Designer creates self lacing shoes with LEGO #WearableWednesday

Via Daily Mail

A hack using Lego could slash the cost of getting your hands on a pair of ‘Back To The Future’-style self-lacing trainers.

Industrial designer Vimal Patel came up with the design in an effort to create a cheaper version of Nike’s HyperAdapt 1.0 $720 (£580) trainers.

The Lego version uses battery-powered motors to drive a series of cogs that tighten laces – and Mr Patel says anyone can make their own version at home.

Mr Patel, who was born in New Zealand, shared his shoes on Cargo Collective.

Speaking about the project, the Denmark-based designer said: ‘I used a Dremel multitool to make holes in the shoe, that I filled with standard Lego Technic elements, and secured with hot glue.’

‘From there, it was straightforward to experiment with different designs and test their functionality.

Read more.

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Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

Adafruit’s Top 10 Blog Posts of February 2017 #StateOfTheFruit #AdafruitTopTen

Here’s our top 10 most popular posts from February 2017.

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1. Ladyada @adafruit & makers removed from @whitehouse website #WHChamps #NationOfMakers @mfgday @makerswomen

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2. Celebrating Charles Darwin #DarwinDay

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3. Raspberry Pi Camera Comparison #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

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4. The First Generation of CDs Is Already Rotting and Dying #MusicMonday

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5. Use a Raspberry Pi Zero to notify you when your laundry is done #piday #RaspberryPi @Raspberry_Pi

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6. SparkFun’s former CEO @ChipAddict starts “SPARK X” @sparkfun

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7. Speech Recognition on Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

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8. iSwitchPi Adds an Intelligent Power Switch to Your @Raspberry_Pi | #piday #raspberrypi

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9. Reading sensors remotely using an ESP8266 board and a Raspberry Pi @Raspberry_Pi #piday #raspberrypi

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10. Fitness Tracker Photo Exposes Half Marathon Cheat

Adafruit’s Top 10 Blog Posts of February 2017 #StateOfTheFruit #AdafruitTopTen

Here’s our top 10 most popular posts from February 2017.

---

1. Ladyada @adafruit & makers removed from @whitehouse website #WHChamps #NationOfMakers @mfgday @makerswomen

---

2. Celebrating Charles Darwin #DarwinDay

---

3. Raspberry Pi Camera Comparison #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

---

4. The First Generation of CDs Is Already Rotting and Dying #MusicMonday

---

5. Use a Raspberry Pi Zero to notify you when your laundry is done #piday #RaspberryPi @Raspberry_Pi

---

6. SparkFun’s former CEO @ChipAddict starts “SPARK X” @sparkfun

---

7. Speech Recognition on Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

---

8. iSwitchPi Adds an Intelligent Power Switch to Your @Raspberry_Pi | #piday #raspberrypi

---

9. Reading sensors remotely using an ESP8266 board and a Raspberry Pi @Raspberry_Pi #piday #raspberrypi

---

10. Fitness Tracker Photo Exposes Half Marathon Cheat

Adafruit’s Top 10 Blog Posts of February 2017 #StateOfTheFruit #AdafruitTopTen

Here’s our top 10 most popular posts from February 2017.

---

1. Ladyada @adafruit & makers removed from @whitehouse website #WHChamps #NationOfMakers @mfgday @makerswomen

---

2. Celebrating Charles Darwin #DarwinDay

---

3. Raspberry Pi Camera Comparison #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

---

4. The First Generation of CDs Is Already Rotting and Dying #MusicMonday

---

5. Use a Raspberry Pi Zero to notify you when your laundry is done #piday #RaspberryPi @Raspberry_Pi

---

6. SparkFun’s former CEO @ChipAddict starts “SPARK X” @sparkfun

---

7. Speech Recognition on Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

---

8. iSwitchPi Adds an Intelligent Power Switch to Your @Raspberry_Pi | #piday #raspberrypi

---

9. Reading sensors remotely using an ESP8266 board and a Raspberry Pi @Raspberry_Pi #piday #raspberrypi

---

10. Fitness Tracker Photo Exposes Half Marathon Cheat

How to Share Your Love With Wearable Tech #WearableWednesday #wearabletech #Arduino #DIY #tech

Last week Liza Stark was busy with conductive embroidery and this week she posted this video mixing wearable tech with commitment ceremonies. Imagine you want to share that special moment of saying “I do” with others visually. She has created a corset and pocket square that not only illuminate when near each other, but also visualize combined heartbeats of the partners. Here’s her description of the wearable project:

Data Vows is a series of biometric sensing garments for near future commitment ceremonies. It imagines a world where these rituals are no longer sworn by words, but by displaying and exchanging our most sacred physical information. In order to be wed, partners must trade heartbeat data to cement their devotion.

