Inventor Erik Kittlaus wants to give people a better — and better-looking — way to hold up their phones and tablets.
His latest, Pukk, is a magnetic articulating arm that lets users easily adjust viewing angles for their devices. Magnetic plates attach gadgets to the arm.
Pukk can hold a device in place for use on a kitchen countertop, as a second screen next to a desktop computer, or as a standalone station for those who work primarily from their tablet, Kittlaus said.
Erik Kittlaus’ studio, Dekke, is based in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood. His brother, Dag Kittlaus, created artificially intelligent assistants Siri and Viv and also lives in the Chicago area part time.
Pukk’s name comes from the resemblance of its base to a hockey puck, Erik Kittlaus said. But the star is the finely-tuned magnetic arm, which he aimed to build with just enough friction to support a device, while still being easy to adjust.
“This was a real challenge to build and a lot of fun to pull together,” Kittlaus said.
Pukk will retail for about $120, but it is being offered for $79 during a Kickstarter campaign, which has garnered about $18,000 of its $20,000 goal as of Wednesday.
The Pukk campaign follows Kittlaus’ Slope tablet stand, which raised $89,104 on a $60,000 goal from 1,118 backers on Kickstarter in 2013.
Pukk has been six years in the making, Kittlaus said. Inspired by the kinetic motion of two desk lamps in Pixar’s first animated short, 1986’s “Luxo, Jr.,” Kittlaus wanted to create an arm that moved in similar fashion. But he couldn’t figure out how to deliver an adjustable device in a sleek, efficient design, he said.
“The motion that happened with the joints was something really appealing to me,” Kittlaus said. “When I came around to thinking about what would be the ideal iPad stand, I immediately thought of that.”
He set aside the project to work on what would become Slope. But in 2015, while doing research for another product, Kittlaus read about a steel ball and joint that used magnets and could produce the effect he wanted for Pukk.
While a few metal parts will be made in China, the bulk of the pieces will be manufactured in Tennessee, where he said Pukk will be assembled.
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The Kickstarter campaign runs through Oct. 7. Kittlaus said he expects Pukk to ship in January.
Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.
Twitter @CherylVJackson
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