NEW YORK —September 18, 2014FirstBuild™, a new global co-creation community, debuted its revolutionary first product, Green Bean (retail $19.95), today at Maker Con in New York City. The first-of-its-kind, open-source maker module enables you to hack into and create your own appliance controls for select GE appliances through a software development kit. In a game-changing move, GE is lifting the curtain and granting tinkerers and programmers access to the microcomputer inside specific GE appliances so that anyone can build apps to customize and control them.    

FirstBuild.com is a physical and online community dedicated to designing, engineering and building the next generation of major appliances. It fosters co-creation among engineers, designers, makers and home enthusiasts around the globe, who can participate in the development of appliance breakthroughs to address current challenges, and ensure that it is bringing products to market that people actually want. Community members identify market needs, participate in product development, and watch via social media as ideas speed from mind to market in only a matter of months at the FirstBuild Microfactory in Louisville, Ky.

Green Bean is an open-source maker module that enables the customization of certain models of GE appliances with an SDK that grants users the ability to reprogram their appliances.

During World Maker Faire New York, September 20-21, Green Bean will be available for demonstration and FirstBuild will be challenging programmers and hardware hackers alike to envision new uses and alternate applications for today’s GE appliances.

“Ideas are only the starting point. At FirstBuild, we believe that we can create better products by teaming up with a diverse community, building our ideas, and experiencing the benefits of the things we build. Green Bean is the ultimate embodiment of this vision,” said Taylor Dawson, FirstBuild product enthusiast and GE Appliances engineer. “By giving anyone and everyone a direct path into the brain of our home appliances, we are endowing them with the ability to reprogram and reimagine the way that their appliances could work. Green Bean is limited only by your creativity and programming skills, and for FirstBuild, it’s a way to create appliances collaboratively with the best minds from around the world, and bring them to market in only a matter of months.”

The SDK, available on github, is a javascript-based toolkit that uses the Node.js platform and operates on Mac, PC and Linux, so you can create apps to run from nearly any computing device – mobile phones, laptops, even mini computers and MicroControllers like the Raspberry Pi.

The Green Bean Module, which retails for $19.95, can be ordered through Firstbuild.com

About FirstBuild
FirstBuild is a new model for designing, building and bringing home appliances to market. A partnership between GE Appliances and Local Motors, FirstBuild brings together an open community of industrial designers, engineers and other innovative minds to collaborate on new product designs that are rapidly brought to life at the FirstBuild Microfactory. For more information on how to get involved, visit FirstBuild.com.