Fidget Cube is a freaking brilliant product. It’s for antsy people (from Antsy Labs) who incessantly click pens, bounce their legs, tap their fingers, bite their nails, or do any sort of fidgeting when they have idle hands. Which is a lot of us, a lot of the time. So it’s no surprise that Fidget Cube has raised over $3.6 million (and climbing) on a $15,000 goal from over 90,000 backers. The campaign still has over a month left to go.
The super simple cube is only 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches and each of the six sides features a different fidgeting option. Those are:
1. Five clicker buttons, including 2 that are silenced.
2. A joystick-like button that glides around.
3. A switch that can be flipped like a light switch.
4. A firm face to be used for focus and stress relief.
5. Gears and a ball that can be rolled.
6. A circular dial that can be spun.
The success of the Fidget Cube has certainly taken the creators (and just about everyone else) by surprise. As co-creator Mark McLachlan told Digital Trends:
What we’re experiencing right now has shaken our concept of what can be achieved as a small company. At this point, we have more emails and comments than we could possibly reply to, and more items on our to-do list than we could have possibly imagined. We’re strategically thinking about how best to prioritize those so that we can make Fidget Cube the quality product we know it to be.
While the primary driver of success has certainly been the simple beauty and stunningly “oh man, I always do that” functionality factor of the product, their hilarious promo video, which parodies a drug commercial, certainly has helped things.
There is some science behind why we fidget. According to the book Fidget To Focus: Outwit Your Boredom: Sensory Strategies For Living With ADHD:
If something we are engaged in is not interesting enough to sustain our focus, the additional sensory-motor input that is mildly stimulating, interesting, or entertaining allows our brains to become fully engaged and allows us to sustain focus on the primary activity in which we are participating.
In other words, it’s the perfect device for helping you pay attention in boring meetings. Which is what, all of them? I think the appeal goes far beyond the science of focus; I want one of these things because it would be fun. Also, my wife is always getting annoyed with me for picking at random things when I’m bored. If I always had the thing, which is all the things, I think we may all find a happy place.
The cube comes in 8 different colors and will retail for around $25. The plans are to ship in December of 2016. Despite the overwhelming number of pre-orders, there are still a number of backer options available. However, with 82,000 backers in front of you, it might be a while before you get yours. And you know what that means…more fidgeting.
Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer based in Tallahassee, Florida. He writes about tech, marketing, faith, and lots of other things. He’s married to Jen and has three young girls. Every day he consumes more coffee than the entire population of Colombia. He knows more about Star Wars than any respectable man should, and he runs more than any sane man would. He once attempted to eat a 2 pound hamburger in under an hour. He failed.
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This is awesome! I could get plenty of use out of this working for a manic boss that I have. I am getting in line for it!
I have a feeling something like this could get some influence from a known name and really take off!
Oh yeah. Drop one of these off on Ellen or a late night show and you are selling millions of them!
1 word. Impressive. This is a real genius and the fact that the campaign was over funded like that says a lot about what others think about the product as well!