Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

THE future of artificial intelligence was on full display at the 2025 Maker Faire Shenzhen, which concluded yesterday at Design Commune in Nanshan District.

Now in its 14th year, the event is known for connecting makers and industries worldwide, having showcased tens of thousands of innovative applications and tech solutions.

Organized by Chaihuo Makerspace with Seeed Studio and the Make Community, this year’s two-day event united makers, tech leaders, and academic institutions from more than 30 countries and regions. It also featured 145 pioneering projects and close to 1,000 demonstrations of AI hardware.

Prominent exhibitors such as Raspberry Pi and Hugging Face underscored the event’s significance with projects focused on applying AI to real-world challenges in intelligent manufacturing, agriculture, and beyond.

Many robotics projects emphasized embodied intelligence, reflecting the growing integration of AI with mechanical control and environmental interaction.

“The wave of AI is enabling makers to evolve much faster. Competition around centralized large models has become a crowded, fierce ‘red ocean.’ In contrast, fragmented AI application scenarios are a ‘blue ocean’ for makers — a vast, open field of new opportunities,” said Eric Pan, founder of Seeed Studio and Chaihuo Makerspace, at a forum Saturday.

Nick Velasquez, CEO of DeepSea Developments, exhibited gadgets like robot companions and a video game. Describing the event’s biggest value as inspiration to Shenzhen Daily, he shared, “I see interesting things and am motivated to create more.”

Alfredo de Candia, founder and CTO of Hoken Tech, presented TrustWatch, an AI-driven mobile app that authenticates luxury watches. Users simply upload a photo of a watch dial to the app, which then analyzes various features. The app’s AI model has continuously improved to detect new counterfeits. He expected to meet potential customers at the fair and also planned to attend a fashion week event in Shenzhen next week.

U.S. designer and influencer Becky Stern, who has posted many DIY tech and craft tutorials online, showcased projects from controllers to knitting. She said that making and sharing are her two biggest passions.

Twelve‑year‑old Lee Choi‑hei from Man Kwan Pak Kau College in Hong Kong exhibited an intelligent indoor air-quality monitor that tracks PM2.5 and signals alerts with a face that either smiles or frowns. The college also displayed an e-bike parking app developed by two 13-year-old students, which uses AI image recognition and public data to notify users of available parking spots.