A Tour of Elephant and Castle Mini Maker Faire

We had a real blast at the Elephant and Castle Mini Maker Faire 2014 on November 16th, which was hosted by London College of Communication. Maker Faire runs a series of fun, family-friendly activities and workshops that showcase the invention, creativity and resourcefulness, to celebrate the Maker Movement in the heart of London. It is a place that engages people to learn together by showing their invention and sharing knowledge. (MakerMedia, 2014)

These are the pictures I took in the Maker Faire.

Faberdashery is the place to come for materials and advice on 3D printing. - See more at: http://www.faberdashery.co.uk/about/about-faberdashery/#sthash.nMsGP0iT.dpuf

This is a scream-activated camera, TriggerTrap.
All you have to do is just download the app from app store and connect your camera to your mobile phone.

Say: "Cheese!!"

This is called "Ototo", an all-in-one musical invention kit that allows you to make music from anything.

There are a lot of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology projects and student exhibitions that inspire, unite and entertain a growing community of resourceful people who are of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. (MakerMedia, 2014) In addition, the faire is selling different kinds of electronics such as Raspberry, Arduino and more, which provides the opportunities for young people to learn by doing things that follow their own interests.

According to Ricarose Roque from the MIT Media Lab, the use of technology is ubiquitous in all aspects of life and young generation has grown up immersed in technology, which makes them think and act differently than older ones. (Reich, 2014) Maker Faire helps to build a community of learners, which inspires young people to express their creativity and imagination, leading them into the culture of computing. It helps the society to discover the science and technology of the future.

One of my favourite booths is a scream-activated camera, TriggerTrap. It is a very entertaining Arduino-based product developed together by Ziah Fogel and Haje Jan Kamps. (Gomba, 2011) TriggerTrap is a creative photo booth that takes a photo when the users scream, which captures their real facial expressions of emotions.

However, there is another interesting project created by Dentaku in London. Ototo is a music making kit that can make music from anything by using sensors to interact with music and electronics. (Ototo, 2014) Users can create a keyboard from fruits or vegetables by connecting conductive materials to the Ototo, making the objects react to touch. Ototo is based on capacitive sensor operation by measuring the capacitance of the objects attached to it. (Kickstarter, 2014) It helps to encourage young people to learn electronics and software programming, which allows them to have better understandings on both hardware and software.

In addition, Maker Faire is another popular platform for DIY projects. (Makershed.com, 2014) Arduino is a microcontroller that can connect physical and digital world by combining the hardware and software, to interact with the world through electronic sensors, lights, and motors. Arduino software is open source and easy to learn as the hardware boards are cheaper compared to other microcontroller boards. (B_E_N, 2014) Bruce claims that, “Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects and environments.” (Bruce, 2011)

After spent over 3 years studying in interactive media design, my passion lies in human-computer interaction and new media. Hence, participating in Maker Faire is my biggest gain that allows me to gain more knowledge on interactive medias before entering into the creative industries.

REFERENCES:

 

Information:

Faberdashery.co.uk, (2014). About Faberdashery - faberdashery. [online] Available at: http://www.faberdashery.co.uk/about/about-faberdashery/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

MakerMedia, (2014). About | Elephant & Castle Mini Maker Faire. [online] Available at: http://makerfaireelephantandcastle.com/about/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2014].

Reich, J. (2014). Bringing coding to the whole family | DZone. [online] Dzone.com. Available at: http://www.dzone.com/articles/bringing-coding-whole-family [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

MakerMedia, (2014). About | Houston Mini Maker Faire. [online] Available at: http://www.houstonmakerfaire.com/about/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

Gomba, D. (2011). Arduino Blog » Blog Archive » TriggerTrap, The Universal Camera Trigger. [online] Blog.arduino.cc. Available at: http://blog.arduino.cc/2011/12/08/triggertrap-the-universal-camera-trigger/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

Ototo, (2014). Ototo. [online] Available at: http://www.ototo.fm/products [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014].

Kickstarter, (2014). Ototo: Make Music from Anything. [online] Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/905018498/ototo-make-music-from-anything [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014].

Makershed.com, (2014). Maker Shed: Arduino | Raspberry Pi | 3D Printers | Microcontroller Kit. [online] Available at: http://www.makershed.com/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2014].

B_E_N, (2014). What is an Arduino? - learn.sparkfun.com. [online] Available at: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-an-arduino/what-does-it-do [Accessed 7 Dec. 2014].

Bruce, J. (2011). What Is Arduino & What Can You Do With It? [Technology Explained]. [online] MakeUseOf. Available at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/arduino-technology-explained/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2014].