Aug 25, 2016 | By Tess
Cyrcle, the 3D printed circular smartphone developed by Dtoor, has just been launched through a Kickstarter campaign, but not quite in the way you might think. That is, Dtoor (which stands for “Designing the opposite of rectangle”) is not only trying to market their boundary-breaking product but is offering their backers the chance to actually learn how to 3D print, program, and build their very own smartphone.
Readers might remember Cyrcle, which we covered earlier this year, as the smartphone designed by and for women that was meant to break the rectangular mold of existing smart phones with its compact circular design. Interestingly, when Dtoor founders Christina Cyr and Linda Inagawa debuted their innovative product, they found that men were also equally excited about the 3D printed compact, customizable smartphone and realized that they were really onto something with their DIY smartphone.
From there they realized that while the Cyrcle smartphone—a 2G model—might not replace people’s everyday smartphones (no Pokemon Go might be a deal breaker), they did see the opportunity to teach people how to make their very own hobby smartphone and promote STEAM education. As Cyr comments in their Kickstarter video, “who do you know who can build a circular phone?”
The courses offered through the Kickstarter campaign, which are going for $199, will be held at maker spaces throughout the United States including in Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Orlando, and Atlanta. If you attend one of courses you can expect a 2 hour session in which Dtoor will first explain smartphone components, and then go on to give a tutorial on how to build your very own Cyrcle smartphone using SEEED Studio's RePhone Kit, which has the components to make a phone that can receive and make calls and texts. The tutorial will also demonstrate how you can program and modify the basic cellphone to have a personalized ring tone, and will go through the 3D printing process for the circular phone casing.
At the end of the course, you’ll not only have learned how to build a working phone, but will be walking out with your very own Cyrcle smartphone equipped with a GSM smartphone. Additionally, Dtoor will be providing the STL files for the phone casing so that backers can go home and print as many cases in as many colors as they want. In the class itself, you’ll be able to choose from a number of different colors for the 3D printed casing, including neon green, yellow, orange, white, black, red, glow in the dark and more.
Dtoor’s Kickstarter campaign, which is hoping to raise $10,000, will be running until September 30th. If the campaign is successful, Cyr and Inagawa will begin their makerspace tour of the U.S. starting with Seattle’s Metrix Create maker space on October 1st and 22nd. Their effort is notable for not only promoting STEAM education and their innovative product, but also to bring attention to and get people engaged with a number of maker spaces throughout the country. As Dtoor states: “Makerspaces are creative spaces where people gather to learn and make things. They often have 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics, tools, and more. We love makerspaces and one of the main purposes of our campaign is to highlight them.”
If you want to support Dtoor’s mission but cannot make one of the tutorial dates, you can always pledge $20 for Dtoor video extras or $25 for the videos and a company t-shirt.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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