I’ve been continuing my arcade-in-a-coffee-table project over the past week or so. I’ve also been thinking about a simple motion tracker that can transmit movement information to a phone over Bluetooth. Essentially the idea being that it can be attached to anything, and the phone can then interpret the raw motion data into usable information. It might be attached to a tennis racket, for instance, and used to track swings, impacts and forces. Or it could be fixed to a barbell to track the motion of a lift. Or to a punchbag to count and measure impacts. The underlying principle is the same for all these items.

I’m astonished at how accessible electronics has become. On every level. The components are financially affordable. There are tutorials, write-ups and source code that can be combined into the bases of almost any project. Suppliers are open not only to the public, but to beginners.

There’s so much choice and opportunity that it’s hard to even know where to get started. I spoke with some robot builders last week and one of them talked about it being a golden dawn for robotics. I agree entirely and I can’t wait to see what comes after drones.