Cool Stuff You'll See at the Maker Faire

Even as we at GeekDad plan for our booth at Maker Faire (cupcakes, people!), lot's of other people are planning to show off some pretty neat stuff, too. Over the next few weeks, we'll post some of the more interesting things you can expect to see if you make it to the Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA on May 3-4.

This time, it's the see-through pinball machine:

This project started as most do; out of necessity. I was teaching classes in Interactive Kinetic Art (pinball) and I had a need to show students what was happening inside the machine while it was running. It was difficult to prop the playfield up and trigger various switches on the playfield to simulate play. I first thought a clear window on the side would be nice but it seemed so "hacked" I then thought of making a clear playfield and then the idea of a totally see through machine hit me. That way you could see the mechanical board and the scoring in the head.

[...]

We have spent more than a year from inception to creation of the
Visible Pinball and we hope it will stimulate an interest in Science,
Electricity, Physics, Math and Art. We have many more exhibits on the planning board packaging them into groups for lease /sale to other museums around the world. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Check it out firsthand at this year's Bay Area Maker Faire - and for more info check the visible pinball project page and see the Flickr photo set.

From the post today on Make.