The panel at Maker Faire consisted of three wearable computing innovators, and their mentor, Lynne Bruning. Each maker used different techniques for their projects, and each project went a different direction.
Ally Seeley‘s project was the most serious and the most elegant. She’s turned toward using tiny electronics into a glove, and later, perhaps other tools, to help people with nerve damage perceive touch sensations through sight. She made an elegant gauntlet, and plans to work on other tools in the future.
Nik’s project for middle school involved an army-style camo jacket, dubbed the Hacket, and several electronics elements, including electro-luminescent (EL) wire. The heart on his chest glowed on or off with the touch of a switch. He says eventually it’ll be upgraded to pulse with the wearer’s heartbeat. Stars on his back pulse with the intensity of the surrounding sound. Most subtle, and most clever, he had a sensor hidden in the back yoke of the jacket, that when pressed in a hug, triggered a cheerful song in his front pocket.
Matt Pinner‘s creations were the most flamboyant. He wore a cute unicorn costume with socks and horn lit up by strings of LCDs. A friend modeled his Sith lord robe with “lightening” sleeves. He started as an electronic engineer, but turned his skills toward creating whimsical, wearable art with an electronic component.
The short Q & A session afterwards allowed the audience to get answers to both practical and aesthetic problems.