Chloe Desmoineaux isn't playing Counter-Strike, the renowned first-person shooter game from Valve, like everyone else. Instead of using traditional PC-gaming controls, she's turned a tube of lipstick into a trigger for her Counter-Strike weapons, tha...
LittleBits, the company that makes electronics kits for people who don’t know how to solder, is now opening up a new service called “BitLab.” It’s being pushed as an “app store for hardware” in which users can design modules for LittleBits and have them sold through the official store. Designers will get a royalty, geeky people with cool project ideas will have more toys to play with, and everybody will be happy. Well, I’d wager that there will be some cats, spouses, and parents who wont be happy about some of geekdom’s impending creations, but if you’re not offending anybody, you’re probably boring.
Right now, there aren’t many modules up there yet, but two have already been confirmed for production: a MaKey MaKey module than can turn everyday objects into touch pads, and an i10 touch sensor that can detect the proximity of fingers. I just upvoted the EMG SpikerBox, because, as an athlete, a module that can detect individual muscles tensing is just cool to me.
What kind of modules do you want to see? Why aren’t you designing them right now?
If you're tired of bananaphones that just make calls, the crew at Gadget Gangster now has a homebrew project to use them for musical escapades. A custom-coded (and appropriately named) Adafruit Propeller board turns a bunch of bananas into the Bananaphone TouchSynth, a synthesizer using the same capacitive touch principles that let a MaKey MaKey turn anything into a controller. The project as it's built won't be rocking stadium-sized crowds anytime soon -- not with those beeps and that lone speaker -- but there's nothing stopping it from scaling up to bigger sounds. Just remember that your fresh beats will turn very brown within a few days.
The litany of exciting MakerFaire products continues with MaKey MaKey, a device that turns anything capable of conducting electricity into a controller. Developed by MIT Media Lab students Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, you simply run an alligator clip from the board to an object and hold a connecting wire in your hand. Connecting over USB, it's entirely programming-free, but if you find your interest piqued, you can flip the board over to use the Arduino module baked into the hardware. It's already surpassed its original $25,000 Kickstarter goal and when the run begins, you'll be able to pick up everything you need for just $35 -- but if you can't wait that long, head on down to the Bay Area this weekend.
Chloe Desmoineaux isn't playing Counter-Strike, the renowned first-person shooter game from Valve, like everyone else. Instead of using traditional PC-gaming controls, she's turned a tube of lipstick into a trigger for her Counter-Strike weapons, tha...
