kicstarter | GIZMODO.cz

Check out this Kickstarter campaign for KitRex, which is basically a 3D paper velociraptor that you build yourself. 3D paper velociraptor? I’m in. You build the googly-eyed dinosaur by folding and tabbing together specially cut pieces of high-quality Bristol board. It balances on its feet. You can put googly eyes on it, feathers, and what ever you want.

This project came about because of a homework assignment in which creator Lisa Glover was asked to research a manufacturing process and demonstrate it in a unique way. So she researched industrial origami, and in about 50 hours she had designed, cut, and built a wearable 15-ft long velociraptor out of cardboard (shown above). When she decided to wear it to a costume party, needless to say she was the star of the evening. While you can’t buy her velociraptor costume, you can own this smaller, 3-foot-long version of the paper velociraptor.

KitRex is starting out by making paper raptors, but hopes to go on to make a complete paper menagerie of dinosaurs, including the mighty T. Rex.

The project has already made more than 12 times its original $8,000(USD) fundraising goal, because people love them some dinosaurs. If you want one for yourself, pledge at least $20 over on Kickstarter by April 29.

[via The Mary Sue]

Let's be honest -- the first time we saw the Microsoft Surface in action, we all dreamt of getting our grubby fingers on our very own unit. Five years later, we're no closer to the dream of a touchscreen coffee tablet in every living room. Templeman Automation, thankfully, shares that dream. Earlier this month, we caught word of the company's Playsurface, a Kickstarter project aimed at bringing low cost touchscreen computing to the tabletops of eager early adopters who just can't quite justify the $8,000 price tag on Microsoft's similarly named product.

We were excited at the prospect of finally getting to play with the product when TechCrunch opened up the gates to the hardware portion of its Disrupt conference. Unfortunately, as we quickly found out, things wouldn't be quite so easy -- the show was held at Pier 94, a space with overabundant natural light courtesy of rows and rows of skylights. As it turns out, the sun doesn't play too well with the infrared light that helps power Playsurface's touchscreen functionality. The table's creators were nice enough to pop by our offices to let us take the living room gadget for a test drive.

Gallery: Playsurface hands-on