The Rotastone is something that is totally new for Rotablade. The new venture is coming off the back of a whole wave of different ideas coming from Paul, the maker. Rotablade is now 1 year old, and as such Paul has been trying his hand at a number of different things. These include new materials such as Mokume for his famous Stubby range. He is also developing the Rotapen, a bolt action pen with a spinner at the top. However, the Rotastone is different entirely.
What is a Rotastone?
The Rotastone is what’s known as a “Haptic Coin”, haptic meaning that it relates to the sense of touch. The idea of a haptic coin is similar to the premise behind fidget spinners. By having one in your hand you are able to get a sense of comfort and relaxation purely from the feel of it.
Generally haptic coins are smooth and ergonomic. This plays to the idea of it being a pleasurable experience just to hold one in your hand. Something with edges and corners would not be as nice to hold for example. What makes the Rotastone a bit different is the fact that it spins.
The Rotastone is two halves which combine presumably over a bearing to give the spinning effect. This means that you can “roll” it in your hand, or you can get prolonged spin times, just like you would with a fidget spinner.
Rotastone Design
Though we have only seen prototypes at this stage, it appears what Paul has done is combine the smooth and satisfying curves of the stubby, as well as the top end bearing, into this new design. It comes off both strikingly different from anything we’ve seen in this market, and yet not total alien.
The design has now been finalised and is very similar to the early prototyping images, with no discernable changes to the outside.
The first wave of rotastones have been made, and were released by expressing interest, and then getting an email with a link to pay on. They were not available on the site like ordinary products. Thats not to say they wont be in the future though. The first wave costs between £125-£135 ($165-$180)