These are some of the interesting things Carol Pepper-Kittredge recalls seeing at this year’s Maker Faire held May 17-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
FeetZ – www.feetz.co or facebook.com/Feetzshoes – 3D printed shoes based on a self-scan of your feet. The shoes were made on a maker-bot style printer and used a soft urethane that, depending on the printing density, could be stiff (for the sole) and flexible (for the upper). This is the first soft material that I’ve seen run in a personal (non-commercial) style printer. Lucy Beard (CEO) had worn her shoes for 3 months and they looked good.
Visualizer – https://getvisualizer.com/ A software that translates images from your phone to Sketch Up.
Camera Sculptura – http://www.camerasculptura.com/ A multi-camera booth and photo translation software to make 3D images of the human body.
Curious Customs – http://curiouscustoms.com/ Laser cut lanterns and night lights. These reminded me of a previous Maker Fair where Adobe had a photo booth and used images to make similar lanterns out of cardboard. These products were flying off the shelf.
Taktia – http://taktia.com/ A software and CNC-enhanced router system to make very precise but human-controlled fabricated parts. This product is incredible – I want one now.
Avava Systems – http://avava.magnuslabs.com/ modular, zero waste building system.
3D Robotics – http://3drobotics.com/ Lots and lots of drones this year. This was one of the companies there.
Q Fusion – http://survey.qfusionlabs.com/qfusion/index.php A start up, they are developing a competitive alternative to the Arduino that has a GUI interface and appeals to those who don’t want to learn programming language.
Sound Cloud – https://soundcloud.com/ Share your music with the world.
Trash Amps – http://www.trashamps.com/Default.asp For those interested is sustainability. Sold in kits and completed units.
Part Fusion – http://partfusion.com/ There were so many more wearable electronics this year, and some were really interesting. I saw an LED vest that was programmed with moving images, clothes with ‘cool LED’ sewn in, etc.
3-DIY – http://3-diy.com/ Another new trend, DIY 3D via your phone, etc. Another start-up, Poppy (poppy3d.com) is pretty cool – works with an iPhone – I’m going to order a couple.
Bootstrap Solar – http://www.bootstrapsolar.com/ Low cost solar charger system (for back country use).
Be3DPrinters – http://be3dprinters.com/us/ A competitor to MakerBot, etc. this is a sleek looking model running PLA. The price point was much lower than the MakerBot.
MCU Gear – http://mcugear.com/en/ A modular microcontroller system – no wiring. The inventor (all the way from Tokyo) has stacked up to 100 boards in one configuration. All are Bluetooth enabled.
Emmett Lalish – who works for Microsoft – http://www.thingiverse.com/emmett/overview We were chatting with this guy as he was showing us his amazing 3D printed designs made on a PLA printer (available on Thingiverse) when some students showed up and said “are you Emmett?” When he answered yes – they let out a loud shout, so I had to ask “Are you famous?” to which his colleague nodded yes. Check out his design products – unbelievable and fully available. The Blossoming Lamp is printed in one piece, and yet it is fully articulated. The other toys are printed in pieces and snap together.
Tags: maker faire
