When Inventors Attack: Maker Faire

The third annual Bay Area Maker Faire is this weekend, and looks to be a truly inspiring event. Maker Faire combines art, science, recycling, and entertainment in a hands-on setting that celebrates the inventive spirit.

I was there last night for a pre-show gathering of exhibitors (my family and I will be performing our homemade Japanese storycard dramas throughout the weekend). Some of the people I met:

• A photographer who bolted two cameras together to take 3D pictures
• Two performers from a crank-powered music ensemble
• A man who created an audio-based Pong game for the blind
• The founding editor of Wired
• A woman who built a three-story Victorian house on wheels
• A grad student who turned a $40 Wii controller into a virtual whiteboard sensor, a feat that earned him the #1 video on YouTube for five straight weeks.

Each of those conversations gave us new ideas. For example, as the photographer was explaining 3D picture processing to me, I told him my background was in audio, so I was trying to conceptualize it in those terms. He suggested that the audio equivalent would be binaural recording. I told him I'd made some fun recordings with cheap in-ear mics and a voice recorder, and he got excited, realizing he could add another dimension to his digital storytelling.

Hope you can Make it!