Kickstarter Announces The Launch of The Vigek Smoke Alarm

The Vigek smoke alarm is unlike any other ordinary smoke detector. It is connected to the Internet through WIFI and provides instantaneous monitoring of smoke. Vigek smoke alarm has all of the same functions as a regular alarm but with our Vigek smoke alarm once large amounts of smoke is detected, it will not only alert at the scene, but also send alarm messages to the remote phone immediately. The built-in camera will continuously take and transmit live pictures to your phone even if you are thousands of miles away.

With the Vigek smoke alarm you and your family will always be aware of what is happening at home from anywhere in the world and be able to detect if your home is in danger. One Vigek Smoke Alarm can also be connected to multiple mobile phones so that in the case of an emergency, the alarm will push message and live pictures to all the connected phones. Vigek smoke alarms are battery powered and are easy to install and replace batteries without the need for tools. The system operates with the same low power consumption as the ordinary smoke alarms and has the same battery standby time but the Vigek smoke alarm will also alert you whenever it is time for a battery change.

The configuration of Vigek smoke alarm is also simple and fast. Vigek smoke alarms work independently off each other, sowhen one or more is installed and you can control them all from the Smarthome app which is intelligent and efficient.

 
To find out more about Vigek smoke alarm please visit the crowdfunding campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/343910040/vigek-smoke-alarm-get-alerts-and-realtime-view-fro   . The money from this campaign will be used to do additional development and keep theVigek smoke alarm and App up-to-date and to tackle the changes/ challenge that may arise in the future.

The Vigek team has deep experience in consumer and electronics manufacturing and delivery as we have done work before on the Vigek IOT Core project and the Atom wear project.

The best Smart LED Lighting for your home, which is your favorite?

The smart lighting market is a growing market, according to a new market research report, the smart lighting market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% from 2014 to 2020, and to reach $56.05 billion by 2020.


The advent of smart technologies in the lighting industry has opened the gateways for players from a host of industry verticals including control systems, sensors, dimmers and software based solutions. The scenario of lighting sector has completely changed with the introduction of modem technologies. The image of light bulb as a standalone unit is swiftly changing. The smart lighting industry not only involved the lamp, but the sensors that gather information from a stimulus, and the transfer the information via an interface. The information is read by software that generates an appropriate response carried out by the lamp. The response could be a change in color, dimming the illumination, switching on/off, etc

After knowing what's smart LED lighting, now let's see what's the hotest ones on crowdfunding platform:

	The Q: Smart Home Audio and Lighting Platform The Q is the world’s first smart home lighting system that integrates light and sound, which integrates wireless smart LED bulbs with streaming music. The Q makes it easy to create and share your own light shows! Price:$99
	Luma: A SmartLamp for the 21st Century. Luma is a smart lamp for the 21st century. Charge your device, listen to music, make a call and set the mood all with this smart lamp controlled by your phone. It is perfect for your office, nursery, bedroom and home foyer. Price:$89
	Leeo Smart Alert™ Nightlight Monitors a home's existing smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and alerts residents when they sound. Just simply plugging the device into a power outlet and pairing it with the free Leeo app. Price:$99
	PLAYBULB Color A Smart color light and wireless speaker 2-in-1 light bulb with PLAYBULB X frees App. Just by replacing a light bulb, you will make a whole lot different to your living space. We invent PLAYBULB color so that you can manage the mood of lighting and music to follow your emotion. Price:$89
	Notti: A More Beautiful Smart Light Connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth, and notifies you with a different color of light when you receive an notification. Notti is customizable so you can select which color you want for each type of notification. Price:$79
	Q Light Nightlight that can See, Talk & Dance A smart nightlight that watches your home, talks and sings to your family, and “dances” to music providing a light show. It serves as a Security Camera, Anti-thief Alarm, PIR Sensor nightlight, USB charger, Music Player, and Voice Messenger. Price:$35

Cool project on Kickstarter: A Smart LED Nightlight that Watch your Home and Protect your Family

Every day, we will check what's new on Kickstarter to find the most innovative and interesting new projects, that's because in the last couple of years, some of the most exciting technology products have come, not from the established players but from small teams with big dreams, like the Pebble smartwatch, now they are back on Kickstarter again and raise $1 million dollar in first half hour.

