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In the 1980's, Nintendo had plans for a knitting add-on to the NES, with an interface that resembled Mariopaint, but with patterned sweaters as output. Sadly, this product never saw the light of day. Devastated on hearing this, a group of Airbnb engineers (who knew nothing about machine knitting) set out to hack a knitting machine from the 1980's to be computer-controlled. Learn about how we wrote our own yarn printer API in ruby and printed our first doge meme in yarn. And watch us as we send knit requests to our yarn server, and behold as it knits ugly sweaters from those images! Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/FixG/
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In the presentation titled "Sweaters as a Service" by Amy Wibowo at RubyConf 2014, she explores the intersection of hardware hacking and knitting through a unique project that pays homage to an unproduced Nintendo NES knitting add-on from the 1980s. Wibowo describes how her disappointment over the failure of this knitting add-on led to the creation of a networked yarn printer by hacking a vintage knitting machine. The project involved a collective effort among Airbnb engineers who, despite having no prior experience with knitting technology, embraced the challenge with enthusiasm. Key points discussed include: - **Inspiration and Initial Discovery**: The project was inspired by an article highlighting Nintendo’s potential knitting peripheral, leading Wibowo to seek out a vintage knitting machine. - **Team Formation and Spirit**: During an Airbnb hackathon, a diverse team of engineers united for this endeavor, marking it as one of their most enjoyable projects due to their collaborative spirit and lack of egos. - **Technical Challenges**: The team faced difficulties in learning to operate the knitting machine, requiring problem-solving and creativity, especially in converting yarn formats for the machine. They developed a workaround using coffee cups for yarn feeding. - **Success with Patterns**: After overcoming various issues, they managed to knit patterns, eventually customizing their own designs by interfacing a laptop with the knitting machine, emulating a floppy drive to upload one-bit bitmap images. - **Web Interface Development**: They created a web interface that allowed users to upload images and receive knitting instructions. - **Future Exploration and Learnings**: Wibowo highlighted the joy of tackling new challenges, the importance of empathy in programming, and potential future directions, including knitting entire garments and automating processes. The main takeaway from Wibowo's presentation is that combining different fields—like art and code—can be both fun and insightful, prompting engineers to step outside their comfort zones and enjoy the process of learning new skills. She encourages the audience to explore new hobbies and pursue the cross-pollination of ideas in their work, anticipating further developments in her knitting machine journey that she hopes to share in the future.
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