BLINKY.SHOES

Every Friday, we’re taking a look at some of the smartest, most innovative projects that have caught our attention on Kickstarter and Indiegogo over the last seven days.

Buddy

This adorable companion robot can improve your everyday life by protecting your home as a security guard, entertaining your kids as a playmate and structuring your schedule as a personal assistant. Blue Frog Robotics is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

Jewelbots

These Arduino-compatible, customizable friendship bracelets teach girls the basics of coding. Jewelbots is currently seeking $30,000 on Kickstarter.

Vortex

This responsive robot for kids isn’t only fun to play with, but is open source and completely programmable as well. DFRobot is currently seeking $54,035 on Kickstarter.

These LED strips will make your shoes light up in bright, colorful patterns with every step. Ultimate Celebration is currently seeking $5,000 on Kickstarter.

Smart Tracker 2

This real-time GPS tracker will let you keep tabs on anything from anywhere. Smart Tracker is currently seeking $30,000 on Indiegogo.

Trakkies

This tracking device — which comes in two different forms with varying ranges — can be attached to just about any object, warning you whenever it is left behind. Trakkies is currently seeking $112,229 on Kickstarter.

REMzen

This intelligent mask analyzes your sleep while waking you up naturally with spectral light therapy. REMzen is currently seeking $15,000 on CrowdSupply.

Saent

This hardware and software solution keeps you focused on the task at hand by blocking out distractions and finding your optimal work rhythm. Saent is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

Zodiac FX

This board provides many of the features of an OpenFlow switch at a fraction of the cost, and is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Northbound Networks is currently seeking $30,693 on Kickstarter.

Swish

This wearable basketball app offers tips, tricks and data as you’re playing, giving you access to the insight of the best coaches and players. Onyx Motion is currently seeking $7,870 on Indiegogo.

DropAP

This high-performance, smart router integrates with cloud services and mobile apps to extend beyond the home. DropAP is currently seeking $45,000 on Indiegogo.

IRDuino

This open source, Arduino-compatible USB infrared receiver gives new life to old remote controls. IRDuino is currently seeking $2,000 on CrowdSupply.

Biom

This flower pot connects to an accompanying app over Wi-Fi, transforming your plant into a “vegetal cyborg.” Biom is currently seeking $55,183 on Kickstarter.

Caruma

This all-in-one gadget links your car to the cloud to deliver notifications and advice, log trips, and livestream dual high-definition video right to your phone. Caruma is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

HamShield

This shield allows your Arduino to communicate with people and things far away using powerful amateur radio bands. Maker Casey Halverson is currently seeking $25,000 on Kickstarter.

ODO

This solar-powered, autonomous irrigation system is comprised of a controller, a gateway, sensors, sprinklers and a mobile app that can manage up to four lines at once. One Drop One Solutions is currently seeking $86,151 on Kickstarter.

EyeControl

This pair of portable glasses enables those with ALS to communicate by translating eye movements into spoken words or text. EyeControl is currently seeking $30,000 on Indiegogo.

Sensory Percussion

This sensor clamps to the side of a drum and connects to a software program to turn your kit into an expressive controller for digital sounds. Sunhouse is currently seeking $80,000 on Kickstarter.

ePawn Arena

This unique board interfaces with your smartphone, tablet or PC to let you use real world objects as game pieces. ePawn is currently seeking $165,652 on Kickstarter.

MOVI

This offline speech recognizer and voice synthesizer adds voice control functionality to any Arduino project. Audeme is currently seeking $12,000 on Kickstarter.

Helmet

This family monitor comes with an interactive social community that lets you share your favorite moments publicly or with authorized users. iBaby Labs is currently seeking $15,000 on Indiegogo.

If your project is powered by Atmel MCUs and you’ve been featured on our blog, be sure to download the respective badges here for use in your ongoing marketing efforts.

Add these reactive, customizable LEDs to your favorite shoes and be the life of the party wherever you go.

Anyone who grew up in the 1990s can surely recall begging their parents to head out to the nearest Foot Locker to grab a pair of L.A. Lights. (If not, you may remember this commercial.) Well, get ready to spark up some nostalgia as a new Indiegogo campaign is looking to bring the brilliant trend back, enhanced with modern-day technologies.

The brainchild of Bay Area-based startup Ultimate Collection, BLINKY.SHOES are exactly what they sound like: LED strips that make your sneakers illuminate in bright patterns in response to your movement. With each step, a wave of light spreads out from the point where your foot touches the ground. This is made possible through the use of a three-axis accelerometer that senses the strength of your stride and determines whether you are tapping your toe or heel. In other words, the harder you step, the more energetic the pattern gets.

Whereas back in 1992 wearers were limited to having one illuminated pair of sneaks, BLINKY.SHOES strips can be attached with velcro to any set of existing kicks, enabling unlimited possibilities. What’s more, the strips can be cut to fit any size and are powered by rechargeable batteries. You can even rotate through various color patterns on the spot, while the strips can be easily taken off and swapped out.

BLINKY.SHOES are ready for use straight out of the box, and are fully customizable for the Maker-savvy crowd as well. While they come with six to eight different color patterns pre-installed, thanks to an embedded ATmega32U4 at its heart, the lights can be reprogrammed to do just about anything. The platform features WS2812B individually-addressable LEDs, which are controlled by the Arduino-compatible MCU and powered by 2600mAh lithium-ion battery pack. The controller can be reprogrammed via USB and Arduino IDE, while the default code that ships with the unit will be freely available on GitHub.

“We made BLINKY.SHOES because we wanted to wear them ourselves. Over the last few years we’ve spent a lot of time going to dance parties and wandering around the desert at night. We’ve seen a lot of cool light-up costumes, but never great light-up shoes. We knew we wanted shoes that reacted to movement, that had colorful and complex patterns, and that we could customize. When we couldn’t find a product that fit that bill, we decided to build it ourselves,” the Ultimate Celebration team explains.

Ready to light up your steps? Head over to BLINKY.SHOES’ official Kickstarter page, where the team is currently seeking $5,000. A basic kit will ship with enough components to light up a pair of your favorite sneakers, which means two of everything: LED strips with built-in PCBs, light-difficusing sheaths to cover the strips, rolls of velcro, rechargeable batteries, USB cables and plastic clips. Delivery is expected to kick off in November 2015.

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BLINKY.SHOES will turn your every step into a light show