Not all the ideas have to be huge game-changers though. Sometimes, the simplest ideas can be the most amazing. Take for instance, the Q Light Smart Nightlight. Made by the same team that used Kickstarter to bring us Atomwear, the Q light is a pretty simple idea, but it's also very cool, and very reasonably priced.

It’s a cool smart nightlight that provides you with more than just lighting. Q Light serves as a Security Camera, Anti-thief Alarm, PIR Sensor nightlight, USB charger, Music Player, and a Voice Messenger. You can control its LED light with your phone. The device has alarm and proximity mode. It can dance to your music or notify you when you have a new message. Its companion app gives you control over one or a group of Q-Lights.

How did they come out with such an idea? According to the designer of Q light, “Smart lamp has come into our lives, more and more functions are being added in the smart gear. Home security is an important part that everyone cares and every family needs, this is the start of our blueprint. Our dream is to bring an easy-to-use and cost-effective product, that everyone can have and everyone can use. That’s why we use Low-power WIFI technology to connect with mobile phones instead of Bluetooth, as long as you have an Android phone or iPhone, you will be able to use Q Light, no matter what version it is, no BLE 4.0 requires. We are working on bringing more functions to Q light, under the premise of not increase the cost.”

The most fun part is probably the nightlight features - there's a proximity sensor so the light switches on automatically when you get close to it, and switches off when you leave the room. The lamp's light is equivalent to a 60 watt bulb, but uses only 9 watts because of the LED being used, the brightness of LED can be adjusted via your iPhone or Android phone. The color can be adjusted also, the default is a standard white light.

Have you ever suffered in the fairness when walking to the bathroom alone during the night? Have you ever worried about what has happened at home when you travel away from home? Have you ever wanted to check your cute baby through night but not wanting to wake him up? Have you ever felt anxiety before going to bed or waking up in the morning? Only $35, you can buy a Q Light to home, all these problem will be solved.

The Q Light isn't a game-changer, but if you're looking for something that's fun and cool, then this is worth checking out. Now you can join its survey before launch. The Kickstarter page says, anyone who participates in the survey can gain a special offer with lower price.

Q Light smart nightlight that will alert you when someone breaks into your house or any abnormal motion detected

The idea for Q Light originated from the desire to have a smart induction nightlight that featured with security functions, the designers had two focuses: 1) Induction & Sensors and 2) Monitoring & Alarm. After they start this project, more and more ideas come out, these sparks guide them to where they are now.

It's a smart design that brings security feature to a color LED light, and it's far more than a simple nightlight, it's also a color LED light, an induction nightlight, a monitoring camera, an anti-thief alarm, a voice message machine, a usb charger, a hypnosis device... , and it cost you only the same price as a regular color LED lamp.

Features

Color LED Light
As all other color LED lights on market, Q Light supports millions of color, just one click on APP to change the color and brightness. Turn on music mode, it will “dance” to the music, rhythmic change colors and brightness with the beat and frequency of music.

Induction Nightlight
As an induction nightlight, Q Light will be the smarter one, it integrates light, sound and body sensors together, never need to care when to turn it on or off, all control done by itself.

Home Security & Alarm
The right eye of Q Light panda is designed with a night vision HD camera; see you home and everything you care via its eyes no matter where you are, even at dark night. When motion detected, Q Light takes a picture and sends an alert to your mobile devices, you can check and take action. 

Smart Control
All the sensors and switches can be set and turned on/off via Q Light APP. You will be the master who decides how it serves you.

Voice Message
If you have a remind to your family or even yourself, record it by app and send the voice to Q Light. When someone pass through, this sound will be played automatically.

Hypnosis
We will pre-store some nature and soft sound which be good for sleep. When you start sleep mode, it starts to play the music and slowly turns down the light and music until it reaches the minimum level, then turns off, setting a relaxing atmosphere that leads you to a sweet sleep.

First Prototype

Software development and First prototypes

PCB board and Hand-making mockup

We are planning to launch the project on Kickstarter soon, now you can join our market survey to get a special offer on Kickstarter and a chance of free Q light, your feedback will decide how we improve it. 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N2KTPVD

Multifunctional Smart Nightlight Shine Your Home Like a Housekeeper

Smart lamp designers have a lot on their plate nowadays. They already need to care about lamps' color, brightness, power functionality, how well the light suits different environments, energy efficiency and ease on the eyes. But now, they need to think about more modern functions, such as how to merge the lamp into various pieces of smart-furniture. Lights need to be able to interact with music, connect to networks, safeguard your home with security cameras, as well as other things that older lamps could never accomplish.

