Make things that care for the community
Five hours, three teams, one shared space. Together we design edgy things: everyday objects with edge AI and a bit of agency of their own. Then we vibe-code a prototype that shows what they can do.
AI is leaving the screen.
Objects with edge AI sense, respond and work together without going through a cloud. They are moving into our streets, homes and shared spaces, and so into the way we live together.
Much of today’s digital culture runs on individual feeds and transactional relationships. If AI brings that logic into physical space, what happens to community? And what would it take to design things that do the opposite: things that notice, negotiate and look after the people around them?
This make-a-thon is part of Edgy Things Communities, a Cities of Things project. It starts from The Grid, a scenario in the Cities of Things Manifesto 2026.
What makes a thing edgy?
It senses locally
Its intelligence runs on the device itself, at the edge. It reads the space it is in, here and now.
It acts on its own
It has some agency. It makes small decisions, takes initiative, and sometimes disagrees.
It lives with others
It shares a place with people and other things, and its purpose is to care for that community.
The Setup
A problem owner brings a real place and a real question. That space is where all three edgy things will live.
Each team designs one thing. Because they share the same space, the things need to get along. Do they cooperate, negotiate or compete? Who gets the last word? Those interactions are as important as the things themselves.
Coaches from Cities of Things and our partners help teams sharpen the concept and get the most out of the tools.
From idea to prototype
- Kick-off
Iskander Smit (Cities of Things) introduces Edgy Things Communities and the manifesto. The problem owner [TBA] pitches the place where the edgy things will live. - The tools
A quick tour of the vibe-coding and hardware tools on offer [TBA]. - Imaging an edgy thing
We split into three teams and get to know each other.
Using the Cities of Things canvas, each team defines its thing: its character, what it senses, what it decides, and its place in the space. - Build
With vibe-coding tools and partner kits, each team builds the signature part of its thing: enough to show what it is and how it behaves. - Share
Each team pitches its edgy thing to the full ThingsCon audience.