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Inventors Build, Craft, Hack and Play
Welcome to Austin, Texas, host city of 2007’s Maker Faire. If this event doesn’t sound familiar, picture a huge gathering of nerds and geeks who have just crawled out of their basements to show you what they’ve been secretly working on for the last several months. Ziya Tong had the privilege of getting up close and personal with these “makers” in an attempt to discover what crazy new gadgets were being touted about.
Those in the know understand that a “maker” is somebody who uses their hands to create something that is entirely unique and original. In most cases, makers enjoy modifying common contraptions in an attempt to improve them. For instance, turning a Tesla Coil into a musical instrument – a modification that gives a new meaning to the phrase “electronic music”.
Kids can be makers as well. Ambitious youngsters are doing everything from building and launching rockets, to exploring the circuit boards of common electronic toys. Getting people involved and excited at an early age is crucial in keeping Maker Faire a family-friendly DIY event.
The event also proves that makers are pushing the limits of science in some unusual ways. The people at CalCars, for instance, have come up with a way to turn a Toyota Prius into a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). Ziya got a first hand peek at how the group has managed to convert the Prius into an even more fuel efficient vehicle – getting it to run on 100 miles per gallon as opposed to its usual 45 – 50.
On the flipside, many of the makers create inventions purely for entertainment purposes. Movie fan Will Jackson, founder of Engineered Arts, built a robot that can recite film quotes and do impersonations, such as Robert De Niro’s character in the classic film Taxi Driver. Jackson plans to get his robo-thespian on stage in high-tech versions of Hamlet and other theater productions.
If you can name it, it’s probably at Maker Faire, and looks like it’s been salvaged from the dumpster, then sanded and soldered to the point where it might present a worthwhile function to someone. Take a tour with Ziya Tong to see how these makers are hacking their way into the mainstream.
Homepage photo by Phillip Torrone
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