Normal, traditional lamps are now by comparison boring. But, by adding increased functionality to these old, boring lamps, they are transformed into integrated systems, providing users with a comfortable, secure, high-quality lifestyle. Since the market has a variety of different lighting devices, operationally they differ greatly. Given that smart nightlights are mostly integrated with WiFi network capabilities, operational and expansionary functions are easy to integrate.

The Leeo smart nightlight is an attractive little device - it impress users with its pursuit of simplicity. Users only need to plug it into the socket, download and install the App, and are good to go. At its heart, the Leeo is a nightlight that activates with a literal twist, giving off a soft glow about its circumference. Its functionality extends to being a pair of digital ears when you're away, listening for a smoke detector and/or carbon monoxide detector. It also monitors the temperature and humidity of the room it's in.  If an alarm goes off, or if ambient conditions exceed some pre-defined limit, not only are you informed via an app but you can have it inform your friends (or even emergency responders!) that something's wrong at your house.

Q Light is another easy to operate device, but also a combination of a several different tools in one. Simply as a nightlight, it’s similar to Leeo, but Q light's functionality entails so much more.

Both Q Light and Leeo utilize energy-saving LED as their light source, all capable of 16 million colors. Imagine picking a color for it based on your mood everyday! Bedtime stories come alive when told in a colorful atmosphere.

Have you ever been bothered by looking for the light switch in a dark room, or forgetting to turn off the light? Good news! Q Light was designed with a light, sound, and human body induction switch. It can automatically detect ambient light intensity, detect a human body within five meters, and react to nearby sounds within 10 meters. When the ambient light is less than a preset value, Q Light will automatically light up. It can also self-illuminate when it detects a human body, or when it hears a sound above the selected volume threshold.  Users can also set the startup time through mobile phones, and make any combination of light control, sound control, and toggling of the human body induction trigger conditions.

Q Light can also play the role of a home security guard. It is not a professional monitoring and warning system, but does integrate infrared motion sensor,   monitoring camera and safety alarm. You can easily check on the house/baby/pet/etc. through its eyes. It comes with a high efficiency infrared light, so even at night you can see as clear as day. By setting it to anti-thief alarm mode, it will begin to detect any motion, and react by taking pictures and sending alerts to your phone, allowing you to check what is actually happening, and enables you to make a decision on how to react. You can also command to Q Light to take a picture and send back to you via your mobile phone on demand.

Q Light’s designers believe that in addition to lighting, music is also conducive to healthy sleeping habits. They built in a Mic and Speaker, allowing users to preset music, or record a mother's lullaby. When sleep mode is activated, both volume and light will weaken gradually with time, providing a warm and cozy atmosphere to support a good night's sleep.

Q Light has another interesting design feature in that it can "dance" to music. Its light changes color and brightness rhythmically to the beat and frequency of any nearby music. By playing dynamic music, it creates a party atmosphere with its resulting light show.

The Leeo is available now from the company's website for $99 USD.  The Q Light project has just launched a product prototype on Kickstarter, the actual performance of the Q light is as of yet undetermined. Interested users can participate in the Q Light market research at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N2KTPVD, and perhaps it's ultimate functionality appearance and price will be influenced by you!

10 Secrets of Highly Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

As crowdfunding makes gains in popularity, the battle for pageviews and pledges has become increasingly competitive, especially on portal sites that feature thousands of live projects at once. If you’re depending on a Kickstarter feature to kickstart your campaign, then you could be in trouble.

So how do you ensure that you’ve optimized your campaign for success? We’ve taken a look at a number of recently funded projects in order to identify some of the techniques, strategies, and crowdfunding secrets that will give you the best chance of meeting your goals.

1. Prepare Your Face Off

You can use crowdfunding to help validate ideas before they are fully realized, but if your campaign comes across as half-baked then your audience isn’t going to invest. “People don’t want to back a campaign that’s not going to work,” says writer and entrepreneur Seth Godin on his crowdfunding experiences, and you can’t use crowdfunding as a shortcut to avoid properly fleshing out your ideas.

