President of Singapore Graced Kiki Tay's Robot!

During the launch of the "Sketches of Science" Exhibition, I had the honor of having the President of Singapore grace my robot by activating it to symbolize the official launch of the exhibition.

The "Sketches of Science" is a touring exhibition by the Nobel museum. The exhibition is a display of 50 portraits of Nobel Laureates (Nobel prize recipients) shot by German photographer Volker Steger. 

During the event, I got to meet Sir Richard Timothy Hunt, the 2001 Nobel Prize recipient!

Find out more about the exhibition here

The event was held at the Maxell Auditorium at the Singapore Science Centre



The "Show Robot v4.0" was a robot that I built from scratch. The initial purpose was to serve as a prop delivery system for my new show, The EFX Show

See a video and read more about my early prototype in my previous post here
Or see it in action with my LED Jacket here

Here are some pictures of my Robot taken before the event!
(Click to Enlarge)

The robot can travel in all direction without having to turn and face the direction. It has a fancy robotic door-opening sequence and a linear actuator with guiding rails that lifts its content up into view. In this instance, I had my LED Ball inside the robot. The LED Ball uses the "LED Magician v2.0", a circuit I designed to easily create running light sequences. Read about the LED Ball & The LED Magician here!

The robot also has an LED screen that I designed and built from scratch. The LED screen consists of 200 individually addressable RGB LEDs with a smart controller chip embedded into each of the LEDs. The screen is capable of displaying video contents.

The robot is on 8 omni-directional wheels, the robot can be controlled either via a radio transmitter, or made to move into position via a pre-recorded sequence.

The Singapore Science Centre was a place I loved to hang out during my primary school days. I had a "Friends of Science Centre" pass that gave me free admission, and I would spend hours there after school just to indulge in the amazing fantasy world created by all the amazing exhibits. I guess it influenced me a lot in many of the things I do today. To be part of the Singapore Science Centre's project is a dream come true for me!

This was a priceless experience made possible by the nice folks at the Singapore Science Centre. It was indeed an honour and thrill to be part of the grand occasion!

Here is a video of the launch in action!

Thank you everybody at the Singapore Science Centre, for making my life an amazing adventure! Looking forward to future opportunities!

Catch the "Sketches of Science" Exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre before it's over! Find out more from the website here!

With Love,

  - Kiki Tay

Kiki Tay at the Singapore Maker Faire 2013!

My booth at the Singapore Maker Faire 2013

I had a booth at this year's Singapore Maker Faire. It was an opportunity to show off some of my inventions and creations, I also had the chance to meet many incredible people with the same passion!

The Maker Faire is a two-days event featuring "makers" of all sorts. Held at *SCAPE Warehouse at Orchard, Singapore. The faire showcases incredible stuff that people makes, inspiring a trend of "the maker spirit".

I had so much sentimental memories of this venue. It was home to 3 seasons of "*SCAPE Magic Carnival" A show I produced back in 2011. I have several posts on my blog for *SCAPE Magic Carnival" Here's one of it.

You can't miss my booth when you step into the faire, it's the most "dazzling" booth of all. My booth was a showcase of my passion and obsession with LEDs!

Some of my inventions were on sale during the faire, including my newly launched "World's Smallest Bubble Machine" 

I had problems meeting up with demands for this product. There is still a long waiting list for it. Hopefully by the time you read this post it might be back in stock again. Do check out my product page to find out where you might be able to get one.

Also featured was my "Tiny Handheld Smoke Machine"! Below is a video of it. Read more about it at my blog post here. This item isn't available for sale yet as producing each piece takes a lot of effort.

And of course my "LED Magician v2.0", a simple solution I created to easily create running light sequences for LED projects. Check it out at my blog post here. Or see some of the cool projects submitted by some of my users here.

 LED Magician V2.0 Official Website

I also gave a talk on LEDs & Robotics, where I shared some of the technologies behind some of my creations.

Creating a storm of bubbles with my "World's Smallest Bubble Machine"

Showing off the intricate electronics behind my "Show Robot v4.0". Read about it at my blog post here.

Explaining the technology and workings behind the "LED Magician v2.0"

I had the chance to meet Tony, the "Ironman" of Singapore! Check out his work on his facebook page!

The CEO of the Singapore Science Centre dropped by my booth! I had the chance to show him some of my creations earlier this month during the Maker Faire press conference where I made the "second debut" of my LED Jacket. Read about it from my blog post here.

It was a tiring two full days of standing behind the booth, talking and sharing with many people. But it's all worth it! I had such a fun time at the Maker Faire! Do check out the Singapore Maker Faire website to know more about the faire. I'll definitely be back next year with a whole new lot of stuff! Stay tuned!

With Love,

  - Kiki Tay

Wonderment @ Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Wonderment

A Dance Spectacle by O School

The FIRST ever Singapore production to be staged at the Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands Singapore

The Sands Theatres was home to many incredible productions such as Wicked, Lion King, Phantom of The Opera, Slava Snow Show and many more. 

I got the opportunity to be part of this production as the Special Effects Advisor, having to design and create some of the effects used in the show.

Ryan was the chief choreographer of the show, his choreography and creativity is just amazing! I've had the honour to have him as my dance instructor back in my MDC days.

Planning and rehearsals started months ago.

 Wonderment is a show made up of extremely passionate and dedicated people. The energy of the people coming together, working towards the same goal is incredible! I can't help but to feel the enthusiasm of everybody as one big family, and what a talented family indeed!

Setting up and some behind-the-scenes photos!

 The Sands Theatre is a beautiful, fully equipped theatre!

Hanging our sceneries on the flybars

 Our huge bed prop that transforms into a horizontal stage.

The wall at the fire-escape backstage was filled with "priceless graffiti" left by casts and crews from the previous shows

(Click to enlarge)

Some "Streamer bombs" that I made...

Of course, as of everything I do, there must be LEDs! Read about my obsession with LEDs and a LED costume that I made recently from my blog post here!

 Floating top-hats?!

A balloon-drop effect during the finale

Some pictures from rehearsals and shows

 

Jeffrey Tan & Priscilla Khong came to watch the show! Jeffrey is an amazing dancer & choreographer, he choreographed the dance in "Voyage de la vie" which I loved so much. Jeffrey was also one of my dance teacher during my MDC days. Priscilla is the star in The Magic of Lawrence & Priscilla

We used projection mapping in the show, check out this hilarious scene!

(Click on the video to play)

 The very talented Terence Then, played a magician role in his dance item!

A vanishing illusion in the show

The staff & crew at Marina Bay Sands, our heroes behind the scenes!

 We were all given a "Wonderment Bear"

The amazingly talented cast and crew of Wonderment!

 It is an honor to be working with all the talented people behind the show. It was a truly amazing experience!

**UPDATED**

Watch the video highlights!

With Love,

 - Kiki Tay