Making Toys

Updates from September, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  mónica arias. 7:43 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  maker faire extravaganza. 

  Sashimi Tabernacle Choir
  by Richard Carter and John Schroeter (+30 volunteers).

  “What can be more annoying than an animated singing fish? Try 250 of them bolted to a Volvo and singing Opera”. It features 2 soloists, a conductor (The Lobster Formerly Known as Larry), and 6 different choral groups, performing everything from Opera to Pop to Punk Rock. The car has over 300 pounds of batteries, a computer, 31 custom circuit boards, and 5 miles of control system wire. They took something awful, and amplified it. At the end, even though a little annoying, it was a very entertaining show for everyone at the faire, and could not be ignored even if you wanted it. Talk about impact!

  

  

  Blu – Education and Hobby Robotics Kit
  by Photon Robotics.

  Blu is a series of programmable robotics system for education, hobby, and research use. It features an Arduino controller, and they’re easy to program. The ones in the small exhibition included 3 models: the Sensing Touch used a simple touch sensor to detect walls and obstacles, triggering the (car like) robot to turn around. Sensing Light uses a pair photocells to tell Blu to turn right or left. Sensing Distance was a bit more complicated, having a rangefinder and a servo gripper. The cool thing about these is they are targeted mostly for kids. Meaning they’re that simple to assemble, and it really gives them a sense of what electronics are, directing them into the geek field.

  

  

  

  Notify Me Now
  by Andrew Katz.

  It’s basically a monitoring system for your house/room. It’s an open source sensor used to notify the computer user of the current status of the sensor. Like the creator said “like when you don’t want your little brother in your room, and you want to know when his there, the sensor will tell you”. He’s 12… 12 years-old!!!! I loved this kid. According to his chart, he already programs using C++, Java, Processing, and Arduino. Hell, he’s even taken classes at MIT. Cute and innocent, the project prototype was well built and fully functional. This is the kind of things that inspire me to make art and design more accesible to kids, because this is evidence of what it can result in.

  

  

  

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• 

  aisencc 6:34 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Hello [pcomp]!! 

  Background?

  Aisen Caro Chacin is a regenerating composition of cells that collaborate to form an independent unit, despite of this precarious human condition. Together they compose a she, a Venezuelan, a Spaniard, an American, and an animal, whose patterns of migration are not based on seasons, but rather chance, chaos, and opportunity. Her curiosity drove her to a career in the Arts, a true trans-disciplinary practice that allows her to dabble between fields and still remain in a coherent path. Her intent has been to question the function and essence of art in order to explore dislocated, un-plotted, un-assigned ideas and social situations. She is also a bucket of ideas open to merge and exchange with other buckets

  to create

  coop erative

  k

  r

  • w.

  Why [pcomp]? E± L± E±C ±T+ R+ I±C ± I ± T ±Y !!!

  Circuitry has become a fascination to me and Forrest Mims III a great influence on my latest work. Circuits and microcontrollers are the main reason why I am in MFA DT. After this class I hope to grasp on the Arduino API, and hope to program other chips in place of the prototyping boards.

  Make STUFF :

  move/ respond/ record/ sound/ light-up/ charge/ absorb/ change/ etc µ

  Toys?
  I had this awesome Chem Kit with a Microscope:
  

  and this awesome GAMEBOY:

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• 

  aisencc 6:33 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Maker Faire! 

  Only the coolest faire ever!

  I came out of Maker Faire wired with excitement, inspired to the gills, and ready to make – make – make! I felt at home, I thought I was born in just the right time to experience the fruition of this culture. The culture of the makers and the breakers, where art and science are one, where a science museum shows off the vitality that it attempts to explain. The museum oozed with imagination, everyone was happy to be there together, participating in a huge show and tell. I was inspired to culminating some ideas that have been brewing in my brain for a while, like the sound sculpture albums, and the rain room, and the photo-sound performance wall. In a way I wished I had my own project there, but I am glad I had free reign to explore and find all the knickkancks, experiments, and projects. I loved so much of it, it was hard to pick just 3 to talk about. So to do the rest of the projects justice, I will post pictures of the rest.

  Interfaces:

  

  1) Swinging in the Rain

  The most amazing, beautiful, poetic piece in Maker Faire NY 2011. This swing set had a curtain of rain that would switch off as the swing would pass directly under the curtain. This work reminds me of a piece I’ve been wanting to make for a while now, a rain room that partitions the rain as you walk through. As far as interfaces, this is the most successful blissful work. Though I dared not to try it, since I saw a few girls get wet. I think the switches were not always working properly. Regardless of the switches, if it wasn’t for the cold or the line, I would have loved to swing by.

  

  2) Imaging Scope

  This piece created by Luis Violante is also endearing to me, since I have an utter fascination with microscopes. I’ve had one since I was a kid. In the Imagine Scope, Violante used a mini projector to play movies through the microscope viewfinders. The slides each had a magnetic chip that one could scan by placing it under the lens. Then depending on the slide you picked a movie would play. This interface is successful in many ways. Conceptually, it is taking the situation of watching films and redirecting it to a different point of view, perspective. It invites us to analyze these short films as carefully as biological specimens in a petri dish. Also I find the use of the mini projector a very clever way of displaying affection to the miniature world. This piece is just fantastic, the video selection was wonderful. I had the delight to see a compilation of  images collected from one of the earliest space explorers.

   

   ArcAttack-

  This Austin band is so cool. They use 4 huge  tesla coils to amplify their sound. I had seen a video of their performance before, and luckily got the opportunity to dee them live at maker faire. The only disappointing aspect, was that instead of having a band member in chain maille and armor conducting the band between the 2 coils, they had a metal cage. Members of the audience were invited to hang out in the electrocuted cage for the duration of a song- and honestly  this was boring. It made a spectacle of a perfectly awesome band.

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• 

  hirumi 5:50 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  hello! 

  Sorry for the delay, just got my WP set up…

  Hi! I’m Hirumi. I studied Biology/Neurobiology as an undergrad and worked for a few years in Student Affairs in Higher Ed before pursing an MFA in DT.

  I’m exploring plant geekery for my thesis. Must learn pcomp so I can use those righteous sensors.

  My fave: The Toy Cash Register.

  

  I’m pretty sure I played with this bad boy right up until teen-hood. Clicky buttons. Magic numbers. Ringy sounds. What’s not to love? Oh haiii pcomp. Lets do this.

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