New Ultra-Portable Projector Weighs Half a Pound

A start-up that last year used crowdsourcing to raise $800,000 has introduced a new projector that weighs just 9 ounces, can fit in the palm of your hand and offers images that can be projected on any surface.

Touchjet, founded in 2013, has released its first product, the Touchjet Pond Projector (formerly known as the Touchpico), an ultra-portable projector that can display images as wide as 80 inches on any surface, allowing teachers and students to interact directly with photos, videos, games and presentations.
Touchjet representatives said the Pond Projector is intended to act as a counter balance to the one-on-one movement in which students work on individual devices as opposed to together as a group.

Built on the Android 4.4 operating system, the Pond Projector gives users access to hundreds of thousands of apps that can be downloaded directly to the device via Google Play. It has an 80 lumen LED lamp and a built-in infrared sensor that allows it to track two bundled infrared styluses, which are powered by two AA batteries. It comes with the two styluses and a Bluetooth remote control that can also be used as an infrared mouse.

Touchjet representatives said the Pond Projector is intended to act as a counter balance to the one-on-one movement in which students work on individual devices as opposed to together as a group.

"Some curriculum is best taught through individual learning, but other subjects require collaboration so students learn together while improving their social skills," said Touchjet Educational Specialist Holly De Leon. "We believe there needs to be a balance, so educators don't sacrifice opportunities for collaboration and group learning."

The Pond Projector was introduced during the ISTE 2015 conference June 28-July 1 in Philadelphia.

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

Featured

  • students using digital devices, surrounded by abstract AI motifs and soft geometric design

    Ed Tech Startup Kira Launches AI-Native Learning Platform

    A new K-12 learning platform aims to bring personalized education to every student. Kira, one of the latest ed tech ventures from Andrew Ng, former director of Stanford's AI Lab and co-founder of Coursera and DeepLearning.AI, "integrates artificial intelligence directly into every educational workflow — from lesson planning and instruction to grading, intervention, and reporting," according to a news announcement.

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • lightbulb

    Register Now for Tech Tactics in Education: Overcoming Roadblocks to Innovation

    Tech Tactics in Education will return on Sept. 25 with the conference theme "Overcoming Roadblocks to Innovation." Registration for the fully virtual event is now open.

  • school building protected by a glowing blue shield with circuit patterns, blocking red-orange cyber threat icons

    Establishing a Proactive Defense Against Evolving Cyber Threats

    Here are six good starting points for K-12 districts that want to improve their cybersecurity mitigation strategies and take a more proactive approach to mitigating risk.