A helping hand from the crowd for inventor

EDINBURGH, U.K. - Jan. 21, 2014 - PRLog -- It all started in a hotel room in Chicago, when Edinburgh-based inventor Alison Grieve settled down to watch a relaxing movie in bed, only to have her beloved tablet fall back onto her nose with a clunk.

“I’m no stranger to using tablets on the move,” explains Alison, whose first invention, the non-toppling foodservice tray, Safetray – www.safetrayproducts.com – took her to trade shows across five continents in the space of one year. “I found, quite apart from being whacked on the nose, that my tablet was brilliantly portable for traveling around but could be a bit awkward to use when I was typing on the plane, or presenting to customers, or taking photos and videos.”

Knowing how important it was to retain the sleek, portable design of tablets, Alison created the G-Hold to fold flat, only popping out to slip comfortably between the fingers of users, with the ability to rotate to any desired angle.

To fund the project, Alison’s team have chosen the crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter – http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/991377990/g-hold-grip.... Backers can choose between G-Holds that are housed within high-end leather cases or removable units that suck onto the back of various devices with Micro Suction material.

Although new to crowd-funding, Alison has been overwhelmed by how supportive the backers have been. “It is a scary thing to enter into the world of technology and crowd-funding when my original invention [the Safetray] was focused on foodservice, which is generally more traditional in how it is funded,” explains Alison. “It is really heart-warming to receive emails and pledges from so many people who immediately get the concept.”

Many fans have even suggested uses that the team have never thought of before. One musician backer explained that the G-Hold would sit securely in his music stand, as iPads are increasingly used by orchestras around the world. Another described the difficulties posed by his arthritic condition that makes gripping his tablet both painful and insecure.

With a goal of raising £10,000 (around $16K USD), the project has quickly gained attention, appearing on Newsnight Scotland, and with The Guardian newspaper calling the G-Hold “cutting edge British tech” after its appearance at CES 2014. There is still time to back the project, which ends on Valentine’s Day, and to secure one of the first G-Holds to be available worldwide from as little as £10 (around $16 USD).

“Our mission is quite simple,” states Alison, “to change the way the world holds things.”

Editor’s notes

For further information, images or interviews, please call Caroline Whitham at Safetray Products Ltd on 07983 539370 or email cw@safetrayproducts.com.