Welcome to Awesome Tech You Can Buy It: This Week's Crowdfunding Picks

What's up everyone and welcome back to another episode of Awesome Tech You Can Buy It. Today, we're rounding up all of the best crowdfunding projects that have hit the Internet this week. Now, I know it's been a little bit of a slow week in the crowdfunding scene, but I still managed to find five pretty cool projects that you should definitely check out.

First Up: The Air Pack

The first project I want to show you is the air pack. This thing is an inflatable backpack of sorts, and the idea behind it is that it's a packable backpack that when it's all folded up, it fits into the palm of your hand. But then, it can be expanded, and you actually inflate the straps and the hip belts and like this back skeleton thing. I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure why anyone would need a backpack that fits in a backpack, but I guess there's some logic behind it. After all, don't we already have backpacks? Why do we need another one that's just going to pack up in our existing backpack?

Despite my skepticism, the air pack does look like a pretty neat idea, and I can imagine it would be useful for people who want to take their gear on the go without having to carry around a big heavy bag. And if you're interested in getting your hands on one of these things, you can do so for about $125 on Kickstarter. The project is shooting for a January 2019 ship date.

Next Up: The Lid

The next project I want to show you is the lid. Now, this thing is basically the most high-tech coffee cup that I think I've ever seen in my life. It's designed for people who spill all the time, and it's essentially just an insulated coffee cup with a really high-tech top on it that doesn't open up until your lips are there. I'm not entirely sure how it does this, but I assume it has some kind of state-of-the-art lift sensing technology.

The idea behind the lid is that when you put your lips to it, it will automatically open up and let you pour coffee into your mouth without spilling a drop. It's basically like a sippy cup for grown adults! If you're one of those people who has trouble drinking things without spilling all over yourself, this might be just the thing for you. The project is currently live on Kickstarter, and if you pledge now, you can get your hands on one of these fancy cups for about $42. The ship date is looking like November 2018.

The Laser Distance Measure

Moving on, we have the Para laser distance measure, which is basically a laser distance measure with a kind of nifty twist that I haven't really seen anywhere else. This thing uses two lasers to shoot off into space, and then it automatically calculates the distance between them using the Pythagorean theorem. It's like having a little mini-trigonometry tool right in your hand!

The cool thing about this project is that it allows you to take measurements of anything from anywhere in the room without having to move around or adjust your position. You can just stand there, pointing the laser at whatever you want to measure, and let the Para do its magic. It's a pretty convenient feature, especially if you're a DIYer or someone who likes to tinker with projects.

Of course, as with any crowdfunding project, there is a catch. This thing will cost you about $179, which is more than I'm willing to pay for most gadgets. But hey, if it delivers on its promises and becomes a staple in your toolbox, maybe it'll be worth the investment. The ship date is looking like January 2019.

The Underwater Drone

Next up, we have the BW Space underwater drone, which is essentially just another underwater drone that you can buy. This thing is made by some Chinese company (I'm not entirely sure who, but I'm sure it'll turn out to be some shady character with a warehouse full of gadgets), and it's pretty much everything you'd expect from an underwater drone.

It's got a little tether that goes up to shore, beams back video and photos, and can even collect samples or objects from the bottom of the ocean. It's like having your own personal underwater exploration vehicle! But of course, with any underwater drone comes the risk of accidents or malfunction, so I'm sure this thing has its share of caveats.

The ship date is looking like sometime in 2019 (I couldn't find a specific date), and if you're interested in getting your hands on one, you can pledge for about $500. Not cheap, but hey, it's an underwater drone!

The Air Pack Revisited

Finally, we have the air pack again, which I mentioned earlier as a packable backpack with inflatable straps and a back skeleton. It seems like this project has been around for a while now, but I'm not entirely sure why it didn't make the cut for my initial list.

After re-reading the details of the project, I realize that there's actually some logic behind the air pack after all. For example, the inflatable straps can be used to lift heavy gear or equipment, and the back skeleton provides a comfortable place to lean against while you're carrying your stuff around.

