Have you considered going to outside investors instead of Kickstarter? I think it may be hard to raise 120k relying on the Kendama community alone. And the Kickstarter community I feel like is hesitant on tech products lately due to a lot of failed campaigns or product delivery timelines that keep extending into the future forever. I make Kickstarter films for a living and the number one issue I see is companies don't raise enough, especially technology based ones. You'd be surprised how fast you'll blow through 120k. I worked with a company who tried to do something similar for the tennis world, they raised 102k about but ran out of funds and couldn't deliver in the end I'd wait the campaign out and see how it does, but definitely try to reach out to outside the Kendama for help. Who knows, maybe some of the bigger toy companies would be interested? It's worth a shot! I think what you guys are doing is awesome. The technology where it's at now is impressive and I don't think it needs to 'regrister' every trick in the world for it to be successful. Keep at it!
@tysonbatino is there a warranty attached to this product for kickstarters? Is there an incentive for kickstarters to receive updated dendama products as they are developed/evolved? Great idea! I would make sure all JKA tricks are registered in the algorithms. This would make interactive "JKA Dan Testing" a fun mode to use for practice at home and battling other players.
@Edric Owen Ladera - I will make a list of tricks that it can register 2. We are not sure if we can create this option for V.2 3. Dendama V.1 cannot register border balance and we are not sure if V.2 can. 4. Dendama V.1 can recognize taps
@Congarranza 1. We are not sure on the warranty as of this moment 2. You would receive software updates. Examples of this include new tricks, new games, new quests. All these updates would be free Thanks for the suggestion - We could probably create badges for it as well!
We have been operating for a year under the initial funding of the founding members which is over 100k. We are going to try to get some outside investment and we are aiming to pitch at Slush Japan, but we think it would be hard to get funding or receive a really low offer if the kickstarter campaign is not successful. I have read about major tech failures and that has made people hesitant. Thank you for confirming that concern. Thanks for sending the links for this. We will look into them and I think your feedback is spot on. I co-founded a non-tech company that is doing well and we are really stable. I am volunteering here for free to see what a tech company is like and creating something new is Hard! We are taking some of the big Japanese companies and have a meeting with a few. Great response. If you think of anything else, please post!
@tysonbatino when it comes to taps, does it mean like baseball like tap or the common taps? also are the taps countable by the system?
@tysonbatino , I think a recurring theme here seems to be a suspicion that the plastic you guys used is too slick or brittle. Rez uses 100% polyurethane resin that is slightly flexible, grippy, and pleasant to the touch. @Kristoffer Cabal could be a worthy partner were you to raise all your funding. It might be a big pivot, but I suspect the feel of the kendama is more important than the tech to medium to advanced players.
Very cool idea! I like it a lot. I think there is a great potential here, especially as this product evolves and improves. As I mentioned in another thread, my main concern would be raising $120k + USD from the kendama community. I know that less money means it would be impossible to fund the development properly, but nonetheless that is a lot of cash to pull in from a (somewhat small) online community, especially through a kickstarter campaign. Nonethless, I REALLY do want to see this come to light! I hope you are funded! I guess my question would be: have you considered using a motion tracking system, rather than built-in sensors? This would solve durability and playability worries, but it is entirely a departure from the current design and engineering process. Just wondering if it is something you considered, and if so, why you chose to go the for the sensors instead.
@michael. What are your thoughts on the plastic feeling slick or brittle? Was there any differences than to a Rez Kendama?
tyson, first i wanna say thanks for inviting me to come hang out and play with the dendama! i also think it's cool you're being so transparent and asking me questions here on the forum as well. if anyone has ever played a plastic kendama, like a kdx or a catchy air, it feels closer to that than a rez. a rez has such a unique feel it's hard to describe, much less replicate! that being said, although i was a bit wary of throwing it around a lot and beating on it, after a while i felt more comfortable tossing it around and it didn't feel like it was in danger of cracking or anything. i think for light play, it's totally fine. i'd like to stress that i was only there for at most an hour, so my opinions are based on what i could assess in that short amount of time. take what i say with a grain of salt, as i am no kendama expert!
@Edric Owen Ladera V.1 can register both common and baseball taps! V.1 cannot register the amount of taps. However.... V.2 we think V.2 will be able to count taps. We currently have 6 coil sensors, but are developing 9 coil sensors for V.2 that will enable this to happen.
@htimSxelA Thanks for the well-wishes buddy! V.1 We are currently using our self-developed 6-axis sensor + coil sensor to trace movement and to recognize contact with the dama. V.2 We are developing a 9-axis sensor and using a microchipped coil sensor to shrink the dendama's size. This will help us to improve the weight balance and increase the amount of tricks it can recognize! We plan to shrink the V1.0 size which is slightly bigger than a normal kendama and improve durability for V2.0 Will double check on the rest
Took me a while to understand the technical parts but here we go! Since we have hardware inside the dendama, we decided to use ABS resin which is more durable and less likely to break than polyurethane resin. However, polyurethane is probably more flexible than ABS resin. For version 2.0 we are working using My personal opinion is that it is easy to grip, but I am a super newb. @michael. Did you feel it was easy to grip?
well it's plastic so it's quite smooth if you're comparing it to some wood types like ash or hickory. but it wasn't a problem or anything, it wasn't flying out of my hands haha. i was even able to hit some gunslingers and whirlwinds on it! but now that i think of it, the shape is a bit thick and the lines aren't very curvy, so i think it would benefit the dendama to be more ergonomic once you're able to reduce the size of the electronics inside!
Thanks man! I'm glad you got some value out of this. I was afraid I came off too harsh because I was posting late at night on my phone. I support you guys and just backed the campaign
@michael. Thanks for your thoughts Michael. The dendama 1.0 is slightly bulkier than a normal kendama. Aiming to shrink it with Dendama 2.0 Thanks for stopping by bud!