The project stars Adafruit’s FLORA microcontroller surrounded by LEDs. As for the garments gathering heart rate, they may use a simple pulse sensor or a heftier Polar wireless unit. It’s interesting that the heart data is exchanged in proximity as I think it would be fun if the exchange triggered on embrace only. The project definitely shows more of Liza’s embroidery skills and I’m loving the detail of the circuit on the pocket square. I’m not sure whether just the LEDs are to be shown peeking out of the pocket, but these soft circuits deserve some face time. Liza has been doing some Instructables, so hopefully this project will soon join the line-up. Do you have a friend that is planning their commitment or wedding ceremony? Make sure you get your order in for FLORA microcontrollers to make the day extra special. They are Arduino friendly and love solder and stitches. Don’t forget you can always design a wearable tech gift for the couple to be opened after the big ceremony. What sensor would you want to use?

---

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

How to Share Your Love With Wearable Tech #WearableWednesday #wearabletech #Arduino #DIY #tech

Last week Liza Stark was busy with conductive embroidery and this week she posted this video mixing wearable tech with commitment ceremonies. Imagine you want to share that special moment of saying “I do” with others visually. She has created a corset and pocket square that not only illuminate when near each other, but also visualize combined heartbeats of the partners. Here’s her description of the wearable project:

Data Vows is a series of biometric sensing garments for near future commitment ceremonies. It imagines a world where these rituals are no longer sworn by words, but by displaying and exchanging our most sacred physical information. In order to be wed, partners must trade heartbeat data to cement their devotion.

The project stars Adafruit’s FLORA microcontroller surrounded by LEDs. As for the garments gathering heart rate, they may use a simple pulse sensor or a heftier Polar wireless unit. It’s interesting that the heart data is exchanged in proximity as I think it would be fun if the exchange triggered on embrace only. The project definitely shows more of Liza’s embroidery skills and I’m loving the detail of the circuit on the pocket square. I’m not sure whether just the LEDs are to be shown peeking out of the pocket, but these soft circuits deserve some face time. Liza has been doing some Instructables, so hopefully this project will soon join the line-up. Do you have a friend that is planning their commitment or wedding ceremony? Make sure you get your order in for FLORA microcontrollers to make the day extra special. They are Arduino friendly and love solder and stitches. Don’t forget you can always design a wearable tech gift for the couple to be opened after the big ceremony. What sensor would you want to use?

---

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

How to Share Your Love With Wearable Tech #WearableWednesday #wearabletech #Arduino #DIY #tech

Last week Liza Stark was busy with conductive embroidery and this week she posted this video mixing wearable tech with commitment ceremonies. Imagine you want to share that special moment of saying “I do” with others visually. She has created a corset and pocket square that not only illuminate when near each other, but also visualize combined heartbeats of the partners. Here’s her description of the wearable project:

Data Vows is a series of biometric sensing garments for near future commitment ceremonies. It imagines a world where these rituals are no longer sworn by words, but by displaying and exchanging our most sacred physical information. In order to be wed, partners must trade heartbeat data to cement their devotion.

The project stars Adafruit’s FLORA microcontroller surrounded by LEDs. As for the garments gathering heart rate, they may use a simple pulse sensor or a heftier Polar wireless unit. It’s interesting that the heart data is exchanged in proximity as I think it would be fun if the exchange triggered on embrace only. The project definitely shows more of Liza’s embroidery skills and I’m loving the detail of the circuit on the pocket square. I’m not sure whether just the LEDs are to be shown peeking out of the pocket, but these soft circuits deserve some face time. Liza has been doing some Instructables, so hopefully this project will soon join the line-up. Do you have a friend that is planning their commitment or wedding ceremony? Make sure you get your order in for FLORA microcontrollers to make the day extra special. They are Arduino friendly and love solder and stitches. Don’t forget you can always design a wearable tech gift for the couple to be opened after the big ceremony. What sensor would you want to use?

