AXIOM Alpha goes to Mexico for TAG CDMX 2014

Last month we got an invitation from Alexander de Villa Robinson to join one of the most important technology festivals in Mexico and present the AXIOM Alpha camera to a Latin American audience at TAG CDMX 2014. We had some trouble making it happen because the AXIOM Beta development was already ongoing and a lot of work needed to be done. Fortunately the people around the TAG event, notably Cecilia de los Rios and Paulina Torrescano, organized everything including flight, transportation and accommodation, so all we had to do was to show up at the airport and step on a plane, and that's what we did. The short flight to France, from where we should have continued on to Mexico City, was canceled an hour before takeoff because of some problems with the airplane radar. After some confusion we got rebooked to another flight via Germany, and since no Economy seats were left, we got upgraded to Premium Economy, which really made the 13 hour flight to Mexico rather enjoyable. When we arrived there, Pepe was already waiting for us to take us to our hotel, the Camino Real, where we almost immediately went to bed (after getting internet access working, of course :) ).

As we had arrived a day before the TAG event, we had some time to visit the Museo de Antropologia and get used to the cosy warm climate. There, among other interesting things, we also discoverd that Mickey Mouse seems to be based on Teotihuacan designs.

The talk about the AXIOM Alpha prototype development was very well received, probably because of the almost simultaneous translation into Spanish, and many folks there had some additional questions or just wanted to touch the camera or get a picture taken with us. Between talk and workshop, we were interviewed by several local news station reporters, including Carlos Loret de Mola Álvarez from Televisa. For the workshop, we had to improvise, as most of the participants didn't know how to code, but I think we managed to keep a good balance between general interesting stuff and giving an idea what FPGA development actually means. All in all it was a great event and very pleasant stay in Mexico, thanks to the great organization and last but not least, thanks to the very friendly people of Mexico City.

On the last day, after checking out of the hotel, we managed to visit the Museo de Arte Moderno,
where we found several interesting design ideas for future AXIOM cameras.