I can't believe its already that time of year again! The Maker Faire is just around the corner. I've gathered a collection of must-see events related to wearable technology and soft circuits. If you're going to be there, please give me a shout and hopefully we'll get a change to meet up in person.

For those of you who can't make it, I'll be covering the Maker Faire events the following week.

Fashion Shows:

There are two fashion shows happening that are not to be missed. The first, eTEXTILE: a wearable computing fashion show, is organized by e-textile maven Lynne Bruning and the second, Anti Surveillance Fashion Show, is organized by Noisebridge. More details below:

E-textile:Smart Clothing Fashion Show
Tesla Theatre Saturday 3:30 PM - 4:20 PM

As technology becomes ever more interwoven with our daily lives, innovative means of interface blur the lines between computers, textiles and fashion.

Maker Faire and Lynne Bruning come together to create a fashion show that fuses tech and fashion, function and form, reality and possibility.

On Saturday 22 May fashion designers, engineers and makers will join forces to present a Maker Fair original: An eTextile, smart clothing and wearable computing fashion show.

Anti/Surveillance Fashion Show
Tesla Theatre Sunday 3:30 PM - 4:20 PM
Location: Fiesta Hall 330

Constantly under the lens of the camera, fashion is a natural form in which to explore the relationship between surveillance and culture. How are we watched? How do we watch? How do we present ourselves to the eyes of the world? At Maker Faire 2010, May 22-23, we will be presenting Anti/Surveillance, a runway show that explores the role of and our relationship with surveillance in our society.

There will be garments and accessories covering the range from playful to practical. Perhaps accessories that blind CCTV cameras with IR LEDs, or makeup that will thwart face detection... There might be an invisibility coat, or maybe QR codes on an entire outfit to make it *easier* for people to track you. Shoe phones, mirror vision glasses, wearable compasses!

Learning: These are e-textile demos that you shouldn't miss!

TV-B-Gone Hoodie Sweatshirt


Maker: Becky Stern
Location: Make: Projects Stage
Saturday 3:00 PM

Learn how to make a TV-Be-Gone Hoodie.

eTextile Electronics Materials and Portable Lab

Maker: Adrian Freed
Location: Make: Projects Stage
Saturday: 6:30

I will share information and examples of the ten most useful e-textiles, two useful computing platforms for wearables (lilypad and schemer) and a new portable etextiles lab I have developed.

Conductive Fabric: Methods and Materials

Maker: Lynne Bruning
Location: Craft Demo Stage
Sunday 1:00 PM


Demonstrations and documentation of 16 methods and materials to create your own conductive threads, fabrics and yarns.

Intro to Soft Electronics

Maker: Becky Stern & Angela Sheehan
Location: Craft Demo Stage
Sunday: 2:00 PM

Learn about crafty conductive materials and how you can integrate them into your projects! CRAFT Associate Editor Becky Stern with special guest Angela Sheehan will show lots examples of conductive thread embroidery, soft switches, and other craft-tech goodies.

Personalizing your Pixels

Maker: John Sarik
Location: Expo Hall 155

Tired of the same old display modules? Make a custom display! We'll show you how the brain processes visual information, how to generate and manipulate light, and how to design and build your own displays. Come and see how to make an Arduino-controlled screen-printed electroluminescent display!

Inspiration:
Some awesome projects for inspiration

Free Motion Embroidery

Maker: Paul Nosa
Location: Roaming Roaming

I draw with a sewing machine.
With a portable table, I sew people's imagination. 
I power my machine with a solar panel and/or bicycle electric generator. It's my mission to help people use their creativity, provide a tangible patch of their ideas, and teach how to build alternative energy sources

Human:Nature

Maker: ITP, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU

This is a project about listening to nature. A pair of headphones has two glass jars on the outside, containing crickets, leaves, and soil. The headphones are meant to bring a little piece of the wilderness closer to your ears. 
When you wear the headphones, you can hear the crickets rustling around in the leaves. If you can sit still for long enough, the crickets may start to chirp!

Light Doodles

Maker: Lori Stotko and Stuart Nafey
Location: Fiesta Hall 346

Create original art by drawing with light! Learn the techniques of long exposure photography. Learn how to build LED light pens and adapt other light sources to use in your drawings. Draw at the Faire and see your pictures on Flickr.

sessile

Maker: http://www.spinningtheweb.org/projects/sessile.html" target="_blank...
Location: Expo Hall 198

sessile is a colony of 50 kinetic but non-motile devices that respond to changes in ambient light levels by opening and closing their limbs. Although individuals share a common form each reacts to environmental change in subtly different and often surprising ways.

Wearables:
Outside of the fashion show, a few high tech fashions will be on display.

Skirt Full of Stars
Maker: Shannon Henry
Location: Expo Hall 258

Imagine a skirt that sparkles with a rainbow of colors as you walk, dance, and twirl. The Skirt Full of Stars is an illuminated, interactive garment using the Lilypad Arduino platform - it gathers information about the wearer's movement, then translates that into changing colors for the integrated fiber optic lights.

the bespoken: wearable adaptive technology

Maker: Lynne Bruning

Utilizing technological advancements, open source software and traditional garment manufacturing methods, I create clothing that is fashionable adaptive technology. These wearable computers enhance and empower people to more easily function in society and successfully interact with their environment.