Ars Technica: Maker Faire took place over the weekend, September 21-22, at the New York Hall of Science in Queens (which is also the host of a unique Nikola Tesla exhibit that includes his remote-control boat). Soldering, tinkering, molding, and programming overtook the environs of the museum, which held a setup for a small racetrack and a giant exhibit of 3D printers. Here's a selection of our favorite sights and projects from the Faire.
10 comments:
Is it bad that I think I am more interested in the fact that there is a Nikola Tesla exhibit in New York than I am in the rest of the article. Anyway,I wonder if one day, we could use magnets to create platforms which have no visible support, based off of the magnetic floating table. Also, the idea of printable clothing is pretty awesome. I could see that having applications for the cosplay community, or just for costuming in general.
I enjoyed reading this article a lot. The pictures were high quality and very pretty. I thought that the range of topics that the writer saw at Maker fair and wrote about was really impressive and kept me wanting to look at the next photo. My one major problem with this article is that the text with not descriptive enough. The captions told me what I was looking at a photo of, but nothing more. A big part of the maker movement is the story behind "I made this". I wanted to hear the "And here's how it works". Even if the author didn't want to write more detailed explanations of the photos she really should have provided links to more information about the objects and makers. I personally really love things like Ikea hacks, inexpensive shelter designs, and computer history, so this article was a lot of fun for me to read.
I'm always impressed by the things produced at Maker Faires. While there's things happening in the industrial world, it always seems that Makers are really the true inventors of our day and age. Maybe its their experience in other fields that leads to the creation of such unique things, or maybe its just the fact that they're on a stricter budget and are forced to find outstanding solutions to their problems. Whatever the case, I'm glad that Maker Faire exists and is there for all the people who partake.
I'm with Akiva on this one. I really would have liked to know more about the way these inventions were thought of, designed, and made. I'm almost more interested about what the makers' plan for their creations are. What do they want to use their inventions for? Is it something they made for fun, or a system or program that they're working on as part of an ongoing project?
Also, the hug bot is such a cute idea. Kinda weird and not quite what I want out of a hug, but still cute.
This...this is what I want to do with my life. But for theatre. I think that all of this making and designing and, yes, 3-D printing, although mostly for show, is all some of the most useful stuff in the world. Sure, a 3-D printed cat isn't exactly very useful, but the idea I'm sure is at least somewhat linked to the 3-D printed duck foot that was on here a while ago. It's really great to see so many people getting so involved in making and technology. Of course, I think that this applies to theatre as much as everything else. Props designers can now print just about anything they really want. It also allows models to be created more intricately and neatly, and easier.
Maker faire's are so intriguing. While looking through the pictures there was a great number of inventions that I found thoroughly intriguing and wish they expanded more on. As for the 3D printed clothing, I just thought it looked tasteless. Same with the recycled materials clothing. Both of the concepts were good, but they just fell short. I find it interesting that maker faire's and conventions always showcase the cutting edge and innovative in terms of technology but when applied to something like fashion, it just falls flat. I have seen some good products come from these faire's, like biker jackets with built in lights for night time rides and even light up, removable eyelashes (admittedly that one isn't particularly practical, but it could have some interesting stage applications). I guess I'm just a little disappointed in the clothing applications this year.
The 3D printed things were very pretty and cute, and the hug-bot was absolutely adorable. I know very little about how 3D printers work, and I think it would be really cool to watch these pieces be made. The octocat is my favorite one, but the earrings are fun to look at because they are so organic, but simultaneously geometric. The clothing is interesting to look at, but doesn't seem very comfortable or convenient to wear. Maybe as a costume or as fake armor, but aside from that, I see no need for 3D printed clothes.
I've never heard of an "opto-theremin" (after some research on the internet, it seems to be some kind of a musical instrument that you can control without touching using optics). That could be a really cool addition to an interactive exhibit or a sound design for a show- an object that when someone got closer to it a sound either changed pitch or got louder. Also, that boy with the pet robot was so cute!
Maker Faire is such a great event in terms of bring people closer to technology and its more practical uses. Things like the jewelry and figurines made on the 3-D printer really help to make the technology more relatable. I also liked the more everyday things like the silicon used to strengthen the frayed cables. All of these things are useful as opposed to just fun to look at in the moment or just meant for use in a lab.
There is always so much cool stuff to discover at Maker Faires. With tech like 3-D printing becoming more accessible every year, there are just so many cool projects waiting to happen. The floating table and all the little 3-D printed objects were really cool. I'd like to learn more about the table though and exactly how it is designed. I think Maker Faires are a really fantastic concept and give so many creative people outlets for their ideas. I hope they will continue for a long time and I can't wait to see some of the inventions and projects they will come up with next.
Post a Comment