Spiker (Wo)Men & Knitted Bugs: Backyard Brains at SfN 2024
There’s always a good deal of creativity, laughter and general joie de vivre at our booth, but this year’s SfN (Society for Neuroscience) conference got another layer of novelty: knitted bugs and brains in wheelbarrows.
If you’re thinking that we’ve started making 3D knitted swag, you’re in the wrong. These were in fact gifted to our wonderful team leader Stefana by her friend Marina so that she could bring them over to Chicago for SfN 2024. Hereby we thank both Stefana and Marina. We also promise to take great care of the goodies and adorn each of our booths with them wherever we may go.
But showcasing knitted things wasn’t the only “A” in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math). Our gear of honor was the brand new Spiker:Bit, a tool that first saw the light of day at this summer’s brain-machine interface workshop we ran in Serbia. Since it’s not officially launched yet, we won’t say much more than has already slipped out. But if you’re curious to take a peek, the next chance will be our NSTA booth in New Orleans (Nov 6-9).
One of the many projects that Spiker:Bit can turn into is an EMG-controlled armband that lets you sling a string from your wrist. As our team mates Stefana and Étienne demonstrated, one can use it to great effect at neuroscience conferences.
Kids are always our dearest and bravest visitors, and this year was no different. As usual, The Claw garnered most of their attention. But some were willing to venture into neurorobotics too. (Another project we’re shushing ourselves about.)
Second year in a row, we feasted on a cake brought to us by our long-time collaborator Supriya Nair, a young researcher who’s been looking for science-backed ways to improve sports and dancing by studying her body’s electrical activity.
If you missed SfN, see you at the National Conference on Science Education (NSTA) in New Orleans!