Applications and Communities
Chapters 5–11 show you the breadth of the possible applications of the technologies covered in Part I, and also introduces you to the communities that have grown up around these technologies. The communities and the applications can be somewhat intertwined, so we bounce between them in this section.
In Chapter 5, you hear about makerspaces and hackerspaces, where a lot of innovative applications of Arduinos, 3D printing, and similar technologies come about. These spaces can range from large commercial endeavors to corners of school rooms. We introduce you to some of the innovators in this space and relate their views on how to create a successful community of makers or hackers.
The next three chapters focus on applications of the technologies introduced in Part I. Chapter 6 talks about “citizen science”—using readily available electronics to help real scientists solve problems. Chapter 7 explores the world of wearable tech, where low-cost microprocessors, tiny motors, sensors, and all kinds of things that light up meet the fashion sphere. Chapter 8 looks at some variations of these technologies designed to make getting started easier, particularly for kids.
Then we turn to communities that have made all this possible or have grown up based on it. In Chapter 9, you are introduced to the open source community, which creates and maintains many of the technologies in this book as a common good. Chapter 10 explores the special case of getting girls interested in making things, particularly as a career path into science. Finally, Chapter 11 is devoted to a case study of a community college using a maker philosophy both to teach its own students and to develop objects to help visually impaired learners.
After reading these chapters, we hope you will appreciate the breadth of the implications both for the applications themselves and the communities that are arising to make them.