It is a bit more than one year since I first heard about Burning Man. When I understood what it was about, I knew I had to go. And I immediately started thinking about how I could contribute. What I could make. An idea started forming based on stuff I had experience working with. I wanted to use electronics, wireless communication, colorful LEDs, and I wanted it to be something meaningful. Something that was based around people. I talked to friends about it, people got excited and the idea kept growing. I started working on a prototype, spending countless hours designing a schematic, a PCB, soldering prototypes and programming microcontrollers. Looking back, I'm stunned about the impact Burning Man can have.. even to someone who hasn't even been there yet. It got me to do this amazing project which has already brought me so much joy (there's a guilty pleasure to hearing someone say "that is the coolest thing I've ever seen!")
Fortunately I'm not alone in this. I've got Fredrik (Peper on ePlaya) with me, who was at Burning Man last year and has been indispensable in so many ways. And we have Ashkahn who is an experienced burner. And many others who have helped in small ways. Even my grandmother who helped me figure out how to sew a great lanyard!
"Blah, blah", I hear you say.. what is this thing? We just launched the
Kickstarter for our project, and this is our video which should explain it (it's in HD, but you can turn it off if you're on a slow connection).
[vimeo]
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If you think it looks interesting head over to
Kickstarter to read more. If you like the project, we really need your help to pledge and spread the word. I am so eager to make these and I really hope I can bring joy to people at this years Burning Man.
We also have a website at
http://happygem.org/ where you can find some more pictures.
Finally, I'd like to share this TED Talk by Sherry Turkle. What she talks about are the same thoughts that inspired this project.
