Our visit to the Maker Faire

This weekend we went to the Maker Faire. The event is 1 part county fair, 2 parts inventors' workshop. It is sponsored by Make Magazine. A clue to understanding the mission of Make Magazine ("technology on your time") is one of the projects on its current home page: "Hack a hoodie to turn off TVs with the tug of a zipper."

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan and adherent of the DIY approach. I've written about making catnip cigars, holiday wreaths, gift bags, cheese, and rag placemats. But, I cannot hold a candle--or rather--a miniature LED flashlight to the technological wonders that abound at the Maker Faire.

For example, last year Iris and I saw a dress woven from ordinary fibers blended with electronic fibers. The woman working on the design aimed to create a garment that would enable a visually impaired person to detect information about the immediate environment, such as proximity to objects. This year, her comrade in threads was showing a wired shirt that lights up in reaction to the wearer's body temperature and activity. It's made for dancing, in other words.

Our companions for this year's visit were our 12-year-old friends Ben, Hannah, and Jessie. The visit was our birthday present to them...the kind of gift that is at least as much fun for the givers as we hope it was for the receivers.

I'm going to give you a small tour of the Faire, so if you are looking at this post via the email feed and you don't get the images, you may want to follow the link to the web version to see what you're missing.

This is the "Raygun Gothic Rocket" on the Midway, visible from either entrance when you first arrive at the fair. Quite a climbing structure, don't you think?

This is a floor shot in the "Maker Shed," a warehouse filled with kits, books, demos, and, well, inspiration. Oh, and also, crowds.




Introducing Shovel Man, a DIY musician. He is appearing on the Human-Powered Stage, where the power for the amps is provided by members of the crowd pedaling bicycles. Ben took a turn.

A captivating metal and fire sculpture in the Fire Arts area. The kids were able to use a controller to cause "synapses" to fire.

One of my favorites: The Egg-Writer and the computer program running it. It's multi-purpose: it also writes on ping pong balls, light bulbs, why, think of all the things it might be good for!

What Faire would be without Robot Wars? At this point in the action, the crowd roared, "Death to the Barbie Car!"

The kids made soap, drove virtual cars, played a version of electronic pong, ate both good and bad food, and got tired enough that they hit the sack several hours earlier than the night before. In short, it was a Faire to remember.