---

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

Braille smartwatch for the visually impaired #WearableWednesday

Via feel desain

There are over 285 million visually impaired people in the world, and some of these lives are about to get a lot better. South Korean developer Dot has produced the world’s first Braille smartwatch, and its features are just what you’d expect from a 21st century device.

The Dot displays information using 4 active dynamic Braille cells, and its users can select the speed at which the characters update. The Dot connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth (just like any other smartwatch) and can receive any text from any app or service (think Messenger, directions from Google Maps, etc.). Users can also send simple messages using its buttons on the side. The Dot also supports Open API, which means that anyone can develop or adapt apps for it.

Various digital devices for the blind have been around for some time now, but the vast majority of them use sound. This creates problems, because either a user has to plug in headphones and detach from surrounding sounds (that are vital to blind people), or make their information public. Also, existing digital Braille reading devices are mostly bulky and expensive – only about 5% of visually impaired people own one.

Read more.

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Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

Taking a Deeper Look at the Cat Tongue

Fun video from Deep Look on YouTube via treehugger. How awesome is that close up shot of the tongue?!

Princess Leia’s Dress Turned Into a Ball Gown

Costumer and costume designer Geeksters Whimsy regularly outdoes herself with the costumes she makes. One of her first creations in 2017 put an elegant spin on Leia Organa’s white dress from the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. She sewed the stunning gown by hand, adding a silver Rebel Alliance symbol to the sprawling skirt. She crafted the belt as well, and it includes clear gem accents. And of course, she designed the wig as well, too. You can see a few of the build photos below.

See more Geeksters Whimsy’s work at Instagram.

via Fashionably Geek, top photo by Tony Julius

Cascadia Map #ArtTuesday #AdafruitIO #IoTuesday

From Jacob on vimeo:

A prototype for a Cascadia Map art project using the Adafuit Huzzah controller and Adafruit.io.

See more

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Featured Adafruit Product!

Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 WiFi: Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores.

This is the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 – our take on an ‘all-in-one’ ESP8266 WiFi development board with built in USB and battery charging. Its an ESP8266 WiFi module with all the extras you need, ready to rock!
(read more)

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Here at Adafruit, we sell all of these amazing components, but we couldn’t find a good way to interact with them over the internet. There are certainly a lot of great services out there for datalogging, or communicating with your microcontroller over the web, but these services are either too complicated to get started, or they aren’t particularly fun to use. So, we decided to experiment with our own system, and that is how Adafruit IO got started.

To start, please visit https://io.adafruit.com, and take a look around. You can also visit our comprehensive tutorial located on the Adafruit Learning System.

To make it easy for people to get started using Arduino or ESP8266 we have starter packs with just about everything you may want to connect to the internet, with known-working WiFi modules!
ESP8266 Huzzah Kit
CC3000 Huzzah Kit

The Loneliness of Luis Barragán’s Domestic Spaces #ArtTuesday

All of my friends who’ve visited Mexico City come back raving about the same thing: the architecture of Luis Barragán. Photographer James Casbere’s new photographs of these famously beautiful spaces are now on view at the Sean Kelly Gallery in NYC.

Nice write-up from Hyperallergic:

If you are familiar with Casebere’s earlier work, particularly the series about prison cells from the ‘90s, you will find a similar hint of a melancholic absence in Emotional Architecture. He created places that are so empty, they keen for the presence of people. No one is around and no one is coming. No one can because Casebere’s photographs represent moments of stasis that in turn suspend the viewer between dystopian and utopian fantasies. The planet is engorged with people, so we long for the utter peace that solitude can bring. But we are pro-social primates, so if we were left alone indefinitely we would expire from sheer loneliness. Casebere actually photographs meticulously designed sets that he constructs to convey this emptiness that both threatens and beckons.

Read more.

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Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!

Princess Leia’s Dress Turned Into a Ball Gown

Costumer and costume designer Geeksters Whimsy regularly outdoes herself with the costumes she makes. One of her first creations in 2017 put an elegant spin on Leia Organa’s white dress from the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. She sewed the stunning gown by hand, adding a silver Rebel Alliance symbol to the sprawling skirt. She crafted the belt as well, and it includes clear gem accents. And of course, she designed the wig as well, too. You can see a few of the build photos below.

See more Geeksters Whimsy’s work at Instagram.

via Fashionably Geek, top photo by Tony Julius