Tech Wear Contest

Competition Summery. (closed and completed)
Design and build 1 piece of tech wear (shoes, gloves, socks things that should be in pairs count as 1 item).

The Rules (more you ask for the more we’ll give)

1. Must be reproducible ie can't be made from rarium.

2. Print, sew, cast, spray, grow, forge and so on.

3. Points for creative recycling.

4. Minus points for high cost to construct.

5. Points for just getting it right, doesn’t need to be original.

6. RGB optional.

7. Entry must contain images of item being worn.

8. back pages of a scientific magazine ad.

Prize? Custom Cafe discord role and this Cyberpunk 2077 statue:

Statue donated to the Cafe by CDProjektRed

First up the Wearable TV by BakeWare

Partial BoM:

Glasses: Xreal Air https://amzn.to/3s4epSk

Battery: Baseus 65w @ 20000mah https://amzn.to/3OGjo4z

CPU: onn streaming box ($20 at walmart) https://amzn.to/3OGcDQe

HDMI adapter: Lemorele HDMI to USB C Adapter https://amzn.to/3OH0Q4p

Now even though its described as a wearable android tv at the heart of it is a full featured wearable linux computer, something that many of us used to and still do dream of owning one day, this conglomerate of parts could easily be changed out for whichever sbc or compute module you desire.

For more details check out their comprehensive build instructions and 3D files on thangs

Entry by Babel Infocalypse

Not many details were included with this one “All of them are made from PCB and laser cut acrylic, bolted together with M2 bolts” is really all we got but that’s actually enough. This is a PCB project presumably all of the screen printing is done by the PCB house and maybe even all the electrical components can be ordered pre-soldered in place.

Entry by james32123: The J-Watch Zero

“I took a micro:bit and turned it into a watch for bluetooth media control. it has 3 different modes- mode 1 allows you to pause with button A, skip with button B, and go to the previous son when both are pressed.

Mode 2 allows volume control with the 2 buttons

Mode 3 disables the LED array in the center, as the previous modes have a simple animation to tell which mode you're in (which can be flash and annoying)

I used a kit specially made to turn it into a watch that was about $10 or so, it allows it to be powered with rechargeable CR2025s, but I didn’t like the wrist strap it came with so I used a piece of double sided Velcro I had lying around”

Here we’ve got a wireless media controller, i could see this being more then just a watch, could be installed in the sleeve of your favorite bomber jacket for ease of access while on the go or even worn as a necklace pendant.

Entry by Moose: The Moose II

Hello, Moose II is my submission for the wearable contest. Hareware features include raspberry pi Pico w, 16 neopixel ring, 16x2 character lcd display, and dual rechargeable li-ion batteries. Oh also the glove has three high voltage transformers that let you juggle electrical arcs between your fingers.

Software features include flashlight mode with configurable color and brightness values (and a rainbow disco mode), keyboard chaos mode where the Pico acts like a HID and can type out various things, hacker mode which is totally useless but types out random characters on the lcd so it looks cool, and finally synth mode where the Pico turns into an instrument played by the various buttons and knobs on Moose II (a small peizo buzzer inside the case stands in for a full fledged speaker due to space limitations.

The case is all 3d printed PLA plastic, glove and watch bands were scavenged from around my garage and batteries taken from old rc vehicles. Cheers, -M

There’s a lot to unpack with this one bit of an everything and the kitchen sink. Those of us living in the future will undoubtedly find this gadget useful while navigating the sprawl through sketchy back alleys and dark rooftops.

And now for the winning entry by GreatAxeblade: The Tacti-Cool

Lets talk a bit about why this was the perfect storm of haphazard bodging things together and following the rules to the letter.

Must be reproducible: this bit of kit is more about the concept and doesn’t require using exact materials which really opens it up for anyone to recreate. Big points for creative recycling indeed. Minus points for high cost to construct? Not at all. Entry must contain images of item being worn, CHECK. Lastly the “back pages of a scientific magazine ad” this is what we’d call the fun part of our competitions and it was executed perfectly.

So they ticked all the boxes, created their entry quickly and it feels like it’d serve as a quality of life improvement for any netrunner on the move.

We’ll be back with more contests very soon, point in fact there’s already another contest running right now so check out our Discord for more details.

Thanks again to all our contestants both past and present you are a huge part of what makes running the Cafe so enjoyable.