InXus Interactive is running a Kickstarter funding campaign for their EasyPlug shield. As the Arduino platform becomes more and more popular for makers add-ons and structured modifications will be more useful. The EasyPlug shield allows users to plug in sensors to easily and quickly create Arduino projects.
A huge array of sensors is available with the sensor shield to connect to the Arduino. Force sensors, touch sensors, a pushbutton sensor, light sensor, potentiometer, motion sensor, magnet sensor, sound sensor and temperature sensors are all available at different Kickstarter backer levels. The do-it-yourself sensor allows advanced makers to create their very own input-output device.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/54060271/easyplug-the-sensor-shield-for-arduinos
Last year the company ran a successful campaign for their VERVE controller box, and were bombarded with requests to make their VERVE box and their sensors compatible with Arduino boards. This Kickstarter campaign uses the sensors from the previous project, so the difficult work of development and debugging is already completed.
This Kickstarter campaign is awesome not because it advances society but because it makes life easier for the maker community. Plugging sensors directly into the shield takes away the need for breadboards, wires, soldering or control code. Programming still needs to take place but it is highly simplified and can be done with sensor inputs and outputs.
Following their VERVE campaign, InXus has a fully developed plan to manufacture, assemble, and fulfill the orders for the EasyPlug. The deadline for this project to ship components is June and the company looks to be on target. The campaign itself has already hit its modest $8,000 goal after one week of funding and the comments section is full of users excited to spend more of their hobby time designing and hacking instead of wiring and soldering.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/54060271/easyplug-the-sensor-shield-for-arduinos