Dublin Maker

Calendar date 22nd July

Dublin Maker is a free community run event on Saturday July 22nd in Merrion Square. Dublin Maker takes the form of a “show and tell” experience where inventors/makers sourced through an open call, will have an opportunity to showcase their creations in a carnival atmosphere. It is a family friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning http://www.dublinmaker.ie/makers-2017/

Enable Ireland’s Karl O’Keeffe and Sean Loughran want to promote the making of Assistive Technology solutions, particularly in the areas of creativity and leisure.

Projects that they intend to show are a RánBot, a Bodhrán that can be played using eye gaze technology. The Bodhrán is played using a combination of solenoids (beat rhythm on skin and rim) and car door actuators to regulate skin tension from the back of the drum).

They are also going to demo LOMI (Light Operated MIDI Interface) prototype. LOMI is an open hardware project designed and built by IADT Dun Laoghaire Creative Media Technologies student Rudolf Triebel. LOMI uses a head mounted laser pointer and an array of photoresistors connected to an Arduino Mega to generate MIDI. Rudolf has created an Instructable and it is their hope that others will build their own and progress the design.

Karl and Sean are also going to demo the Flipmouse and hopefully get contact details from makers willing to build a Flipmouse for people in their community. The Flipmouse is a computer access device that incorporates a low force joystick, sip&puff input as well as switch input. It is built from a kit supplied, designed and supported by the Assistive Technology group at the UAS Technikum Wien (Department of Embedded Systems) and funded by the City of Vienna ToRaDes project and AsTeRICS Academy project. The Flipmouse is a well-documented versatile computer access/gaming solution that costs one tenth of similar proprietary devices while offering much greater functionality.

Karl and Sean are going to present some challenges that people with disabilities have come to them with. A couple they are working on are, trying to increase the accessibility of Blind-Tennis using technology and giving blind bowlers the ability to hear their score read out to them.

Hope to see you there.

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