2. Strategic Social Media

You don’t need a blanket presence on social media, though the wider your reach the better. Pick the networks that best match your marketing and content strategies and where your potential supporters are most likely to be found. Don’t forget to customize your promotion to suit each platform too: indie band Bigtree Bonsai raised $6,956(almost double their target) via IgnitionDeck after spreading the word with a #letsmakearecord hashtag.

3. Produce a Great Video

Video clips give visitors a better idea of your project — they can see you or your product in action rather than clicking through a series of static images. They are also labor-intensive, so don’t attempt to put together a clip if you don’t have the time, resources and expertise required. An amateur-looking video isn’t going to convince anyone to get involved, and at worst, could damage your campaign’s credibility.

It’s usually well worth paying for help to make your video pitch the best it can be because of the investment it will attract. Seth Godin again, on the campaign he ran that reached its goal in three hours: “There’s something about the medium that makes the video even more important than you’d think.”

4. Create a Helpful Media Page

You’ve no doubt seen some of the most popular crowdfunding projects covered in the press, but this won’t happen if you don’t have a solid website and some press materials that journalists can download. Even if you’re a one-man show, don’t rely on your Facebook page to do it all. If journalists can’t find more information about your project and some high-resolution pictures to illustrate their features, they may choose to promote a different project instead.

If you have grander plans, think press releases and even tours: the Star Citizen video game raised over $14 million through IgnitionDeck’s WordPress plugin, and the campaign included a press tour before the crowdfunding element was even launched.

5. Don’t Ask for Money Immediately

Tell your story and share your enthusiasm for your project, and people will naturally want to add their support. Remember that your supporters are giving you money with the expectation of getting something back: they want to receive a return on their investment, whether it’s a physical product or an emergency relief operation that swings into action. Consider how well the IgnitionDeck-powered campaign for The Public Domain Review worked — it shows the benefits and value of the publication up front, so backers know what it is they’re supporting. What’s more, supporters could pledge as little or as much as they liked.

6. Build Interest Before You Close

Even before you launch a crowdfunding campaign, you can drum up interest in your project or your business. With a solid fanbase in place, your campaign will get off to a good start. For example, Adam Baker leveraged the active following on his Man Vs. Debt blog to help his I’m Fine, Thanks documentary reach its goal with over 4,000 backers. If you don’t already have a community to tap into, try and get the attention of a handful of influential figures who might be interested in your project.

7. Communicate Often

Whether it’s good news or bad, keep your backers and potential backers in the loop. Post regular updates on your crowdfunding page, and keep the process going after the campaign has ended: “The real work begins after the campaigns to ensure everyone gets what they pledged,” says Piwik’s Matthieu Aubry, who successfully funded a new feature through IgnitionDeck.

8. Keep It Personal

Introduce your team to let your supporters meet the people behind your project regardless of whether you’re an established company or an up-and-coming startup. Consider the humor and personality in the crowdfunding campaign A House For Lions ran to fund their debut album using IgnitionDeck. Rewards included surfing lessons from the band and input on the track listing.

9. Appeal to Your Existing Fans

The campaign that earned the Veronica Mars sitcom a shot at the big screen paid particular attention to the show’s existing fans. The campaign didn’t do a great deal to draw in new interest, but was very clever about appealing to people who had already formed an attachment to Veronica Mars. Consider the fans and supporters that you already have, making your project goals and rewards something that these people are going to be ready to identify with.

10. Appeal to Everyone Else

You can create a campaign that has broad appeal at the same time as paying special attention to your existing supporters. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a reward scheme with many different price points. Even if you can’t offer a physical reward for a $1 donation, you could still give these pledgers early access to your product or a credit within your software package, for example. The Back To The Roots AquaFarm raised $248,873 after setting a $100,000 goal, with rewards ranging from $1 (for behind-the-scenes updates) to $10,000 (for an educational seminar in your community).

There’s no way of guaranteeing crowdfunding success, but by studying the projects, strategies, and crowdfunding secrets that have worked for others, you can certainly maximize your chances. Like any other business venture, crowdfunding is an iterative process that start long before the doors are opened, and long after the campaign has closed.

