A cajon drum that dances to the music it makes… An interactive game of pong, robots and rockets, arts, crafts and music…  Who creates these things? Answer: ‘Makers’—an underground culture of technology enthusiasts and tinkerers.

The Orlando Mini Maker Faire, held May 26 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds, is a community organized event that showcases local DIY science and technology that may not have a chance to be seen otherwise. The Maker Faire gave the public a unique opportunity to look at technology in a deeper way than usual. Attendees were able to experience and learn about technology rather than simply use it.

“The highlight of the Maker Faire,” said Dr. Bill Ball, visiting professor of Political Science, “was the fact that it happened and was successful.” Ball created a drawing toy that attracted attention at the Maker Faire. According to Ball, “People would play with it and then talked about the technology behind it, saw how it worked, and learned how to make it. It gets past the packaged technology of a cell phone.”

This year, six Stetson students went to the Maker Faire, along with Dr. Ball, Associate Professor of Digital Arts Matt Roberts, and Mathematics and Computer Science Professor Michael Branton. Not only did they showcase their work, but they were able to showcase Stetson’s Digital Arts program. “The students have never exhibited work to such a large audience,” said Roberts, “and I was really pleased with how well they handled themselves in a completely different environment than the classroom.”

Stetson digital arts students Charles Carr, Kayla Gomme, Michael Johnpoll, Jasmine Troche and Roselyn Troche collaborated to create Pong Pong Revolution (PPR). PPR was originally designed as a final project in Roberts’ Interactivity and Art class and inspired by Dance Dance Revolution and classic Pong. Players are brought to a new world on the big screen featuring earth architecture and galaxy imagery graphics. There the players use pressure pads as controllers for their feet and engage in an interactive game of pong. “It was fun telling people about our game and getting them to try it out. It is nice to know that we made something worthwhile,” said Gomme. To see more on PPR click here.

Digital arts student Gladys Cevallos created a Dancing Light Cajon that was featured at the Makers Faire. The cajon drum is equipped with a semi-transparent cover with two RGB LEDs and three LEDs that dance to the music. A microphone inside the cajon is turned on when a musician sits on the cajon to begin playing. While the musician beats on the cajon the lights flash and ‘dance’ to the music being made. To see more on the Dancing Light Cajon click here.

Roberts was pleased with his students’ performances at the Maker Faire. “It was a great pleasure to see my students interacting with and getting a strong reaction from the public. It was easy to see that they were confident about their project and able to clearly explain a complex project to complete strangers.”

By Heather Teschner

Student Intern, Stetson University Marketing