Motion Sensing Fascinator Wins element14 Wearable Design Challenge

wpolk — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:58:36 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by wpolk on 10/8/2021 7:58:36 AM

element14 Community and Adafruit name winner of the “Hats Off” competition

November 10, 2014 – Chicago – A motion detecting, multi-colored “Jaunty Fascinator” was named the winner of element14 Communityand Adafruit Industries’ “Hats Off” design challenge, in which 10 participants from around the world reimagined the traditional hat into new wearable technology solutions.

Barbara Eldredge from the U.S. took home the top prize, an Oculus Rift and complete FLORA Collection parts pack from Adafruit, for her design. Eldredge equipped a traditional English fascinator headpiece with an accelerometer to measure the wearer’s movement. Data collected by embedded sensors prompts NeoPixels within the hat to change color intensity and color temperature from blue to green, yellow, orange and red.

“Barbara’s design and those of the other participants demonstrate how wearable technology is more seamlessly balancing form with function as it moves toward the mainstream,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community, element14. “element14 is amazed by our members who time and time again engineer innovative, forward-thinking solutions, and we congratulate Barbara and all of the Hats Off participants on their work.”

David Crittenden received an honorable mention for his “Coachman’s Navigational Top Hat,” which transformed a traditional top hat into an LED compass using an accelerometer, magnetometer and NeoPixel ring. Todd Cowley also received an honorable mention for his “Iron Man Helmet” complete with glowing blue eyes.

Competitors were judged on their creativity, quality of documentation and the execution of their project. To aid in their designs, participants received the Adafruit GEMMA, a tiny Arduino-compatible sew-able microcontroller capable of lighting up LEDs when triggered by simple sensors and actions. In addition, participants received a series of sensors, batteries, clips and switches courtesy of Newark element14.

"We'd like to thank all the competitors and participants,” said Becky Stern, Director of Wearable Electronics at Adafruit. “It was a delight to watch these amazing electronic hats come to life on the element14 wearable technology forum. I'm looking forward to see what they all build next!"

For more information on Adafruit and the Adafruit GEMMA, visit http://www.newark.com/adafruit-industries. To view content from all 10 Hats Off challengers or to learn more about the award-winning, 270,000-member element14 Community, visit element14.com.

-End-

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.  

Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

Operations in 36 different countries
More than 4,300 employees
More than 3,500 leading suppliers
More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of PR

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

EML Wildfire

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@emlwildfire.com

European Contact: