So what, why, where and how GripBeats®?
GripBeats® was once the dream of a young boy from England who at age ten realized he could play drums on his body using just clicks, claps and chest-thumps. After a decade of body percussion he soon discovered a world of interactive sensors and technology and from there nothing could stop him from making his dream of playing drums on his body a reality. Read the GripBeats® timeline below to see how the idea has literally sky-rocketed ever since.
The Idea Was Born | 2006
GripBeats® was merely a concept for an electronic way to translate a boy's body percussion into MIDI (electronic musical sound), a boy whose name was David Wexler.
From 2006 to 2016 David went on to continually develop his body percussion to the point that his hands and fingers couldn't keep up with his ideas for producing music virtually through movement and various hand gestures. During his postgraduate at university in London (and Hong Kong!) he stumbled upon the entrepreneurship and technologu development programs and initiatives to start prototyping his first concepts for what soon was called GripBeats®.
Research & Development | 2016-2019
From 2016-2018 David collaborated and hired various engineers and designers to develop iteration upon iteration before eventually he had something that was presentable to the public, or what you might call the "MVP" (minimum viable product).
Kickstarter Success | 2019
In 2019 David and some close developers launched GripBeats® on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform for the public to financially support creators' ideas they would like to see come to life. To the whole team's surprise and expecting to only raise a couple thousand US dollars, GripBeats® when on to raise over US$200,000 in preorders.
Production & Fulfilment, Despite The Odds | 2019-2022
The next couple of years from 2019-2022 saw the team quickly adapt to the constantly ongoing challenges of not only seeing come to life their very first invention, but during Hong Kong riots, COVID19 and financial challenges. 3 years later, over $100,000 additional funding invested later and GripBeats® finally completed its mass production and fulfilment of most of its preorder.
The Story Goes On | 2023-Present
To this date, despite its underfunding, GripBeats® continues to release occasional software updates for its devices that are now in possession of well over 1000 individuals worldwide.
