Season 2 | Placemaking Report

Innovators Wanted District Hall is a work in progress, in the middle of a hopeful transition. It was a work in progress a few years ago too, when the point of the whole place could be summed up in one word: "innovation." That was a big, woozy goal, difficult to capture and foster. But District Hall was trying to corner it, from every possible angle. It was an organizational question mark, asking for participation. Asking to be surprised.

The Mixed Reality Challenge So what exactly was this challenge? At the center of it was a gumball machine. Actually a Smartphone-Accessible, Augmented Reality- and Gesture Sensor-Triggered, Internet-Connected, Open-Source, Toy Capsule Machine. The idea: to use District Hall as a location to test out some on-the-edge concepts around Augmented Reality and Internet of Things.

Using Augmented Reality to Hide Messages in the Real World Augmented Reality (AR) is the subset of Mixed Reality that powers the Mixed Reality Challenges that launched at District Hall (and later at Fab@CIC). Augmented Reality is the technology that "superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view," according to the Oxford Pocket English Dictionary definition served up by Google as the top search result for the term.

DIY Gumball Machine Pioneers But back to the real-world hardware at the center of this evolving game: the gumball machine. You're not sure how a gumball-style machine came into your head, but you know you aren't the first person with this idea: to remake the classic corner-store fixture with new technology.

Gumball Machine #1 But first, you have to build the gumball box and mechanism. Only two challenges: Your woodworking skills are nil. You don't have the patience to craft a fine wooden box. You just want to see if you can get something to work.

Writing in Place: A 16x2 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) - Black on Yellowish Green An onsite explanation would help. Something glowing right next to the gumball machine. The default: 16x2 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). This yellowish green window is how hacked-together electronics communicate with the world. There's not a lot of room for expression on one of these devices: just 2 lines of text, 16 characters each.

Writing in Place: A (Tragically) Beautiful LED Matrix Making the leap from old-school, commodity, coffeemaker LCD to blinktastic LEDs was not easy. The first solution you come across, the Beam, is very promising, possibly just what you need.

Writing in Place: 8x8 LED Matrix Modules It's a key piece of the placemaking puzzle: the ability to write text in place -- out in the world. And it turns out there's a standard building block for the kind of grid you can use to make it happen: the 8x8 LED Matrix -- 64 LEDs in a square, controlled by a commodity chip: the MAX7219, or some minor variant. They are available on Alibaba, in bulk, for around 90 cents apiece. And they are modular: you can buy them chained together, in blocks of 4, for less than $4. Just search for "4-in-1 LED Dot Matrix Display Module." That's what you did.

Blinky Lights -- Mandatory! It would not be a hacker-ish innovation project without some blinkiness. It's mandatory. So your next stop: Adafruit, for some NeoPixels. What's interesting about NeoPixels: each LED actually contains three LEDs (red, green, blue) and each one is addressable.

Working - The Mixed Reality Challenge in Effect The gumball dispenser is working, most of the time; the text is scrolling; the blinky lights are twinkling. The augmented reality images are visible, via the WallaMe app. And people are starting to use it. The Mixed Reality Challenge is in effect in District Hall.

Road Trip. The Mixed Reality Challenge Moves to CIC Boston for a Night For one night only, the Mixed Reality Challenge moved about 25 city blocks east, and 20 stories straight up to a lively Arts Technica night at CIC Boston. The goal of Arts Technica was to highlight how artistic expression is incorporated into modern technology. In addition to the Mixed Reality Challenge, the demos included virtual reality, video game graphic demonstrations, art installations using ePaper technology.

Fab@CIC The day after Arts Technica, you stop by Fab@CIC. It's not where you would expect a hackspace: in the heart of Boston's Financial District. The shaggy maker funk appeal of this neighborhood -- approaching 0%. It only makes sense when you know what else is in the building: the Boston branch of CIC (for Cambridge Innovation Center).

Mixed Reality Gumball Machine: Version 2 Your Mixed Reality Gumball Machine works, most of the time. Sometimes you have to enter the secret password twice to get one prize; other times you get two prizes. Sometimes you can see, and hear, some jostling around inside the gumball dome, but nothing comes down the chute. The top level of plastic gumball containers roil a little bit, like something is stirring in the underlying layers, but no prize emerges. There is an element of chance, sure, but not in a good way. You wanted something SOLID, reliable. So planning begins on Version 2.

Lasers You knew they were heading your way: the laser cutters. The next gumball machine design demanded it, and they are obviously just too damn useful. On a typical open project night at Cambridge Hackspace, lasers are always the featured attraction, the highlight of the tour. The laser cutters are always working, burning their way through projects from acrylic boxes to wooden coasters. So time to figure laser cutters out.

Vectors As laser cutting and 3D-printing projects piled up, you are spending more time slinging points and paths -- aka vectors. Inkscape, the open source vector program, is giving you a tenuous grip on the concept of vectors. But you decide you need to get friendlier with vectors. So you switched your Adobe subscription from Premiere to Illustrator -- Adobe's vector program.