The only thing that keeps me from being entirely convinced is the price of $125, which seems like a lot for just an air pack. But hey, if it delivers on its promises and becomes a staple in your backpacking or outdoor gear collection, maybe it'll be worth the investment.

Thanks for watching everybody! If you liked this video, be sure to LIKE and subscribe. And if you want to check out some of our past episodes, just go ahead and look over in the right rail over there, where you should see some older episodes waiting for you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up everyone and welcome back to another episode of awesome tech you can buy it a show where I round up all of the best crowdfunding projects that have hit the Internet this week not gonna lie it's been a little bit of a slow week in the crowdfunding scene but nonetheless I still managed to find five pretty cool projects first of which is the air pack an inflatable backpack of sorts so the idea behind this thing is that it is a packable backpack that when it's all folded up it fits into the palm of your hand but then it can be expanded and you actually inflate the straps and the hip belts and like this back skeleton thing it's a pretty neat idea however I will say that why the hell do you need a backpack that fits in a backpack like doesn't the fact that you already have a backpack why would you need to pack your pack I don't get it but anyway it's kind of a cool idea so it's here if you want to get your hands on one of these things that you can get one for about 125 bucks on Kickstarter right now and they're shooting for January of 2019 ship date moving on we have the lid which is basically the most high-tech coffee cup I think I've ever seen in my life the idea behind this thing is as designed for people who spill all the time it's essentially just an insulated coffee cup with a really high-tech top on it that doesn't open up until its senses that your lips are there I don't know how it does this I assume that it has like state-of-the-art lift sensing technology of some sort and and if your lips aren't touching it it won't open but as soon as you put it to your mouth it opens up and you can just pour coffee down your face like you always do so in other words it's basically a sippy cup for grown adults so if you have trouble drinking things without spilling all over yourself this is for you if you back the project now you can get your hands on one for about 42 bucks and they're shooting for a November of 2018 ship date next up is para a laser distance measure but with a kind of nifty twist that I haven't really seen anywhere else to use it you just crack it open it shoots off two lasers and then it measures the distance of both of those and then it automatically does the Pythagorean theorum thing to find the hypotenuse and figure out that last distance it's a squared plus B squared equals C squared all that happens instantaneously so the cool thing is that allows you to take a measurement of anything from anywhere in the room doesn't matter where you're standing pretty cool pretty convenient however you have to pay for that convenience it'll put you back about 179 dollars if you want one and they're shooting for January of 2019 ship date also this week we have yet another underwater drone this one is called the BW space which is a really weird name I don't know it's made by some Chinese company but it's a pretty sweet drone it's pretty much everything that you would expect from an underwater drone it can go deep into the water it's got a little tether that goes up to shore and beams back video to your controller so you can see everything that's going on under the water but the cool feature that this one has that a lot of others don't is face tracking so if you're filming a diver or somebody under the water you don't actually have to control the drone manually you can just like tap on your tablet say follow that face and then let off the controls it is a little bit on the expensive side you'll have to dish out at least eight hundred and seventy nine dollars to get the whole package with the drone and the controller and all that and they're also saying that they're gonna ship in less than two months in October of 2018 normally I would be pretty skeptical of that but these guys actually have a video at the bottom of their Kickstarter page that shows them assembling these things in the factory in Shenzhen or wherever and so it looks like it's pretty much ready to go last but not least we have the NGO chair which is a folding chair but it's also ridiculously compact you've probably seen camp chairs before you probably use a few broken a few you probably know that they're a pain in the ass to carry anywhere because they're relatively big this is something different this thing is designed to fold down super small no bigger than the size of like a Nalgene water bottle and the other cool thing about it is that it also unfolds which is like at the flick of your wrist it's like unfolding an umbrella basically and then it just pops out plop it down on the ground and you have a chair according to the creators these guys were ready to ship and they're gonna have them on your doorstep by January of 2019 and if you want to get your hands on one all you have to do is pledge to 69 bucks thanks for watching everybody if you like the video be sure to LIKE and subscribe if you want to check out some of our past episodes that we've done just go ahead and look in the right rail over there there should be some older episodes and if you want to check out some of the coming episodes just go ahead and tune in go over to Digital Trends calm or keep an eye out on Instagram TV\n"