Every project starts with a spark. For TheCube, that spark came from frustration.
I once saw a video featuring a little “desk robot” — a tiny box with a face, some arms that wiggled, and almost no real use. It was cute, sure. But it wasn’t helpful. I thought to myself: what would it take to build something that wasn’t just another gimmick, but an actual companion for your desk? Something useful, entertaining, and interactive.
That was the moment TheCube began.
The Early Days: From Tinkering to Ecosystem
Like many projects, TheCube started small: a presence sensor paired with an LCD screen. The idea was simple — remind me when I’d been sitting too long, and make it more interesting than a phone alarm I’d just swipe away.
But as I sketched, something bigger emerged. What if there were smaller, more affordable versions? What if it wasn’t just one device, but a family of them? That’s where the MiniCube and toppers were born — stackable, swappable, customizable extensions that make TheCube an ecosystem, not just a product.
It didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual realization: TheCube could be more than a tinkering project. It could be a platform for hardware, software, and creativity.
The Personality Factor
I’d used smart speakers before, and while they’re useful, they always felt… robotic. Cold. Forgettable.
So I started experimenting with personality. What if TheCube could show moods? Smile when you returned. Sulk if you ignored it. Celebrate when you finished a task. It wasn’t in the original plan, but as soon as I saw it animated on screen, I knew: this was the key to making TheCube memorable.
Today, personality is woven into TheCube’s DNA. It can be playful, empathetic, or assertive — whichever works best for you. Because nagging you to drink water works a lot better when it comes from a buddy who actually feels present.
Design Challenges
Getting all of this into a 10cm cube wasn’t easy. The hardware challenges were constant: fitting the screen, sensors, audio, and expansion ports into a small enclosure, while making sure it could be mass-produced affordably.
I started with 3D-printed enclosures. Great for prototyping, but not for scaling. Transitioning to injection molding meant a crash course in draft angles, wall thickness, and assembly design. It forced me to think not just like an engineer, but like a manufacturer.
And then there’s the balance. Cute and playful is great — but TheCube also needs to look at home on a professional desk. That’s why the design is simple, neutral, and customizable. You’re always in control of how much personality you want to see.
Why Kickstarter?
Kickstarter felt like the natural next step.
- Validation: Does the world want a product like this?
- Community: Early adopters who don’t just buy TheCube, but help shape it.
- Funding: Covering the real costs — tooling, manufacturing, marketing — that take a project from prototype to production.
The tiers are structured to welcome everyone: from t-shirt supporters, to beta testers, to full backers who’ll get their own Cube. Stretch goals like LED toppers and personality packs aren’t just extras — they’re proof of demand, and they help unlock more ambitious features.
Open Source, Open Community
From day one, TheCube has been about openness. The hardware, the software, the docs — all of it is built with transparency in mind.
Why? Because too many devices treat you like the product, quietly harvesting your data. TheCube doesn’t. By open-sourcing it, I’m not only building trust — I’m inviting developers, tinkerers, and makers to extend what TheCube can do. Imagine community-built apps, custom toppers, wild new personalities. That’s the ecosystem I want to see flourish.
The Most Surreal Moment
There’s one moment I’ll never forget: holding the first 3D-printed prototype in my hands. For months, TheCube lived only in CAD files and sketches. Suddenly, it was real. A cube you could actually put on a desk. That moment made every late night of tinkering worth it.
What’s Next
If you back TheCube, you’re not just buying a product. You’re helping launch a new kind of companion — one that blends functionality with fun, openness with charm, and hardware with personality.
In the short term, I’ll focus on fulfilling backer orders, refining the design, and rolling out the first wave of apps, toppers, and personality packs. Longer-term, I see TheCube growing into a full ecosystem: new formats, new modules, a thriving open-source community, and a device that genuinely makes desks around the world more engaging places to be.
Backing TheCube means joining this journey early — and shaping where it goes next.
Because this isn’t just a cube. It’s the start of something bigger.
From Idea to Kickstarter: TheCube Journey So Far