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Will This Successfully-Kickstarted "Air Umbrella" Turn Out to Be the Real Deal for 2015?

By Rain Noe - October 14, 2014

in Kickstarter

Industrial design student Quentin Debaene's Dyson-Powered Invisible Umbrella concept generated strong interest when we showed it to you last year. Created as submission for the James Dyson Award, Debaene estimated that his fabric-less umbrella design, which would blow air so forcefully that falling water would be repelled, could be built in the year 2050. Now, however, a self-described research team in China is claiming they can produce an air-blowing, no-fabric umbrella by next year.

As of yesterday, the anonymous development team has successfully Kickstarted their Air Umbrella project (with a shockingly low US $10,000 target).

But before you get too excited, a couple of caveats. One is that the development team's identity and credentials are murky. While they say "We are a R&D team from China. Most of our members hold Ph.D/Master degree of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics or Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics," the only person listed by name on the campaign, a Chuan Wang, has a Facebook profile that does not list a college degree, indicating only that s/he "studied at" Southeast University in Nanjing.

Caveat number two is that the error-riddled presentation is a bit underwhelming. But we'll let you be the judge:

So whaddaya think, is this the real deal, or will it turn out to be vaporware? The team is estimating delivery by 2015, and ballparking the retail price at US $200.

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John Bacon

10 years ago

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I am not convinced that this would work in a hard wind driven rain.

I think I will stick to a standard unbrella; cheaper and I don't have to worry about the battery dieing half way to my destination.
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Mark

10 years ago

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Jumping on the bashing bandwagon, it seems like this was developed in a vacuum, so to speak.

What is the interaction when two similar devices come close to each other? How about when walking in a crowd of conventional umbrellas?

Hopefully it's better than the IP32 it appears to be.
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Devin

10 years ago

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I agree with Justun on this one. What's better, stabbing someone in the eye with your traditional umbrella as you walk past them or blasting them in the face with high velocity water which could also render them blind? Forcing water to do things with air is in fact interesting and could lend itself to other areas of ACTUAL NEED. Here's an idea, replace the wipers with this air-forced technology. It's just a suggestion but you get the idea. The bottom line is people will buy anything no matter what the cost.

My final words: Innovation is driven by need, not Kickstarter.
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KC

10 years ago

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With the air intake there, would it be a concern that it might suck up the hair when user holding it too close to the head? ( assuming long hair lady like the one in the picture )
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Evan T.

10 years ago

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Well it says they're making great efforts to improve the 'handness', so thats good for sure.
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greg

10 years ago

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$20? you can get a compact umbrella for FOUR DOLLARS at IKEA. it has worked well for me for a surprisingly long time. no batteries needed.
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Brent

10 years ago

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If you bring it down to knee level will raise skirts?
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Ian

10 years ago

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Why would someone buy this for $200 when then can get a conventional folding umbrella for $20? This product doesn't seem to have any advantages aside from looking cool.
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drinkdrank

10 years ago

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that video was painful
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Noel

10 years ago

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I would expect if anyone is going to make this a reality it would be Dyson
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Martin Siegrist

10 years ago

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Does it also vibrate?
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Sean

10 years ago

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Hmm... I think everyone who had helped fund this should be required to strap a 2 pound weight to the end of a broom and hold it above their head while running. If they can't hold it higher than their head for the duration of their sprint, they have to stick one ear in a blow dryer while spraying their face with water. That way they could have the same experience without paying hundreds, wasting batteries, or annoying passers-by with a noisy wand that soaks them with jet-propelled water.
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Jon Gillen

10 years ago

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This is a joke right?
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Justun Seymour

10 years ago

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I think it's a cool concept but what if you walked past someone using one of these in the rain? I would guess that they would drench you with water being forced away from them with the fan.
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Eric

10 years ago

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LOL....
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