Author: Richard

Taking LARP to the next level

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I have been talking to some people that I think can help me with a project I have been trying to get off the ground for a while. We are looking to integrate technology into props for live action role play.

This will not just be a few LEDs and sound effects. We are talking gesture triggered actions, IOT devices, geographically aware machines, and video game like mechanics in real world devices.

Imagine if part of an in-game quest was to fit a communications beacon. Well what if that beacon looked like an actual radio transmitter. What if it had real looking parts that needed to be connected in the right way to work. To top that all off, it actually played a message with instructions on what to do next. On and it also triggered a trap on the other side of the field that must now be disabled before it is to late!!!

Holy @#$% it’s the White House!

 

I got an email from the Senior Adviser of Making at the White House. Now it was mentioned to me, by friends at Adafruit, that they would be putting my name in with a list of Makers for the White House to connect with. Still it just hit me as I responded to the email that I am responding to an email from a senior staff member at the frig’n White House!

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I have never been in this kind of position before. People normally think I am a crazy man when I go on about how important the Maker movement is to our future. We are the world’s new R&D community and the best of us share information and collaborate with everyone else.

Makers are kicking ass all over the world and I am just glad to be a part of it.

Beating my self up for no reason

Man today was not a good day for me and tech. Sometimes things don’t work out the he way they should and I tend to really beat myself up over it. Then I realize that it is not that I am bad at what I do, just that what I am doing is really hard. More and more of the stuff I am doing these days is off the map. There are no guides or tutorials to follow. If I am lucky I can find something to build on top of, but even that only gets me 15% of the way there.

I love a challenge and I am certainly in the thick of it all more and more. Today I forgot that people are used to the well established plug and play tech that we use every day. Not really thinking about how much work went into making a near bullet proof device that can be supported by a few tech docs and low paid call center rep.

Being on the fringe means taking risks and most do not pay off. I have 5 out of 7 pieces of tech in this project that are preforming flawlessly. All but one is unique, custom designed, built and programmed by me. I have learned many lessons that are already leading to better and more reliable tech to drive similar projects in the future.

Being a maker is more about how we fail and what we choose to do with that failure. We can let us eat us up alive or pick up the pieces and get back to work.

Now I am heading home to try out some cheap irrigation parts on the gravity fed watering system for my patio garden…

I choose to make.