6 Online Fundraising Tips for Nonprofits and Individuals

Online fundraising has become increasingly popular, with many tools and platforms out there to help make the process easier. A few well-known websites that allow people to raise money for causes like medical expenses, memorials, education, etc. include GoFundMe,YouCaring, and CrowdRise. These sites usually can be used by both individuals and non-profits.

In the last few years online fundraising has started to grow and attract more attention as an effective way to attract donations. The Charitable Giving Report in 2013 found that from 2012 to 2013 online giving grew 13.5%, and accounted for 6.4% of all charitable giving in 2014. While this report focuses on the non-profit sector, individual online fundraising has also become more common. Here are a few secrets to online fundraising that you can use to help reach your goals:

1. Segment your audience.

A post by the Network for Good Learning Center summarized a review they conducted of more than 180 fundraising appeals in 2006 to see what types of tactics worked most and what didn’t. One thing they found was that fundraising campaigns with several different appeals have a higher rate of response and larger average gift ($99 as opposed to $55 for single appeal campaigns). They also found was that focusing on a deadline yielded higher donations. Donation requests that specified a deadline received an average donation of $93, compared to $60 for those who didn’t.

2. Tell your story honestly.

Let’s face it – people are weary of crowdfunding scams these days. Every once in a while we hear a story about how a sad cause (like a medical fundraising campaign) was used by scammers to try and make money off of a tragedy. To ease these concerns, it helps to tell your story in a way that is personal to you. Show your vulnerability, tell people why you need their assistance, and where their money will be going.

On top of writing a letter explaining your situation on your campaign page, you can also put together a video to post on YouTube. This will give you extra content to share and give people a chance to see you presenting your story in your own words may increase their trust and donations.

Make sure that any explanations you write are not too long. Include the important parts but remember that people should be able to read through your page quickly enough that they don’t lose interest before deciding to donate.

3. Go mobile

Mobile internet usage is quickly starting to surpass desktop use. Take advantage of on-the-go donations by maximizing the usability of your mobile site if you are accepting donations through your own landing page. If you are raising money on a fundraising platform try to choose one that has a good mobile site. For a video tutorial on how you can track the mobile traffic going to your page, check out this article by npENGAGE.

4. Be creative

Using fun incentives to get people to donate to your cause can be an easy way to increase engagement without being expensive. Even small things like sending a silly picture of yourself to supporters after they donate, or agreeing to shave your head (pick whatever you are comfortable with, of course) once you reach a funding milestone can help create a buzz and get there faster.

5. Use email

Email may seem a little old-school at this point, what with all the social media sites that connect us with our friends and family. Email campaigns (when executed well) are still very effective for online fundraising though. In an npENGAGE post, a Movember participant pointed out his experience:

“I know social media is a bright shiny toy right now, but it’s still playing second fiddle to email when it comes to soliciting online donations. While my initial social media campaign generated plenty of interest and a few donations, I was shocked at how quickly people responded to my email. Within 20 minutes of sending the first email I had 5 donations, and another 5 by the next morning. And the average gift was larger.”

This is because email is more personal – sending someone an email shows you thought of them and really need their support. It comes across as more genuine than a plea sent out to all of your Facebook friends on your news feed. It is recommended that you send out individual emails that are personal and include a call to action.

6. Catch people’s attention

Catching people’s attention is key to getting people to notice your online fundraising efforts. A frogloop article gives a great example of how differently worded subject lines can make a big difference in encouraging people to take the time to listen to your story and donate to your campaign:

“Example of Bad Subject Line: Renew Your Commitment to End Dog Homelessness

… Aside from this subject line being BORING, you are also intimidating your members to shoulder a very big issue – that they alone are responsible for saving all dogs. Bad idea!

Example of Good Subject Line: Help Keep a Puppy Safe in DC’s Blizzard!

This is a good subject line because it’s focused, local, timely, and a bit emotional. Who doesn’t want to keep a puppy safe from a terrible blizzard in their hometown?”

The idea is that your fundraising appeal should make people feel like their donation will really make a difference. If you make the task seem impossible people will be less likely to feel like a small amount will count and may not donate.

Was this article helpful?

Nonprofit or personal fundraising campaigns online often lack some of the bells and whistles of other crowdfunding efforts like reward-based projects. Still, simple tactics used by non-profits and other experienced fundraisers can help you find ways to raise money faster and reach wider audiences.

What strategies do you find most effective when fundraising online?