新车间 [XinCheJian]

Helper Sessions and Assistive Devices group is growing, another new member joined last week and is learning Arduino – from blinking LED to accelerometer! A big feature was added to the air-mouse – a virtual mouse button. The virtual button (gesture) is controlled by horizontal shaking as seen in the video. You can also see the mouse control needs a little fine tuning.  Code is is on github. The Helper sessions are about sharing and learning anything. The Assistive devices are used as one focus for learning.  If you would like to join in and just explore a big range of hardware including the new Xadow, a wearable Arduino, that has eight add on modules and a wearable frame to mount the modules inside, all just shipped directly from the SeeedStudio research lab – hence at least one minor issue to fix. There are also bluetooth devices, 3D printing, eyetracking and heaps of code to write, so come and join in Thursday night from 7:30, no experience required, just Xinchejian membership.   Group members also arrange to meet at other times, so make contact directly or via the mailing list to arrange! Several wiki updates including this new page for heaps more good stuff to work on!  More information is here and here.]]>

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XinCheJian is at the center of a new article “SHANGHAI, THEY SAY, ISN’T CHINA. BUT MANY CHINESE CITIES IN MANY WAYS ARE FOLLOWING SHANGHAI’S LEAD. SO ONE DAY SHANGHAI COULD WELL BECOME CHINA. WHY? WHY NOT?” by Ulrike Reinhard

Xinchejian, the first of many hackerspaces in China, is a place closely related to Xindanwei. A hackerspace is a community-operated physical place where people can meet and fool around with their projects. Each hackerspace is an autonomous entity, but they all share the same philosophy: it’s an environment where people can learn and tinker with technology, work in teams and take part in international competitions where many new opportunities can be found and created for all. Unlike Xindanwei, Xinchejian is not in the middle of a tourist shopping district in a glossy picture postcard part of Shanghai. It’s in a far more “real” part of town, away from the rich expats and the manicured shopping malls down a narrow hard-to-find one way street in an old warehouse. If I’d have come in my own car, I’d have had to parlay with the locals to park it! In other words, it’s in a spot not too dissimilar from the other neighborhoods where hackerspaces are hidden away.

Also, big thanks to Ulrike for nominating XinCheJian to the Digital Community in this year’s Ars Electronica.