In the company of Jewels: Lemonade Day

. I'm taking the opportunity of this unplanned time off to connect with the many artists and creators in this wonderful city that I love. Come with me on my 100-day odyssey of art and creativity in Long Beach. I call it .

We all have our jewels.  Those things that we treasure. The things we value above all others.  Yes, they may be jewels of different types.  Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and even the humble amber.  I spent two hours today in the company of jewels.

August 25th was Day 55.  I veered off the trail and into Los Angeles to attend a Kinect Meetup.

I must confess.  I spent $5.00 today.  I wasn't planning on making Lemonade of the Kinect meeting, I was planning on talking about LEGO today.  But I can't resist.  So, please forgive me for breaking my own rules.  As you may recall, according to the rules of , the rules can adjust as the game progresses. 

Today I make the rule that I can break the rule about not paying for anything, so long as I tell you that I have broken it, and that the value of the reward far surpasses the cost.  I will also make a new rule.  I can only break the rule 5 times during these 100 days.  Of course, I reserve the right to break this rule too!

I spent $5.00 today.  I attended a Kinect Meetup called by one Mike Amron.  I found the event when I sat down at my computer this morning.  I opened my Meetup profile to see how many members there were in my new Long Beach Makers Meetup group.  There it was: Kinect Meetup... Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles.  I knew I had to go.  Karma was there, doing her thing again.  Pulling my strings this way and that. 

"Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods.  Every time you do, you will be certain to find something you have never seen before".  Alexander Graham Bell

This meeting was for a new group.  Mike Amron had delivered a short lecture at SIGGraph, which just ended.  SIGGraph is a special interest group of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).  It focus on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.  Mike's lecture for Kinect Users was part of the SIGGraph Birds of a Feather lectures.  It was originally expected to draw up to 30 attendees.  It drew over 250!  Apparently there are a lot of birds like Mike out there!

The lecture covered 10 or so different types of software that are used to capture and process images from the Kinect.  The game device that is connected to the XBOX.  How could I not be intrigued?

Today, Mike demonstrated a simple Kinect to PC setup, and gave us a demonstration of the video being captured.  He talked of the need to have multiple Kinects.  At least two to get a high-resolution capture.  He brought up some of the software he uses and talked about them.  What software?  VuForia by Qualcomm.  ReconstructMe.  Brekel Kinect.    Open NI.  Delicode. NI Mate.  Blender.

We were seven.  Mike, Vivek, Dave, Bruce, John, Vasken and Trish.  Jewels, every one of us.  A Mars Rover payload hardware engineer (whose video was reviewed by Diane Sawyer) and who is also a drummer, drum maker and budding Bollywood producer; a successful inventor in semi-retirement; a well-known producer; a writer; an image capture, app producing Cal-Tech Ph.D.; a Lemonade maker.  We celebrated new beginnings.

Mike was a diamond.  He's knowledgeable and is seeking to grow the field.  He wants to reach out and share what he knows.  The rest of us?  Drooling at the thought of the technology and its possibilities.

I tried to type the rest of the jewels, but I don't know enough. Perhaps in time, I will be able to do so.

I reserve amber for myself.  My aunt Joan had a necklace of amber.  It was the ugliest thing you've ever seen.  Amber is fossilized sap.  When they think of amber, most people visualize the golden, clear amber which can be quite beautiful.  Joan's necklace was a sometimes-opaque yellow-golden-white color.  The stones were irregularly shaped and quite ugly, with no regard for presentation.  Inside the stones, however, was the most fascinating collection of ants.  Looking at those stones, you could imagine the ants walking into the sap then struggling, struggling to escape.  There were so many of them.  I've since looked at amber much differently.  I look for the pieces that have bits of plants and animals trapped inside.

For what it's worth, here are the energy properties for amber that I found on a website.  Brings a care free, sunny disposition; Promotes good luck and success; Dissolves opposition.  Who wouldn't want to be those!

Our host for the day was Vasken Bohossian, Ph.D. and CEO of Spiral Galaxy.  He was later joined by his business partner, Debra.

Tidbits, Things, Trails

• I had a grand idea.  Wouldn't it be awesome for Mike to bring some of his devices down to Long Beach for Arts Month in October?  I could learn so much by helping him!
• Mike really wants to grow his group, and with a topic such as this it will be exponential growth.  If you are even the least bit interested in learning more about this technology, join the Kinect Meetup group!
• My Meetup group of Long Beach Makers hopes to bring those who make and those who want to make in Long Beach together.  Please join if you want to know about what we will be doing... gatherings we will have.  Two days old and we have 17 members already!  You can be #18!
• New words and terms: augmented reality, natural interaction, markerless motion capture

Want more lemonade?       

Next up:

I'm headed to LEGOLAND for a special Master Builder session.  Some people buy fancy cars and homes.  Some people buy lifetime memberships to LEGOLAND.  The Master Builder sessions are produced annually and include a build and take model that is designed specificially for the event by the LEGOLAND Master Builders.  Past projects have included a sphere, a very cool sarcophagus, a special Star Wars build, a birthday cupcake.  These sessions are a privilege of Ambassador memberships.

Also... a friend pointed me to an interesting Maker Space in Echo Park.  Machine Project.  I thought about one of their recent offerings... Staple Draping Workshop.  Hm... how does that work?  Sounds as if it might hurt!

If you would like to contact me, please email me at  info@handmadepenguin.com

Trish Tsoiasue writes as herself about creative and maker topics for and as Handmade Penguin for the Handmade Penguin Blog.