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Design

User Preferences: Tech Q&A With Justin Wang

Each week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do.

Each week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do. The questions are always the same, the answers, not so much. This week: Justin Wang from Beijing Makerspace

The Creators Project: Who are you and what do you do?
Justin Wang: I majored in finance in college, I worked as a dealer in a small investment firm in Hong Kong for a while. I have always been interested in arts, design and technology. I worked in fashion design with a friend during my study in France and traveled as a backpacker in more than 30 countries. I lectured in a MBA related course to high school students in Ukraine, I shot a few short films, I learned photography from the photography association and I love to collect vinyl. I started my research in Augmented Reality last August.

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Can you tell us about Makerspace? How did you join the group?
FlamingoEDA was the former Beijing Makerspace, which was founded by Flamingo. He worked in hardware development for four years, established Arduino China, and helped many artists in the usage of Arduino. Earlier this year, Flamingo and I wanted to have a space where we could explore technical issues and let more people to get involved, so we founded Makerspace. I joined the Makerspace this May, and I have been discussing with Flamingo how to help artists make their ideas into reality. We want to create more interesting projects with different participants, build up an open source library, and apply our working result in a social environment. We have adapted the Social Enterprise concept in our management. The Makerspace is like an open lab and incubator in the sense of functionality, we are looking into the next step, as well possible collaborations with institutions.

What kind of hardware do you use?
13-inch Macbook Pro, Nano-ITX motherboard, mini projector, Arduino, 5DII and all kinds of manual lenses.

What kind of software do you use?
I do all kind of work. I use Photoshop and Illustrator for normal design work; and Dreamweaver and iWeb for web design; Flash, iMovie and AE for video editing and animation making; CaptureOne and Photomatix for photography. I use Word, PPT and Excel a lot, and Processing has became my tool for interactive work, and Eclipse for application development. Recently I’ve been working with CCV on multi-point interactive hardware construction. I also use Google Chrome.

If money were no object, how would you change your current set up?
I would finish my conceptual computer prototype to replace my Macbook Pro, connect a WHDI display card, a DIY 52-inch multi-touch table and a 42-inch plasma screen to the computer. I would find a bigger space for Makerspace and facilitate it with all kinds of tools like an electrical drill, a grinding machine and CNC cutting machine, etc..

Is there any piece of technology that inspired you to take the path you did?
Google, it opened a door for me. It’s the most convenient way of online search. I can always keep myself updated with the tech world.

What is your favorite piece of technology from your childhood?
Remote Auto toy.

What fantasy piece of technology would you like to see invented?
Doraemon’s Magic Door that leads to anywhere. And a Holographic Projection with a user interface.