Hello Sunscreenr Backers,

We realize that it has been a few months since you last heard an update from us and we are very sorry to not have sent an update sooner. Please know this is because we are working around the clock to get the product developed and in your hands as soon as possible.

We are creating a specialized product using new technology, and in order to maintain consistency and quality for our customers, we have had to resolve issues that come up in the final phases for many such products. SO, please know you will be receiving your Sunscreenr as soon as possible.

What we have accomplished due to your support:

The electronics and software/firmware are DONE and have been TESTED!

The custom lens is COMPLETE and TESTED!

We have secured a manufacturing partner and they are ready to start production on the Sunscreenr.

We have moved beyond just development of the device itself and on to the automated systems needed to produce Sunscreenr in large quantities with high quality. After assembly, each Sunscreenr gets mounted onto the Manufacturing QA Test Board (shown below) where the following occurs:

• full health checkup of all Sunscreenr systems 
• installation of the Sunscreenr software
• verification of software installation 
• verification of Sunscreenr functionality

 As with most new products, it has taken more time and money than expected. Currently, we are raising more funds from our first investors to complete the first run of the product and you will receive your Sunscreenr soon.

We will ship to our original backers on Kickstarter and Indiegogo first. You will receive a survey soon asking for color preference and address information. Please fill out and return to us as soon as possible.

We know you have waited a long time to receive your product and we really appreciate your patience and your faith in Sunscreenr. Without you, we could not have made our vision a reality.

Looking forward to sunburn free days by the pool with you!

The Sunscreenr team

So why is it taking an extra 6 months? As mentioned in our previous updates, the component sourcing issue really shattered our schedule. But all of the extra development work needed to get past that hurdle also shattered our tight budget. You’re probably now thinking, “Hey wait, these guys got $800k on Shark Tank, there’s nothing tight about that!” You would be completely right, if the deal with Kevin O’Leary actually went through. But it didn’t as less than half of the deals made on air actually close. So we were left to supplement with our own personal funds and to seek out other investors. We are making some headway but there’s much more left to do as we build relationships with qualified accredited investors.  

Even with the technical and economic challenges that we’ve faced the product development progress since our last update has been incredible. Here are some of the highlights:  

- We received the first-article molded parts that form our custom lens assembly. We are still in the process of final testing but everything so far is performing as expected.

- As part of the custom lens we have now evaluated 8 different optical filters from 6 different vendors. With all of that data we have been able to down-select to our primary and backup choices.  

- The electronics and software/firmware are almost DONE!!!! The images below are of the final production version of the Sunscreenr electronics. Our development partner is finishing final electronics testing right now. Most of the software/firmware has been developed in parallel to the electronics using a prototype system so all that’s left now is some fine-tuning of the image processing algorithms.  

We have heard from some of you about changes of address. Please keep an eye out for an email from us in April confirming your shipping address (and your choice of Sunscreenr color if you paid for that option). 

We are so grateful to you for being a Sunscreenr backer and we are very excited at how close we are to having Sunscreenr ready to ship out to you.  

- Dave & Jon

To all of our wonderful Sunscreenr backers, we are making great progress toward getting your Sunscreenr(s) completed but they are going to be delayed by a few months. Our Kickstarter and Indiegogo backers have the first priority with their units shipping in April.

Lots of incredible news to share with you this month!  

Technical: We conquered the challenges we mentioned in our last update. We now have a low cost display that will work for Sunscreenr™ along with a new set of custom optics to go along with the display. You can see in the video below a demonstration of live video streaming onto the display showing some sunscreen being applied to a sheet of paper. It may not look like it from the video but that display is tiny, easily small enough to fit inside of Sunscreenr™.  

Lecture

Rejouer avec le son

Lecture
avec le son

00:00

00:00

Publicity: We have several amazing things to tell you about. On October 28th at 9/8c on ABC you can see Dave pitch Sunscreenr™ on Shark Tank! Do they bite? They’re sharks, of course they bite but did we get a deal or not? Find out this Friday! If you are going to be in Raleigh-Durham area on the 28th and would like to come to our Shark Tank viewing party then please send us an email. 

