Pause, Relax, Re-center

Life gets stressful, and we all need some mental space from time to time. Often we find that space in mindless scrolling and binging. What if there was a way to feel more relaxed while staying engaged with our senses? That’s why we built Oasis Mini – a relaxing and accessible kinetic art canvas.

A small ball carves through sand leaving captivating patterns in its path

What does the thought of sand evoke for you? I think of beaches glittering in the sunlight. I think of mighty castles that were washed away almost as quickly as they were built. It’s a beautiful medium but an impermeant one. Everything made with it eventually flows back to rejoin something greater.

Many of us spend our days in our heads. Our modern world rewards intellectualism and information. We spend more and more of our time engaged with thinking, and less time engaged with the more human parts of us; our senses. My hope is that this project will be well… an Oasis. That each day if only for a few moments it will remind you to pause and engage your senses.

Features

How do I make my own designs?

There are two main types of designs: algorithmic and illustrated. Algorithmic designs can be made with free tools like those provided by sandify.org. Illustrated designs can be made with apps that support vectorized SVGs. We like Vectornator for tablets and Inkscape for computers. We will provide tools and tutorials that teach you how to make both algorithmic and illustrated designs to enjoy for yourself or share with the community. 

What features does the app have?

Think Spotify but for kinetic art. “Play” your favorite designs, make playlists, customize the LEDs, set timers, and more. The app is currently in beta, and we’re thrilled with its modern, intuitive design. 

Setup in 1, 2, 3 easy steps

Technology and Cost Efficiency

Oasis Mini isn’t the first kinetic art canvas to hit the market, but as far as we know it is the most affordable by a hefty margin. Why is this, and how do you know you’re still getting a quality product?

Let’s start with a fairly cumbersome law of physics. Torque = Force x Radius. Simply put, as you try to move further and further away from the center of a circle, more force is required. More force, means bigger motors, more power, more money. Fortunately Oasis Mini is well… mini at just over 9″ in diameter. This means we can use smaller motors, less power, less money. 

That’s not the biggest impact on price though. The secret sauce is really in the unique motion system we’ve designed. It’s generally true in engineering that it’s easier and cheaper to move things in a circle than in a straight line. This mostly comes down to the wonderful world of bearings. 

Small bearings are among the cheapest and most optimized mechanical components in human history, and Oasis Mini uses nothing but bearings for its motion. Does this mean that Oasis Mini is cheaply built or will have a short lifetime? No. In fact the bearings we used are made out of things like hardened steel, and the low price mostly comes down to the fact that us humans use so so many of them. 

As for how the ball is moving; there’s a magnet beneath the sand bed. How do magnets work? We can’t help you with that one. 

Team and History

Hi, I’m Zach. I’m the one writing much of this page, but the Oasis Mini team has grown well beyond me. At the risk of being too honest, anxiety has played a big part in my life, and I started this project back in early 2020 when anxiety was playing a large role in most of our lives. For me, this kinetic art canvas is soothing and helps to bring me out of my head and into my senses at times when that’s difficult.

Early on, Jose joined the project. Jose is good at many things but chief among them is shipping products. He has decades of experience in complex consumer product manufacturing. Frankly, Oasis Mini is quite a bit simpler than other products he’s worked on during his career. The two of us are the main team behind Oasis Mini, but we’ve partnered with no shortage of contracted engineers, designers, and developers to bring this to life. 

Backing a crowdfunding campaign requires a greater level of trust than other platforms, and so you deserve a higher level of transparency. We’re committed to providing updates every 2 weeks for backers, and if you have any questions or concerns please get in touch via contact@grounded.so.

Shipping

Please be aware that shipping and taxes are not included in the pledge levels. After the campaign, before Oasis Mini ships, we will email you a link to “BackerKit.” We will collect your address at this time to ensure we have the most accurate place to send your product to.

Shipping charges vary based on your country – approximately $14 U.S., and $24 International. These are just estimates and actual shipping costs will be calculated as we get closer to shipping based on current market rates.

Check Us out on Social Media

We post new videos with Oasis Mini each day, and showcase new designs and experiments with different media like glitter and glow-in-the-dark powder. 

Find us on: Instagram and TikTok

Risks and challenges

Supply chains have been unstable recently, and so Oasis Mini has been designed to use common components that will remain easy to source even in the event of disruptions. I personally have decades of experience in consumer products manufacturing, and the collaborators on this project combined add many more decades! We’re confident that we will deliver Oasis Mini to you on time while exceeding your expectations for quality and enjoyability.

The definition of a prototype may vary, but the current design of Oasis Mini could be more accurately described as a pre-production sample. We’ve gone through the work of optimizing and testing components ahead of time to minimize the risk of development related delays.

International shipping is complicated with various regulations and taxes to navigate between countries. We’ve shortlisted several international production and logistics companies who have experience both with crowdfunding and international fulfillment. We’ll choose the one(s) who provide the most reliable service at the lowest cost to you.