this “pen” to “literally draw in the air.” The creators raised more than $2.3 million from more than 26,000 backers on Kickstarter in 2013. Our reviewer David Pogue wasn’t too impressed with the pen, but perhaps beauty is in the eye of the pen-holder. These days a 3Doodler and 50 plastic strands sells for $99.

3. Pixelstick

The Pixelstick is basically a T-shaped aluminum tube-like structure packed with colored LED lights; program light patterns into the thing and wave it about in a dark setting in front of a camera set to take a long-exposure image, and you can make fascinating “light painting” images — like the one above, or this one, by some random person I follow on Flickr. This 2013 Kickstarter campaign raised about $630,000 from more than 2,000 backers. A Pixelstick kit runs $325 via Pixelstick.com.

4. Gramovox

Sure, it’s trendy to be “into vinyl” these days. But if there’s a hardcore retro-head on your list, consider Gramovox, the Bluetooth gramophone. Sync it up with your phone or other music-playing digital device, and listen through a steel horn mimicking the iconic shape of an old (old) school 1920s speaker. On Kickstarter, its creators raised some $240,000 from 900-plus backers. Their invention now goes for $400.

5. Projecteo

Billed as a “tiny Instagram projector,” this wee device converts your favorite brunch imagery and/or selfies into a miniature old-school slide show: Pick nine of your favorite snaps, and Projecteo puts them onto a small disc that comes with, and snaps into, your tiny projector. (Don Draper-style monologue not included.) The Projecteo Kickstarter campaign attracted nearly 2,800 backers and $87,000 back in 2012. These days it’s $34.98 at GetProjecteo.com.

6. The Present Clock

Described as “a contemporary response to the experience of time,” this unusual clock’s hand makes its journey around the dial not twice in a day, but once a year: “Equinoxes of the year line up at the three and six positions, and solstices line up at twelve and six.” More than 800 people made time to commit almost $100,000 to the project’s 2011 Kickstarter campaign. But you can order it right away from the MoMA Store, for $200.

7. Bulbing

This LED lamp’s main trick is to offer a neat optical illusion — appearing three-dimensional from the front, but actually flat and thin when viewed from the side. The Kickstarter project (originating in Tel Aviv) raised the equivalent of about $175,000 from more than 1,800 backers earlier this year. Now its creators offer a whole range of similar lamps for $120 each, at Bulbing-Light.com.

8. Olloclip

The original Olloclip was a three-in-one lens system designed to soup up the photo-taking possibilities on an iPhone 4. That was in 2011, and 1,300 Kickstarter backers committed more than $68,000 to help make the idea a reality. Today, Olloclip makes a whole range of multilens products compatible with various smartphones. Specs and prices vary, but a four-lens (fish-eye, wide angle, and two flavors of macro) version for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus runs $79.99 at Olloclip.com.

9. Constellation Quilt

OK, this isn’t a gadget, but it’s a pretty cool bit of science-friendly geekery converted into a comforting form: a quilt depicting the night sky. As the original Kickstarter pitch put it, it can be “a learning tool, a functional art object and modern heirloom.” About 950 backers pledged just shy of $150,000 to that campaign. Today, you can buy it for $279; or, for the same price, chooe newer navy-blue iteration, one of many products at HapticLab.com.

10. Ototo

Ototo is in effect a mini synthesizer that attaches via sensor wires to most any inanimate object, and effectively converts whatever it’s connected to into a musical input. So if you’ve ever wanted to make music with a banana, spoon, and glass of water, here’s your chance! Earlier this year, its UK-based makers raised the equivalent of about $115,000 from 915 Kickstarter backers to create the device; now you can buy it from the MoMA Store for $145.

Maybe the coolest thing about this list is that it ultimately owes its existence to — by my rough count — something like 50,000 Kickstarter backers who helped all these ideas turn into actual things you can give to someone. The only downside, I guess, is that a complete show of gratitude would involve an awful lot of thank-you notes.

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