Neural Interfaces Desde Santiago Hasta Oaxaca to Ann Arbor

In March 2014 we went to Mexico’s first Maker Faire, invited by Amor Muñoz, a Mexican Textile and Electronic artist, who we met at Chile’s Santiago MakerFaire in November 2013. The Mexico MakerFaire took place in Oaxaca, a place known for traditional crafts, pero ahora se esta transformando en un lugar de “Nuevos-Makers” de diseño, electronica, etc.

During this MakerFaire, we ran a two day workshop where we met Jose Enrique, un alumno de ingeniera electronica. He knew his electronics, y nos ayudó mucho durante el taller. Jose asked if he could have some extra equipment for his studies – specifically, an extra Arduino for more experiments with the EMG SpikerShield.

We said, “Sure, but promise us that you will send us a video of something you did with this gear, with a deadline of three weeks.” Y el lo hizo, tres semanas después nos envió un video de liquid cystal display (LCD) contralado con la actividad de sus músculos. So….Let’s do more! We gave him a job offer to design “three interfaces” with the EMG SpikerShield, and importantly, write them up in BYB style so we could add them to our website. Durante Mayo y Julio, trabajabamos en equipo, and now it’s ready – Versión en English – Version in Español). You can learn how to control a stepper motor, an LCD screen, and a Gripper arm with your muscle activity!

Cuando todo estaba listo,  we asked Jose, “Gracias por tu buen trabajo, Can you send us your bank details so we can wire you the compensation for your good work?” Jose counter-offered, saying, “Can you send me an oscilloscope instead?”
Ummm….like… o sea….onda…  Yeah! we can do that. An engineer that wants to be paid in equipment that allows him to invent more? We approve. We bought the oscilloscope he wanted from Amazon and sent it on down to Oaxaca. It is now part of Jose’s lab. Gracias por tu trabajo Jose, e ¡inventa más! Con nuestros cerebros quemando con el fuego de creatividad y nuestras manos productivas podemos dar a luz cosas maravillosas a este mundo.  See Jose’s home lab below.  Eso es donde las ideas se transforman en realidad.

We should have expected no less. Our main method of communication has been through that popular invention of Mark Zuckerburg, and this is Jose’s profile photo. ¡Saludos! Stay tuned… we are now beginning to work on EEG’s together. Also, Happy Birthday Tesla!