Thanks guys for your support and questions! please find my answers below:
Normally I would give you a hard time about joining the site just to hock your kickstarter, but I'm laughing too hard at what the word filter did to your post. I also love your video. eat shit: wear dainty gloves! Protect your eyes from virtual broken glass! Exasperate your roommates!
Hi Langley, I appreciate your support in not deleting my post!
Sorry that I pushed my project in my first post, it's just that we're launching the products in a month (!) and at the moment we're designing the games, so I really need the help of people who really know what's behind NERF wars, shooter game, etc. in order to create something great. My bad, but please see it as a call for support!
I hadn't really paid attention to your posts on Facebook, but I like this. The only issue I see is that the possibility of breaking my tablet screen is not attractive. Certainly, the tablets which are equipped with Gorilla Glass are pretty strong, there are a great many cheaper screens out there that will have nowhere close to that kind of impact resistance. What kind of maximum barrel velocity should we be applying to these darts to avoid damage to the electronics?
Hi Draconis, thanks for your support!
We made a lot if experiments on different tablets/smartphones (Apple's, Samsung's, Google's, HTC's and NOKIA's) and all of them are carrying Gorilla Glass and can take the hit of Darts blasted with a regular Nerf Blaster (N-strike, Jolt, etc.). Let me also tell you something spectacular - a hit of a dart that was blasted from 2 meters away using a regular Nerf blaster hits the touchscreen in an Impact force of around 8-10 grams, while a typing finger (an angry typer due) can reach an impact force of 14 grams (!).
I'd like to make it clear, we still haven't check the impact force on 'Cheap tablets', but it will be done! Also, we haven't blasted our darts with a moderated NERF gun, simply because we don't have one, and in Israel it's hard to put your hands on one.
If you have an apple device, slugs will already perform this function. You have to take the felt off, though. It obscures the sensors.
Also, I noticed the rifled darts in the intro of the video. Finally someone with the brains to rifle a Nerf dart. That's a total face palm. I can't believe nobody's tried that before. You probably get a few hundred feet from the triad that way.
Speaking of the triad, I can't help but notice that it wasn't painted flat black, or dry-brushed brass and referred to as "steam punk", are you done modding it yet? Or do I need to fund your kickstarter in order to see that?
Keep up the good work. I shudder to think of what this hobby would become without geniuses like you.
Thanks Pinhead52, I really appreciate your support! Just to be clear, or darts foam body and suction cup are black due to it's carbonized materials, which gives it the ability to interact with the touchscreen (some scientific capacitive nonsense we've been working on for the last 2 years
. As for the Spiral Body Design, as Draconis mentioned, it's reducing the speed of the darts and by that the impact force. It's a safety matter we believed is necessary for the moment, and it distinguishes our darts from other foam darts.
I intitially ignored this as a copy of the RFID tech that nerf is being rumored to develop - something that would be squished by copyright lawyers long before being released. Glad to see that it isn't. I'm guessing your dart materials utilize a material the touch screen can read? Well done. Should be loads cheaper than using RFID's (If you ignore the cost of the "target").
I do share the same knee jerk fear for the safety of the device. It's something you may have a tough time overcoming.
My initial thought though - Why aren't your darts magazine compatible? With ROF playing such a key role in so many of the games your video demos I would think developing darts to fit a clip would be the obvious choice.
My second thought - You'll definitely want something that distinguishes your darts from standard nerf darts, but the side channels shouldn't be it. If some blasters will split a full walled elite dart, I can't imagine how severely your side grooves will limit dart life.
Have you given any thoughts to developing stickers that can be placed on standard nerf darts for screen interaction instead of complete darts? You're all ready using their blasters for your product, why not use the darts too? Might be easier in the long run than developing and producing entire darts. Stickers would also be cheaper for consumers to buy granting more bang for the buck. Having the option to outfit all of a players darts for screen compatibility could really open up game options utilizing your technology - Shoot opponents to access and shoot their screen to achieve some sort of greater goal. Replacing all of the darts in play with your darts - just in case you get a shot at a screen probably wont be economically viable.
Hi Shmmee, as for the NERF TEK STRIKE with the RFID darts, we actually met with David from Eyespy Toys (creators of this dart) in the last Toy Fair, and we both admired each ones work, but it defiantly not the same Patent-wise.
As for the darts being magazine compatible, it's an obstacle we have because the current touchscreen devices requires a certain time of impact of the dart with the screen in order for it to record the impact, so the suction cup gives us this time. What we did so the darts won't stick to the screen for long and interrupt the game, we crafted small air pores in the lower part of the suction cup that will make it lose the vacuum after 1-3 second and fall to the ground. As for the stickers idea, as brilliant as it is, with the current materials and screen technology it's not possible, due to conductivity maters.
Thanks again to all of you! Please keep asking the right questions and share your thoughts and ideas with me so we could create an indoor shooting game like no other!
Edited by Langley, 05 April 2014 - 11:38 PM.
