There's an upcoming wearable tech / Internet of Things hackathon (Toronto: May 8-10, 2015; other dates elsewhere). Since hackathons are great ways to collect interesting ideas and people, I thought about whether I wanted to join and what I might do. It's easier to generate ideas when you have a particular focus, so I reflected some more on what I'd started thinking about tech and the home.

Hackathons are handy ways to get access to hardware (sometimes even before they're released to the general public) and to mentors who can help get past odd hurdles. I looked up the hardware that will be featured at the event:

• Thalmic Myo: gestures
• Intel Edison: low-power, small-form-factor computing
• Nod Ring: gestures
• Estimote Beacon: location tracking, sensors
• Xbox Kinect: gestures, computer vision
• Muse: biofeedback, brain waves
• Arduino: electronics, shields, interfacing with the real world, small-form-factor computing
• Xadow: various connected components for wearables

Then I made a brainstorming grid and started matching up various interests and technologies. I filled in some ideas and researched past hackathon winners or existing companies for others. Here are those thoughts:

2015-04-20i Tech and the home – index card #tech-and-home

2015-04-20j Wearables, IoT, and the home – index card #tech-and-home

I probably won't go because I have some other personal projects to work on around that time. There are lots of opportunities to do things like this in Toronto, so maybe next time. =) In the meantime, I have a quick braindump of ideas that might be interesting to play with. I might start with gardening, since that's the season for that. (Whee!) A 3D-printed seed dibbler doesn't count as wearable tech or Internet of Things, but it would be handy right around this time, so I can use that to learn more about printing. I'll also look into making those fabric aeration pots out of felt, laser-cutting markers, and possibly having some sensors for microclimate monitoring. Possibilities…