by Dot Cannon

“When there’s something that doesn’t exist in the world, for us to test with, we build our own,” said Virgin Hyperloop One Manager of Materials Engineering Kristen Hammer.

“So, really smart, scrappy group of people here, that can build lots of things.”

And on Friday, during MakerWalk LA 2019, a lucky group of about twenty-five media and VIPs had the opportunity to observe some of what they were building.

One of the first stops on this second edition of MakerWalk LA was a tour of the Hyperloop One facility. Kristen guided the visitors through several different areas in which the 200-person staff were working.

Without being too specific, due to the confidential nature of what we saw, think ingenuity, magnets and levitation.

Hyperloop One, Kristen said, works with “pods”.  Each of these holds 30 people.  And each pod will go to a different destination.

Meanwhile, the infrastructure is being envisioned to last for, literally, a century.

“Things might adjust,” Kristen said. “Depending on what a place actually needs out of their transportation system. But…from a materials perspective, my job is to make sure everything lasts for a hundred years.

Speed and comfort

So far, Kristen said, Hyperloop One’s sustainable speeds, in tests, have hit 240 miles per hour. But that doesn’t necessarily mean agony for anyone who suffers from motion sickness.

“You won’t (feel it), because we accelerate you very gently,” she explained. “For (passengers), you will feel less acceleration and deceleration than you do on an airplane. We’re pretty confident that we’ve got a setup that will not make people sick. And the nice thing is, we can program it…so it’s all controllable.”

So, when might we see a Hyperloop in operation? Sooner than some of us imagine.

“People will be in a Hyperloop before 2030,” Kristen said. “Everything kind of feeds backwards from there.”

Twenty-two aspects of innovation

And Hyperloop One was just our first stop as nonprofit creator community Make It In LA hosted their second MakerWalk LA in downtown Los Angeles’ arts district.

Twenty-two different venues stood waiting to welcome participants.   For five hours, guests could tour the downtown LA arts district.   They’d visit local factories, talk with startup founders and see demos of products from entrepreneurs living their dreams.

Participants began checking in for the free event at twelve-thirty.  And then–off to the first venue, either on foot or motorized scooter, provided by Lime in honor of the occasion!

(One participant told us that these travel at 17 miles per hour!)

 

Off to the “circus”

New additions to this second edition of  MakerWalk LA included lumber mill Angel City Lumber and contemporary collaborative furniture maker Scale 1:1.   As well as one of our complete favorites: Two Bit Circus!

So, what is Two Bit Circus?  If you’re not familiar with them, think “carnival”.  Now, add sensors, lasers, video games, VR experiences, escape rooms, and a lot of wildly-creative engineers and circus performers, coming up with their next amazing idea…’

…and you probably still won’t come close to the reality.   Perhaps you’d better go see it.

On Friday, we arrived just in time for their tour–and to hear shrieks and screams from the VR area.

“A zombie game,” explained Two Bit Circus Creative Producer Josh Randall, as he led the group through the facility.

“As of right now, we have 92 seats in this theater,” Josh said, escorting the visitors into Two Bit Circus’ game show and performance area, Club 01.  “(There are) twenty-three tables, with two interactive touch screens per table.  It is 100% interactive.”

We’ve had the pleasure of following Two Bit Circus’ creative journey since before their first STEAM Carnival.   But with them, there’s always something new to see and learn!

For example, their Carousel Bar–which represents a circus tent, flipped upside down.

They also make use of carousel horses in an interesting and creative way!

“Everything here at Two Bit Circus, there’s always here than meets the eye,” Josh said.  “We always like to take something that exists, and turn it into something else.”

And who knew that, in the state of California, a robot can’t legally serve you without a human counterpart present?  (Sorry, robotic bartender Gearmo del Pouro!)

(Josh explained that, unlike a human bartender, the robot can’t discern when a patron is sober enough to have another drink.  Consequently, when Gearmo is in operation, a human bartender is with him at all times.  And when he’s in operation, Gearno is putting on a show–including flirting with the guests!)

Since its opening in September 2018, Two Bit Circus has continued innovating in some exciting ways.

“If you’re here every week, literally, there’s new games…we are moving things around,” Josh said.  “And we’re actually trying to do a lot more photo opportunities, live streaming opportunities, we’re going to start putting cameras into Club 01 so…you don’t have to buy a ticket, you can just sort of go watch online, the trivia shows that are happening…We’re talking about all that.”

Two Bit Circus also hosts regular “Beta Nights”, free to the community (the next one’s Tuesday, June 4th!) which are free to the public and which showcase the work of new game creators.  (Like to come see what this is about?  Here’s the link!)

Craftspeople and their passion

Of course, as with the first MakerWalk LA in 2017, seeing everything was a physical impossibility.  So much more was going on than could be packed into five hours.

But we did get the opportunity to pop into Comunitymade.

Husband and wife crafters Shannon and Sean Scott handcraft gorgeous leather shoes.  And with each sale, they give back to the community.

They also host shoemaking and other workshops throughout the year, according to their website!

(We loved those soft white walking shoes.  They may see us back in the future!)

Food for the future

Next stop?  Soylent Innovation Lab, a co-working space that’s all about the future of food!

(Look at those awards in their lobby!)

We had the pleasure of talking with InHouse Produce co-founder Andrew Blume.  He showed us radishes and basil, growing in a vertical display for clients.

InHouse Produce, started approximately two years ago, grows around 100 different crops in hydroponic gardens for restaurants to display (and serve).

Was it 4:00–already?  Time was going too fast.

But we were not about to leave without seeing Wisdome LA.

Thought-provoking beauty

The world’s first fully immersive entertainment art park is made up of five geodesic domes.

Currently, they’re hosting “Samskara”, an immersive art experience with 360 degree mapping projection.  The work, by digital painter Android Jones and concept architect Swami Avadhut, explores the inner world of consciousness and humans’ role in the universe.

The show is magical-looking, mystical and thought-provoking.   But photos cannot do it justice.

A sign outside the exhibits explained that the installation’s goal is to combine visionary art with the ancient Vedic wisdom of India for “a mind-expanding journey through the self and the cosmos”.

And the ways that journey is accomplished are highly creative.

Perhaps, at one time or another, you’ve seen a greeting card or toy that could change a feature, in ripply plastic, as you move it.

A number of the works in the show do exactly that, times about ninety.

Every one of the faces on the walls would change in some way as visitors walked by.  Just two of the works incorporated, among other things, an Aztec sun calendar and elfin ears into the images.

Mirrors explored infinity, while sparkly silver and lights created a magical atmosphere.

A favorite feature was the “Interactive Zone”, which incorporated visitors right into one of the works.

And the final dome included couches where visitors could lie back and observe a 22-minute video on the dome’s ceiling–very much like looking up at the stars.

MakerWalk L.A., 2019, had been a fun, exciting look at the creativity of a community excited about ideas and making things, as they look towards the future.

We look forward to Version 3.0.