One disadvantage of being an adult is you have fewer chances to sit around in rooms inventing strange gadgets. One advantage is that, should you find such a room, nothing's really off limits. Brooklyn, New York's Alpha One Labs hackerspace is a lot like a grown-up version of some ideal childhood playroom.
For a $40 monthly fee, members get access to a workshop stuffed with inventors' ore: "[We have] old electronics, pieces of wood, circuit boards, wires, a spool of elastic, you name it," says founder Sean Auriti. How they incorporate these items is up to them. "Really, it's a place to bring your crazy idea you've been dreaming of into reality," he says.
Those crazy ideas have included night-vision contact lenses, clothing that changes color in different weather conditions, and a Christmas tree that can tweet. (It's known as a "Twitmas tree," which is at least a better nickname than a "Christmas twee"). Practicality is occasionally acknowledged. The group's project list also includes a watch that tracks sleep patterns and an "automatic tooth-brushing machine."
