Hi. We're Blue Infusion Technologies.  We are regular guys by day and tinkerers/inventors/entrepreneurs by night from various areas of Maryland. We have been working on a method to make it easier to control music while wearing gloves and active. Our current project is the BEARTek glove and were almost complete.  But we need your help.

We need to raise $47,000 to cover the cost of manufacturing fabrics, electronics, and plastics.  So we're turning to our strongest supporters to ask for contributions. In exchange, we're offering some perks which we think youll like, including pre-orders and signature series gloves. Your contribution will help us manufacture and deliver BEARTek gloves to active people everywhere, and further, it will help support a home-grown idea turn into something big. Thanks!

Who are we and where'd the glove idea come from?

• Play
• Pause
• FastForward/Rewind
• Next/previous track
• Answer phone calls
• Voice dial
• Play Pandora/Slacker
• Dial emergency number
  
• more

BEARTek gloves are the perfect tool for Exceptional Mobile Audio Control




Who is it for?

Anyone can use these gloves for their chosen activities - just a short list is below

• Motorcyclists (this campaign)
  
• Skiers and snowboarders (this campaign)
• Cyclists
• Motor Scooter Drivers
• Runners
  
• Hang gliders
• Snow walking commuters
  
• You

We are starting with motorcycle and ski gloves, enough demand will quickly encourage the designs of other gloves.  We are relying on you to share with us what YOU want as far as activity gloves.  We love to hear from interested people, and we want your demand to guide our production.  We intend to produce winter model gloves simultaneously with the motorcycle gloves.  The ONLY hurdle is the cost and you can help clear that with grace.  My manufacturer knows already exactly what we are looking for.

Back and cradle view:

What materials are BEARTek gloves made from?

BEARTek gloves are made primarily from standard materials appropriate for the specific glove use.  ABS plastic is used to house the electronic components.  Other materials include genuine and synthetic leathers, suede, polyester, polyurethane, and conductive fabrics.

Our ski and motorcycle gloves are designed with materials for waterproofing, breathe-ability, comfort, and warmth.  The fingers are slightly pre-curved to reduce "break-in" time and enable easier grip on handle bars and ski poles.  On the motorcycle gloves we've added ventilation in-between the fingers and on the back of the hand for air-flow and cooling.  Ski gloves will come with tethering straps so they can be removed without risk of dropping and losing a glove.

Our gloves are made of high-quality materials for long-lasting comfort, protection, and durability.

Cost model

When designing the BEARTek glove, one of the challenges we'd faced when conceiving consumer value was expense and maintenance.  You can't wash electronics (usually) and they are not always inexpensive to replace when damaged.  Our solution - separate the glove from the electronics.  The EBM is a removable component which enables cleaning and maintenance of the glove without risk to the electronics.  That solves the maintenance problem... but what about expense?  The removability of the EBM immediately aids in the solution of cost.  The EBM and gloves are designed to be completely interchangable.  One EBM can be used on every type of glove we will offer.  So if you ride in the summer and ski in the winter, you only need a single EBM.  What's better is upgrade of the EBM will automatically mean all of your BEARTek gloves are enabled for the new capabilities.

High quality manufacturing isn't cheap, so the gloves aren't either.  Our cost model currently stands as follows.  Less complex gloves will cost considerably less.
Motorcycle glove - $129
Ski glove - $89
Electronic Bluetooth Module - $139

Only on Indiegogo - the cost is about $130 for a glove and module together, depending on your perk selection!


Palm view:


What We Need & What You Get

So - why Indiegogo?  We have come so far with this idea and are just about ready to take it to market.  Unfortunately it costs a good bit of money to make that happen.  With the positive responses we've heard so far about the 'coolness' and utility of this product in many markets, we've decided that rather than searching high and low for an investor who'll try to own the company to take us to market, we'll ask the people.  We need your donations to help us manufacture this product and go to the next logical level.  

To get there we need to create molds for the ABS plastics ($12,000), electronics for the Bluetooth module and the glove ($18,000 to reach minimum order), and the gloves themselves which have a minimum order quantity ($15,000), and a little room for the ever-present "fudge-factor".

I think we've put together some pretty cool perks around the donation model and hope you like them.  Additionally, we've made the price considerably lower than what the gloves and brain modules will be at retail.  All of this is with the hope that you'll take advantage of what we have and tell your friends, family, forums, and bloggers.

As you back us, you'll be coming on the journey with updates of the BEARTek glove reaching maturity and venturing out into the world.  This'll be fun :-).

We appreciate our donors and we will deliver the gloves and modules to you in the order the donations are received - so the earlier you donate, the earlier you'll have your set.  *Signature series may be slightly delayed.

Bluetooth Module and BEARTek glove cradle

Other Ways You Can Help

There are tons of ways you can help if you so desire.  First and foremost, TELL EVERYONE :-).  Facebook, Twitter, email, forums, magazines, blogs, motorcycle shops, ski shops, screaming from rooftops (that's bold), in a song, anything you can think of, then... tell US!!!  We'd LOVE to hear how you're spreading the word.

Indiegogo has AWESOME share tools!  Using them will allow us to know how many new donors you have been able to refer so you have a chance at the special treat at the bottom of this page.  As you can tell, we're looking for creative ways to get you to tell 20 friends... and have them each tell 20 friends... and so on.  Again, we're open to ideas - it's an open forum to success.

What if we don't reach our goal?

Eek!  What an unwelcome thought.  So, first, we wouldn't launch this campaign if we didn't think we'd make it.  Second, if there's anything we can do to help you decide to contribute or you have ideas on how we can better spread the word, let us know.

Now, to answer the question.  The reality is it is possible not to reach the goal.  At the end of the campaign, if we have not fully succeeded, we will work to build the product  to the highest quality and reward our contributors - if we can't even to THAT, we'll just return the donations which IndieGoGo has passed through to us, back to you.


*NOTE:  This campaign is focused on motorcycle and winter sports gloves exclusively.  For any other type of glove we encourage you to let us know your preference by funding this campaign at any level and in the comments section, identify the type of glove (cycling, running, etc) you are most interested in, and as SOON as this campaign reaches it's goal, we will launch a parallel campaign for the most popular other model glove(s).   With your help, it's entirely possible to have ski gloves this winter!!!

***A Special Reward to the 3 donors with!!!***

*(if we exceed the funding goal by $10,000)*

• Most referrals
• Most funds generated
• Most funders
  

One round trip ticket from anywhere in the continental US to Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (if we can get in), with 2 night's hotel stay, and my treat dinner with the signature level donors
...and honorable mention on our website