Recently a film crew came from England to spend the day with Dave & Jon filming an interview and demonstration of Sunscreenr™ for the show Outrageous Acts of Science. In the United States the show is on the Science Channel. Our interview will air in early 2017. 

 

Sunscreenr was also just selected at a finalist to compete for an NC IDEA™ award! 

We have gotten notes from a number of backers about changes of address. Thank you for reaching out to us! We are updating our database so your Sunscreenr(s) will ship to the right place. 

(All trademarks and registered marks are the properties of their respective owners)

Dear Backers, 

We are so pleased that you have supported our Sunscreenr product, thank you!! It has been way too long since our last update but here are some of the things we have been working on. 

Sun Kits Have Shipped! 

Our first round of shipments went out last weekend … we shipped Sun Kits to those backers who ordered just the kits. 

** If you are a Kickstarter backer that ordered solely the Sun Kit reward (no Sunscreenr included), please make sure to fill out the survey you received by email to confirm your address. There are still 4 backers who have not responded and we are not able to resend the surveys. **

Surveys

We have so far only sent surveys to those who ordered just the Sun Kits but keep an eye on your inbox, we will be sending surveys to everyone else in the next few weeks. 

If you ordered a Sun Kit in combination with a Sunscreenr then you will receive the two together when your Sunscreenr ships. 

Making the Sunscreenr Prototype a Reality 

These past few months we have been hard at work on the engineering of Sunscreenr to make it ready for mass production. We’re still aiming to ship the first batch of Sunscreenrs in late December despite some early challenges. Here’s a few notes on some of the key components: 

Custom lens: The lens in Sunscreenr has to be custom designed to work for the specific range of wavelengths that are needed to see sunscreen. Our optical design engineer has come up with an incredibly elegant design for Sunscreenr’s lens. For comparison, the “lens” in your smartphone is actually made up of 5 or 6 separate lens elements that are put together to form a single lens system. Our brilliant designer has been able to design a lens that uses only 3 separate lenses! What that means is that the lens system for Sunscreenr is easier and more affordable to manufacture. So what’s the downside, it’s taken longer to design it than we planned. The design is done and early this week we will start to make the tooling to manufacture the 3 lenses. 

Display: This is the component that you see the images on when you look into Sunscreenr. This component has unexpectedly given us the greatest amount of headaches over the past few months. When we started this project we didn’t have a huge amount of concern about the display knowing that displays for camera viewfinders have been around for decades, and with the popularity of Oculus Rift and other VR devices, we figured that we would have no problem with the display for Sunscreenr. We have come to learn a huge amount about viewfinders and displays over the past few months. More than anything, we have been shocked at the high cost of these components even when sourced from high volume suppliers in Asia. The good news is that we have come up with an alternative low cost display option (actually 4 of them). We will be testing all 4 of them this week. We have already been working on the custom optics for these displays and again our incredible optical designer has come up with some great solutions. 

Sensor: The sensor is the component that actually “sees” the light coming through the lens and turns it into a signal that we can show you as live video on the display. There are literally thousands of sensors on the market to choose from but to make Sunscreenr work we have some pretty tough performance requirements. So only a few are actually viable. We have tested many of them and found the one we think is the best for Sunscreenr. It gives nice images and it fits our cost targets. 

For All of the People Who Have Expressed Interest in Distributing Sunscreenrs

We thank you for reaching out to us! We are still right now very focused on the product. We do hope to work with many of you to distribute Sunscreenr and we intend to reach back out to you in the next few months to have those conversations and form those partnerships.

We are so grateful for your support! Please remember to respond to the survey when it comes out and stay tuned for our update next month. 

- Dave, Jon and the Sunscreenr Team

Projects Worth Checking Out

Kickstarter is a strong community for collaboration as many of you know. Here are projects that are helping to support Sunscreenr and that are creating unique or helpful products:

QTemp™: The World's Smartest Sun Safety Wearable

 

QTemp™ is a new sun safety wearable that calculates the time you have until getting sunburned, and tells you how to protect your skin from the sun based on your skin type and sunscreen applied. It will even tell you how much sunscreen to apply! Check it out here. 

Lensta: The World's Best Lens for Smartphone Photography

Lensta: The World's Best Lens for Smartphone Photography is now on Indiegogo. Get yours NOW and become a professional photographer with your own phone. HERE.