This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friend Rudy Ristich. As with previous iterations, we began by consulting the individuals who direct the event, then quickly moving from their vision for a conference into a badge design that played on the year’s theme. The design of the badge included a speaker, microphone, accelerometer, and backlit LEDs. Our recently development of over-the-air firmware allowed us to update the badge during the event and turn it into a radio communications device. Attendees were able to communicate with us through this firmware update, and ultimately, complete a number of puzzles that were incorporated into the main event’s “capture the flag” competition.
Students from my consulting group conceived of, designed, and then programmed games onto the badge. The badge featured a few innovations that the Badgelife community had not yet used, including over-the-air updates, onboard IRC communication, and command-and-control functions. In addition to managing the design team, I played a critical role in the manufacturing of the badge and managed the production run.
Launch website »
Custom fabricated conference ID badges designed by Jayson Margalus and Rudy Ristich, faculty in the College of Computing and Digital Media, at the 2019 Thotcon hacking and information security conference, Friday, May 3, 2019. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
