Cart and I were at Palazzo Dei Congressi yesterday to see the MakerFaire exhibition. I didn’t really felt like going there till Chinmay, who’s gone to the MakerFaire in Singapore, recommended me to go to the one in Rome. I trust his judgement, moreover it’s pretty close to where we live, so why not?
(By the way, loads of events are held at Palazzo dei congressi, such as a wedding exhibition, magic the gathering tournament as well as the marathon sports village)
MakerFaire is an event to “celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset” – basically makers can showcase their creations and interact in one place.
We managed to print a discount from the website and intended to go there last Saturday. Unfortunately, it was so crowded that we couldn’t manage to enter. So we got tickets for the next day. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise in the end, as the queues at the ticketing counter on Sunday were insane!
When we got inside, there were a lot of robotics and devices being showcased. Most of them uses open-source technology, such as arduino and linux. I’m impressed that you could make your own robots similar to the Lego Mindstorms by yourself. I’m quite out of touch with these sort of tech stuff but I had loads of fun (as well as frustrations) with these sort of things in my mid-20s.
(Cart has one of his own by the way!)
This was amazing to me – you can build your own car! I’m not sure how feasible it would be to drive it on the road though. Nevertheless, I love this idea!
There were also handicraft items which I enjoyed seeing. Some of them were from Etsy (a site where you can get handcrafted items from the maker directly) I wonder if any of them could do a rinaz stuff for me.
Tech meets fashion with these 3D printed shoes and bags :
An invention that will let you know if you left your baby in the car. There are just too many reports of accidents like these happening all over the world.
Something to help the elderly grasp their eating utensils better.
This little trolley follows you around while you do your grocery so you don’t have to be overcome carrying your own basket.
I’m all for bicycles like these. No need for fuel, road tax, bollino and whatnots. Just your leg power.
All in all, I enjoyed myself. For something that was 4 euro (8 euro for full price) it was really worth it! In fact, we couldn’t even manage to see all the displays in two hours as it was already closing time. I would have really liked to see the chocolate printing machine.
But what I enjoyed seeing the most I think was the excitement and enthusiasm that I see from the faces of kids trying out the gadgets. That was really heartening 🙂
Here is a video montage of the exhibition. It’s about 13 minutes but I spent a lot of time and effort on this, so please watch it 😀
Have you been to a Makerfaire? If you have, how was it?
Whoa so many floors to visit and attractions to see..maybe next time it will be worth arriving earlier 😉
I think there will be a next year. So we should be there at least 3 hours before closing time to be able to see everything!