Whether for personal use or as gifts for friends and family who love uniquely geeky, these might be the perfect thing for you to check out. They range the spectrum from high-tech wizardry to practical gems, from novel gimmicks to products that’ll improve everyday life. Are you an enthusiast? Or a hobbyist? Or maybe a diehard collector of all things geeky? Here are some cool futuristic gadgets, devices, and gift ideas you can buy online right now.
8. Water Carbonator
A cold and refreshing bottle of sparkling water is the best during hot months—especially after a hard day’s work—which is why every lover of sparkling water needs a water carbonator at home. With this simple home device, you can create your own carbonated drinks at home, from water to lemonade to flavored sodas. Water carbonators use carbon dioxide (CO2) canisters to inject gas into water within the provided bottle. These CO2 canisters are refillable, and you can usually take them to a large retailer and swap empty ones for full ones at a significant discount (compared to buying a brand new one).
7. Conductive Pen
Technically, the pen itself isn’t conductive—the ink inside it is what’s conductive. Conductive ink is used commercially in a lot of ways, but you can use it to create some cool DIY projects at home as well. With a conductive pen, you can make custom circuit boards without using a copper-plated board and traditional etching techniques. The ink is composed of conductive materials (usually graphite) that make the printed patterns work like wires. Anyone who loves electronic tinkering and DIY projects involving circuitry needs to add a conductive pen to their toolbox at some point.
6. 3D Printing Pen
3D printing is a cool hobby, but 3D printers can be… costly. Fortunately, if you want to get your feet wet with 3D printing without investing a ton of money into a dedicated 3D printer, you can start with this: the 3D printing pen by Scrib3D. It uses a feeder system that feeds filament to the hot pen tip, which turns it soft and workable as it extrudes. Once the heated filament comes out and becomes exposed to air, it stiffens and hardens in seconds. With a 3D printing pen, you can create hand-made figures just like you would with a machine, except there’s no software involved so you lose the pinpoint accuracy of a computer. But it’s more fun this way! Since the output won’t be the same as a machine’s finished product, you’ll also want a hot knife cutter to smooth and add texture to your work. It can be time-consuming, but worth your while.
5. Bone Conduction Headphones
Want to take your love of music to another level? Try listening to your best tunes using bone conduction headphones, which are waterproof and allow you to listen even while submerged underwater! You don’t have to plug the earpieces into your ears at all. Instead, this device uses the bones of your skull to deliver music using vibrations. There are other underwater headphones that have earpieces that work like earplugs, but these bone conduction headphones are way cooler and more futuristic. Definitely more impressive!
4. Sonar Fishfinder
If you’re an angler—or in need of a gift for a friend or family member who’s on their way to becoming a fishing enthusiast—then a sonar fishfinder can be a useful device for knowing where to cast fishing lines. The fishfinder uses sonar (sound navigation and ranging) technology to find large schools of fish. It’s a lot like radar except sonar uses bouncing soundwaves to map out what’s underwater—like where fish are. The built-in display shows you the exact record of what’s going on beneath the surface, including depth and movements of targets.
3. Foldable Keyboard
Are you always on the go, bringing your work with you everywhere? Or do you know someone who types a lot while they travel, like in airports or during their subway commutes? This foldable keyboard is a perfect match for any smartphone or tablet, and it makes typing that much easier. You can type comfortably with its flat keys, and it has a built-in touchpad for easy mouse cursor movements (unfortunately, the touchpad doesn’t work on iOS devices). It connects using Bluetooth. The minimal design and Bluetooth connectivity means it’s ultra portable and easy to carry around no matter where you need it.
2. Laser Projection Keyboard
The aforementioned foldable keyboard is very practical, but if you want something even more high-tech than that, try a laser projection keyboard. All you need is a flat surface for the keyboard projection. The virtual keyboard is as portable as it gets, and it even works in the dark. When you press a key, the sensors pick up which key you pressed and sends it to the connected device like a real keyboard. The device itself even has a mount for your smartphone or tablet, allowing you to use your device as a screen with minimal fuss. Too cool, right?
1. Levitating Moon Lamp
Want a tabletop gadget for your geeky workstation? What about a levitating moon lamp? It not only levitates off of its wooden base, but also features the intricate designs of the real moon. This device uses a magnetic levitation (maglev) system that involves magnetic force to suspend an object (the moon) with stability. With this cool gadget in your room, you can literally say that the moon lights up your darkest nights. Read next: Geeky home accessories and ideas for your nerd cave
