With the special edition Resistor Red DIY Gamer Kit from Technology Will Save Us, you can craft a gaming console from scratch and learn to program it with animations. Once you’re you're made it past level one, try one of their other kits for making conductive "electro dough" or creating sensors to measure your plants’ thirst. You can also build an Arduino-based Gambuino, a retro gaming console with a 84x48 px display, its own mini joypad, three command buttons, and a library of pre-written scripts.
What if you could give someone the powers of a chameleon? These LED jackets designed by Drap og Design, a Norwegian design group founded by four recent Oslo School of Architecture and Design grads, are exploring just that. The product isn't available just yet—the technology is still being tested for its fashion and design applications—so in the meantime take a look at their process for inspiration, and don't forget to add it to your future wishlist.
Noel Margaret learned how to knit while studying Sculpture at RISD. In her work, she blends her love for natural history with craftwork, creating knitted taxidermy-inspired animals. Margaret launched a Kickstarter for Mounted Knits, a knitting pattern and art book filled with tailored patterns, stories, photographs and illustrations. With her guidance, you could build your own cabinet of curiosities like the one she did, below.
What if you could connect Lego parts with Tinkertoys? With F.A,T. Lab’s Free Universal Construction Kit that includes 80 adapter bricks, you can connect 10 construction sets together, including Lego, K’Nex, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Zome, and Zoobe. The adapters are available for free download on Thingiverse, and can be reproduced with open-hardware enabled desktop 3D printers.
Open Toys consists of small 3D-printed accessories that can transform or “hack” any found vegetable or fruit into a plane, helicopter, submarine, bird, or car. Created by Le Fab Shop, the designs are available online for free on YouMagine, Thingiverse, and Cults3D.
Eggbot
It's not Easter Season quite yet—thankfully, Eggbot allows you to draw on eggs and on other spherical objects with precision. The software of this open-sourced art robot is completely hackable, and your source imagery can come from anywhere. Your Christmas ornaments will own everyone else’s, on account of their originality.
DIY Computer
With Kano, building a computer has perhaps never been more easy. You get to put together all the parts: a Raspberry Pi for a brain, a speaker you “snap together,” and a snazzy wireless keyboard.
Fiber Optic Sea Warrior Hat
Because, why not. It’s perfect for the Burning Man enthusiast, the rock star, or the bold fashionista. Find detailed instructions on how to make a headpiece, a chest harness, and a pair of pants at Instructables.
SLR Camera
In a digital era where the complexity behind inventions are often taken for granted, the Konstruktor, a DIY analogue camera, allows you to see the inner workings of a SLR camera. This fully functional 35mm camera allows you to learn the essence of photography while simultaneously shooting sharp, vibrant analogue photos.
SelfiesBot
This little guy loves to take selfies (like many humans). Built with Raspberry Pi, the bot takes a selfie, shows a preview, and then tweets it with random text. Here's how to make it.
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Architect's Studio
You can bring your dream buildings and structures to life with Lego Architecture Studio, a kit containing over 1200 monochromatic bricks and a guidebook written in collaboration with leading architects. Build an architectural creation for someone special or be the small-scale benefactor for a budding Frank Gehry.
Cardboard Virtual Reality
You can enter virtual reality with cardboard and your smart phone. The Google designers behind the Cardboard project wanted to create an inexpensive and easy way to experiment with VR. Instructions and design files to construct your own VR headset are available on the official site.
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