Earplugs that adapt to your environment. Sunglasses that block blinding light at night. A device that connects to weights that measure reps.
These were just a few of the kick-ass innovations built at the first Startup Weekend Maker Edition ever.
Startup Weekend is widely known for the 54-hour entrepreneurial bootcamps it runs around the world that focus on launching a product or service-focused startup in less than three days.
This past weekend at Seattle’s MakerHaus workshop playground, however, more than 80 engineers, designers and entrepreneurs spent time using 3D printers, laser cutters and microcontrollers to build working prototypes.
Judges awarded four teams for their ideas:
Best overall: Magneeto, a device that connects to your weights and counts reps as you build muscle. The device records your repetition data and sends it to your smartphone.
1st runner-up: Active Shades, designed for motorcyclists or bike-riders, are “smart” sunglasses made of LCD panels and camera sensors that can block out the brightest of lights.
2nd runner-up: Am.bee are “smart” earplugs that adapt to your environment to selectively block out noise.
Most Kickstart-able: Cloud House, a project led by 12-year-old Kailey, is an automated table-top greenhouse that uses cameras and sensors to upload live data to the cloud.
Coca-Cola prize: Dream Machine is a sleep scanning system that uses sensors on the head to record brain activity and analyze sleep patterns.
You can check out Startup Weekend Maker Edition’s Facebook page for more images and info.
Thanks to Joe Heitzeberg for the photos. Heitzeberg, who is raising money for a 3D photo and video viewing device, was a judge at the event.
Previously on GeekWire: Reflections from Startup Weekend Baghdad: The entrepreneurial spirit is alive in Iraq