Tag Archives: Nanotips

Nanotips *(the company)* makes your gloves touchscreen-sensitive

Nanotips is both the name of Tony Yu’s company and of the product. According to a Feb. 13, 2014 news item on Nanowerk, it’s a Kickstarter project, too (Note: Links have been removed),

A Kickstarter project to produce a nanoparticle liquid to transform all gloves into a touchscreen glove is already oversubscribed.

Nanotips is a conductive polyamide liquid solution that can transform your ordinary gloves into touchscreen ones. Formulated using nanotechnology, Nanotips mimics the touch of human skin. It was designed with functionality and durability in mind making it great for all lifestyles.

You can find out more on the Nanotips Kickstarter campaign page or on the Nanotips company website. From the Kickstarter campaign page (where I found more detail than I could on the company website),

NANOTIPS is for everyone. From the cold winter months to the hot summer days, Nanotips is functional in every season.  Military gloves, running gloves, biking gloves, construction gloves, golfing gloves and even the thickest snowboarding and skiing gloves can now all be made touchscreen compatible.

With simplicity and functionality in mind, we set out to create the quickest and most effective universal touchscreen upgrade ever. This formula has been created to last in any condition and takes less than 2 minutes to apply.

Nanotips BlueFor use on fabrics ONLY. Nanotips Blue is designed specifically for fabrics.  This solution dries to a transparent blue which makes it practically invisible on colored fabrics. This formula soaks into the fabric creating a conductive bridge between your finger and the touchscreen device. Treats up to 15 fingers per bottle depending on material.

Nanotips Black

Nanotips Black is specifically tailored for leathers, rubbers, and other thicker materials. This formula works for all materials, however it may alter the texture of your fabric gloves. This formula can work in two ways. A) It creates a conductive layer on the surface of your glove B) It soaks into the fabric and creates a conductive bridge between the finger and the touchscreen device. Treats up to 30 fingers per bottle depending on material.

There is some technical information on the Kickstarter campaign page but it is very general,

Nanotips Black. Quite a bit of work has been done in the development of this product. Comprised of evenly dispersed ultra-fine conductive nanoparticles, each particle is carefully prepped and made to interlink with one another; this helps to form a conductive grid-like film on the surface of the material. Because your glove undergoes constant flex, abrasion, creasing, and natural elements, our formula allows the materials to remain in grid formation even under extreme conditions. This helps to create an evenly distributed conductive channel on the surface of your glove.

Nanotips Blue. Comprised of evenly dispersed ultra-fine conductive nanoparticles, each particle is carefully prepped and made to interlink with one another.  These particles are suspended in a solution which allows the nanoparticles to remain chained to one another even under extreme physical stressors. When applied to fabrics, Nanotips Blue soaks into the material and effectively creates a conductive chain, bridging the gap between your finger and the touchscreen device. The sacrifice for transparency over conductivity was made for Nanotips Blue which is the reason why this solution only functions for fabrics.

Bottles. Our bottles are made from glass. We chose glass over other materials because it allows the liquid to achieve a longer shelf life as it remains sealed in the bottle. The brush is a Dupont nylon brush. Using the brush method of application means that each individual would be able to precisely apply the solution to the targeted area.

I think the future goal on the campaign page is quite intriguing,

PROSTHETIC HANDS.  During the creation of Nanotips, we had discovered that many prosthetic limbs are unable to interact with capacitive touchscreen devices. Because touchscreen technology is such an integral part of our society, daily interactions for anyone with prosthetic hands becomes a challenge. We would like to expand in this field by testing Nanotips on a variety of prosthetics; our goal is to give them the ability to easily interact with touchscreen devices.

Here’s the company’s Kickstarter video pitch,

Nanotips is an active Kickstarter campaign with 11 days to go (as of Feb. 13, 2014) and it has surpassed its initial campaign goal of $10,500 with supporters having pledged $55,776 CAD to date. It seems redundant to wish the company good luck but I will anyway as they deal with a project of a different scale than they’d originally planned.

Two final notes:  (1) the company is located in Richmond, BC, Canada or, as I’ve taken to saying, it’s a Vancouver area company and (2) there is no mention of any environmental testing.

* Added (the company) to head for grammatical purposes on Feb. 14, 2014 .