Stepper v Servo The difference is about the poles. A pole is an area of a motor where a North or South magnetic pole is generated either by a permanet magnet or by passing current through the coils of a winding. Servos have between 4 and 12 poles. Stepper motors have between 50 and a hundred. Steppers don't require encoders since they can accurately move between their many poles. Whereas servos, with few poles, require an encoder to keep track of their position. Steppers simply move incrementally using pulses, while servo's read the difference between the motors encoder and the commanded position, and adjust the current required to move.

Controlling a Stepper Motor Stepper motors require a motor driver, said everybody. So you start searching around for "why" information, and a recommendation. General information was plentiful. But picking a specific driver, and configuring it, was confusing and intimidating. Fortunately you found some help on Hackster.

Jack Greenfield explains the New(est) Gumball Machine Although it started with a stepper motor, Jack Greenfield eventually re-engineers the entire Gumball Machine from the ground up -- recreating every face from the original version, then removing complexity, then redesigning it so that it could incorporate a stepper motor, then re-conceiving it as a parametric design.

A Gesture Sensor Augmented Reality is working okay. Actually, honestly, not that well. It requires an app, and a phone. Which could be pushing you towards a challenge that you've already faced, and haven't really solved: people just aren't that eager to whip out their phones and download an app. So you are adding a fall back, an easier onramp: something built around a gesture sensor

A Night Out for the Toy Capsule Machine Cambridge Hackspace joined forces with Fab@CIC to work on a new version of the Wifi Connected Gumball Machine. So it made sense to make a joint venture to a Cafe Night at District Hall. The theme was inspireHER. Also a good excuse to try out a cheap Chinese action cam.

Gachapon It was Japanophile (not sure whether Otaku or Weeaboo applies) Joey Lindsey who alerted you to the overlap between the gumball machine and gachapon. You had never heard of it, but you liked gachapon as soon as you started reading about it: a universe of vending machine-dispensed toys popular in Japan.

Origami Lucky Stars as Information Medium The capsule machine works best right inside the front door, with the gesture sensor right next to it. You've learned that at Fab@CIC and District Hall. People enjoy the immediate reward; the quick, easy engagement. And that has changed how you've stocked the capsule machine, twice.

Mixed Reality Challenge 2.0 Takes Shape at Fab@CIC... with a Capacitive Sensor After remaking the District Hall gumball machine, with a stepper motor and a newly engineered case, you turn your attention to making one for Fab@CIC... with a twist. Fab@CIC's Mixed Reality Challenge, located at the entrance, has two goals: to get you to play the game, yes, but also to lure you to the rear of the coffeeshop, where things start to get makery.

District Hall Entrepreneur Mixer Features Gumball Machine Gumball Machine attends an Entrepreneurial Mixer at District Hall in Boston. Dispenses dozens of "ice breakers."

A New Version of the Mixed Reality Challenge at District Hall, plus an Instagram Shoutout A new, improved version of the Mixed Reality Challenge is live at District Hall (better display, more consistent dispensing), and Adriana Kattan Saca honored the occasion with an elegant post on Instagram.

Mixed Reality Challenge at CIC Kendall Square Housewarming That's Joey Lindsey, of Fab@CIC, demonstrating the Mixed Reality Challenge at the housewarming event at CIC's newest facility in Kendall Square. The celebration marked the culmination of a multi-phase launch for CIC and the start of CIC’s 20th year in Kendall Square, where the company was founded in 1999.

A District Hall-featured community partner District Hall, Boston's "public home for innovation," and a Mixed Reality Challenge host, bestows "featured Community Partner" status on the operation. Honored!

Mixed Reality Challenge appears in Fab@CIC promo video Fab@CIC has posted a new "who we are" video, and the Mixed Reality Challenge has snuck into a few shots.

A Community Partner - Tikkaway The Gatchapon Prize Capsule Machine is popular at District Hall, no doubt about that. Every time you visit, the "Recycle" container is brimming with opened capsules and unfolded origami message strips. Now we're pointing it at something.

Gachapon goes interstate Gopi reports that he just received a call from the manager of his New Haven restaurant, the original Tikkaway a few blocks from the Yale University campus. "He told me that two new customers had presented long, colorful strips of paper with a 15% discount offer," Gopi said. "He was wondering where they came from, and what he should do with them."

Mixing Reality with DC Denison Fab@CIC features the Mixed Reality Challenge in a video and a companion interview. Since Fab@CIC didn't survive the immanent pandemic, the video is gone. But a transcription of the interview remains.

Maker-in-Residence @ District Hall Blinky lights: check. Capsules loaded with refreshing moist towelettes: check. Scrolling text explaining what was going on: check. A giant, glowing QR code that linked to an introductory tour: check. Your initial Maker-in-Residence build is live at District Hall, Boston, USA.