From Hackerspace to FabLab: is DIY Culture and Personal Fabrication the future?
November 19th, 2009 
FabLab, Innovation, New Media 
Mark Kizelshteyn
“At one time a computer was a job description rather than a machine. Before electronic computing machines, computer referred to the teams of people who operated simple mechanical calculating machines to solve complex problems. These human computers were programmed by their written instructions. Likewise, typesetting was once a career for a trained typesetter, laying up lead type, rather than an expected menu choice in any word-processing program. It may well be that in the world of personal fabrication it is the fate of engineering to similarly become a shared skill rather than a specialized career,” writes MIT professor, Neil Gershenfeld.
A bold statement of this sort is easy to dismiss – technological fads are thrown at us regularly, where the-next-big-thing announcements are just as frequent as their dismissals. Nonetheless, Gershenfeld identifies several compelling parallels. As the story of personal fabrication unfolds, its resemblance to the personal computing revolution is remarkable. Computers were bulky, big and expensive – not to be seen in the home, but they found their way in and became the center of our lives. Many, along with Gershenfeld, are arguing this will happen with bulky, big and expensive manufacturing equipment. Yes, we are talking about a Star Trek Replicator thingy on our desks.
[Hackerspace. Image from Alex Welsh of Wall Street Journal]
Let’s zoom out and position ourselves in the (re)new(ed) cultural trend of DIY (do-it-yourself). Justin Lahart in “Tinkering Makes Comeback Amid Crisis” gives an interesting overview of the reemerging DIY culture that has been the cornerstone of innovation. From the shift of garage tinkerers to successful entrepreneurs, there is something big happening — people are reclaiming their physical world and shaping it to fit their lives. Realizing that creativity is essential in ones success, many are finding this through the personalization of their world.
While Hackerspaces have recently been covered in the media, I want to focus on FabLabs which have been exponentially growing since 2005. I am discovering the incredible potential for FabLabs as I am starting to get my feet wet in a local lab. I have been blow away by the personal creative empowerment, the larger social meaning of such a movement and the contagious momentum it has.
[RepRap Workshop at FabLab. Image from XNDR, CabFabLab]
A few weeks ago, I finished Neil Gershenfeld’s book, Fab, which tells the detailed story of all fab-related things. Although it is from 2005 and much has changed, it is still an informative and worthwhile read. Gershenfeld argues how FabLabs and ultimately DIY culture are the future.
So, what is a FabLab?
A FabLab is an open workshop that contains a variety of modern prototyping machinery that can be used to create essentially anything. The FabLab program was devised by MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld. His course “How to create (almost) anything” was the impetus for FabLabs, which have now developed into a global network of (somewhat) standardized and largely open-source setups. From the South Bronx to Afghanistan to the Netherlands, Norway and India — Fablabs around the world are serving the needs and demands of local economies. While some lab users are dreaming up jewelry and art installations, others are creating food safety monitoring systems, wireless networks and RFID animal tags.
The movement is a disruptive technology that reclaims customization and pushes bulk production out the door. In Gershenfelds book, he brings up the concept of globalization being replaced by localization, whereby mass customization losses the “mass” piece. He argues that technology will start better reflecting our needs because it is going to be developed by and for us. We are heading toward a highly malleable physical world.
It is pretty incredible, but what does this all mean?
Gershenfeld states, “If you give people access to means to solve their own problems, it touches something very, very deep…somehow it goes back to nest-building, or mastering your own environment. There’s sort of this deep thing inside that most people don’t express that comes tumbling out when they get access to these tools.” The access to FabLabs is drawing attention from artists, entrepreneurs and engineers alike, and is at the root of this rapidly growing revolution — one where manufacturing and DIY are empowering communities. I have seen this first hand. Similar to a child getting her hands on a Lego kit and exploring what she can build, people are being given a chance to expand their creative potential.
The funny thing is that this future trend is moving towards the way things used to be. People were inventing, building and tinkering since the dawn of man. If you needed a tool or something for your house, you built it. Or went to your friend and got advice on how to build or acquire such a thing. But industrialization hit society and mass production took over. We became consumers rather than producers. But, we have reached the other side of that hump. Production is coming back to the garage. Well not only the garage, but also peoples desks, offices and schools. Society is being re-equipped with the tools and communities are leveraging the potential of these powerful technologies.
But, what is going to happen in just a few more years when the market continues to drive down the price and the ability of these machines continues to rapidly increase. (And off course what good is a technology blog with out mentioning Moore’s Law).
What do you think?
If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend watching Neil Gershenfeld’s Ted Talk. This is a great little video showing the diverse and global FabLab community. Check it out. Lastly, The CabFabLab has an excellent photo stream of all FabLab related projects. These images offer a really good insight at what is possible. Check it out here.
Tags: DIY, FabLab, Personal Fabrication, RepRap
1 Comment
Comments RSS
TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
