Kanye West's stunner shades can move over; there's a new sheriff in party accessory town. DropShades are the first glasses ever that respond to the beat of the music. But how do they actually work? The glasses use a tiny microphone connected to a signal processor, which allows incoming sound to be translated across six horizontal bars that cascade an array of lights up and down according to the beat of the music. The result? An incredible light show synchronized to music.
Harrison Herndon originated the idea after seeing T-shirts with lights pulsating to the beat of the music. "Basically, we thought, this is a really cool T-shirt idea; I wonder if there's any way to put this technology into glasses," said Herndon. He gave one of the T-shirts to his friend, Nick Cate, who was able to adapt it to create DropShades.
The three founders, Herndon, Cate and Skylar Perkins funded the project using Kickstarter, a popular platform for creative projects that allows other people and patrons to financially support projects they believe in.
According to T.J. Guardia, the company's director of marketing, they chose the Kickstarter route because they wanted to test the market before actually going into production. By having people all over the country and the world fund the venture, DropShades also built a clientele and ascertained what the initial response would be. And the initial response was, in Guardia's words, "overwhelmingly good."
Their original monetary goal was $15,000, which would have been enough to fund the manufacture of basic DropShades glasses. With the help of 366 backers from around the world, DropShades met its goal in just six days. And with 1,813 total backers and a final funding amount of $78,128, DropShades was able to splurge.
The company made pairs available with a microfiber protection case, black, white, or glow-in-the-dark frames, and they also provided a rechargeable lithium ion battery to prevent having to put new AAA batteries into the glasses. Guardia said that this project was the most successful Kickstarter venture in Fort Worth's history, and the extra money from backers allowed the creators to expand upon their original ideas.
