After months of planning and organizing, the first ever Maker Faire Kuwait just kicked off three days of sharing the joy of making. The Faire is taking place at the Kuwait International Fair, the largest event space available in the country, from February 9 through February 11. This much-anticipated gathering offers a unique opportunity for members from all branches of the making community to come together, share, inspire, and collaborate. The variety of projects — particularly the juxtaposition of traditional techniques and technology — is sure to incite creativity.
Even though this promo video doesn’t have subtitles, it’s fun to hear about Maker Faire in Arabic:
14 Projects from Maker Faire Kuwait
Here’s just a small sampling of the projects at Maker Faire Kuwait.
Tekton by Ahmed Aljenai: On display will be Aljenai’s handmade functional industrial pieces designed and built in Kuwait.
Diabetic Wound Detector by Esraa Alaryan: Diabetes slows the healing process of any wound. Neglecting any wound can be detrimental. This design consists of two stages of detection, where the first stage is an adjustable band that can be worn on any limb and will alert the patient to the existence of a wound using the near-infrared radiation method. The second stage detects the location and the depth of the wound using a microscopic camera in a box that takes a snapshot. The wound is then detected using image-recognition software (via Visual Basic) installed on the PC.
Pottery and Sculpture by Sara Al-muail See the varied styles and techniques Al-muail has developed.
Auxilio Firefighting Drone by Aya Al-toukhy: This project aims to supersede other existing firefighting technologies such as humanoids and ground robots. With its speed, ability to provide a bird’s-eye view of a fire site, and ability to fly over obstacles, this drone is designed to accommodate the needs of firemen in indoor and outdoor environments.
Snowball-AOU Robotics Club: Snowball is a robotics club at Arab Open University that strives to stimulate interest in robotics among students of all disciplines and to spread knowledge of its diverse applications. Snowball offers a variety of free workshops and provides all the necessary tools.
E-buru Paper Marbling Demo by Wael Al-saleh: Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design that can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as paper or fabric.
Hand-Weaving Demo by Ali Saleh: Traditional and contemporary weaving techniques will be on display, using different types of looms, such as ankle and table looms.
Model Ships by Ali Mohsen: Traditionally made model ships will be on display, and the traditional skills used to make them will be highlighted.
Mesabeeh by Yousef Abdulatif: See traditionally handmade prayer beads and learn about the techniques.
Voice-Controlled Wheelchair by Shahad Aldousari: This wheelchair offers voice control for people who have difficulties using their hands and gives them the ability to move around independently.
Art by Omer Al-hamed: Using recycled and reused materials, Al-hamed creates various sculptures.
Goldenhand by Nour Koudsi: A selection of handmade crochet creations by Koudsi will be on display.
Scroll Saw Art by Faten Fahad: These pieces start with a design on paper that is then copied onto wood and cut using a scroll saw, making the 2D design 3D.
My Voice by Sara Alwatri: This system helps people with speech disabilities to communicate with the community around them, particularly in instances such as meetings and public speaking engagements. A webcam captures hand gestures and feeds them into algorithms for detecting and recognizing the gestures. The gestures become translated to text, which is then converted into speech using a text-to-speech conversion code. Finally, the text is displayed simultaneously with the produced speech.
For all the information you need to attend the event, download the “MAKER FAIRE KW” app!
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