Maker Faire Rome 2025 Turns Innovation Into a Contact Sport

The global stage for human-centered innovation returns 17–19 October

Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition, promoted and organized by the Rome Chamber of Commerce (a public body in Italy), returns 17–19 October with a human-centered, hands-on program that turns the city into a living lab where technology is built, tested and rebuilt in public. The 2025 edition features more than 380 projects from over 30 countries across robotics, IoT, digital fabrication, accessibility, sustainability and next-gen computing. Attendance is expected to exceed 30,000.

As automation, advanced manufacturing and machine intelligence move from promise to practice, this year’s curation favors understandable, replicable innovation: open schematics, standard parts and documentation you can take home — so ideas can travel from classroom to factory floor.

With the support of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Trade Agency, curated delegations of investors, journalists and institutions will spotlight Rome’s role as a meeting point for applied innovation.

“Maker Faire Rome is a structured, dynamic platform where the creativity and power of ideas become innovation through cross-pollination and dissemination,” said Lorenzo Tagliavanti, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce. “We bring together businesses, schools and communities in co-design, training and matchmaking that turn bright projects into real-world value.”

“Our curation this year emphasizes transparency and usefulness — projects you can understand, rebuild and maintain. Confidence in new tech grows when you can open the box,” said Alessandro Ranellucci, Curator of Maker Faire Rome.

No AI pavilion — because AI is everywhere

While many events create silos for artificial intelligence, Maker Faire Rome integrates it across disciplines. AI isn’t a theme here — it’s a thread. It powers devices that help people who are blind or have low vision navigate, systems that monitor health using vision-based diagnostics, and open-source tools that bring machine learning into classrooms and studios.

Editors’ global highlights

• Life4All (Brazil): AI-assisted organ-transplant logistics to cut fatal delays in the referral chain.
• Build a CubeSat (Switzerland): Classroom kits that turn orbital science into hands-on mission design.
• Plastic Reuse System (Nigeria): Low-cost machines that transform waste into durable goods for local livelihoods.
• Modular RISC-V AI PC (Hong Kong): An open, modular computer that demystifies applied AI for students.
• SIDE Haptic Exoskeleton (Italy): A bi-articular upper-limb exoskeleton that brings force feedback into VR/AR training for confined-space operations — industrial safety with human-factors depth.
• Fare Luce sul Caos (Italy): A photonic “analogue” computer that tackles the traveling salesman problem with lasers and liquid crystals — optimization at light speed.

On-site

Three thematic areas — Innovation, Creativity and Discovery — span robotics and AI, IoT, digital fabrication, agri-food, big data and immersive media. A dedicated Education & Gaming area offers hands-on workshops for all ages, with take-home documentation. Partnerships with universities, research centers, schools and enterprises support technology transfer and open innovation, with matchmaking for investors, start-ups and public administrations.

Robotics & Intelligent Machines: I-RIM 3D 2025 in synergy with Maker Faire Rome

Running alongside Maker Faire Rome at the Gazometro Ostiense, I-RIM 3D 2025 — the seventh edition organised by Italy’s Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Machines — offers a focused platform for researchers, practitioners and companies to present advances in robotics and intelligent systems, and to debate current and future challenges with both national and international perspectives. The program opens with three keynote speakers of international standing: Antonio Bicchi (Professor of Robotics, University of Pisa; President Emeritus of I-RIM), Pietro Valdastri (Professor, Department of Robotics and Autonomous Systems, University of Leeds) and Alessandra Sciutti (Researcher, Italian Institute of Technology), covering AI-enhanced robotics, social and cognitive humanoids, medical robotics and soft robotics for surgery.

Two round tables, produced with Maker Faire Rome, tackle timely themes: “From Curiosity to Application: the funding dilemma in robotics” — on balancing curiosity-driven research with application-oriented programs — and “Do we really need humanoid robots?”, a frank discussion of their role at home and at work. I-RIM 3D also hosts the fourth RoboPitch competition for robotics start-ups from across Italy. On Sunday 19 October, the action culminates in two live challenges: human-aware navigation for mobile robots and human–robot collaborative manipulation for anthropomorphic platforms.

At Intesa Sanpaolo’s stand, visitors can explore real-world human–robot interaction and how robotics can serve social innovation. The bank will present how it supports start-ups and innovative SMEs with targeted finance, business expertise, and investor and technology connections. On Friday 17 October at 15:00, on Civico 30 (the main stage) and via live stream, the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center Robotics Lab will share results from projects — developed with Intesa Sanpaolo per il Sociale — supporting people in vulnerable conditions, from older adults with cognitive decline to adolescents on the autism spectrum, in partnership with universities, healthcare bodies and foundations.

INAIL will showcase high-innovation projects aimed at improving workplace health, safety and quality of life, including solutions from its Department for Technological Innovations and Safety (DIT). Highlights include an eye-tracking for risk perception system that maps visual attention to hazards to inform more effective safety design and messaging; and SIDE, a bi-articular haptic exoskeleton for the upper limb — developed by DIT and Sapienza University of Rome — to enhance training for work in confined or contaminated spaces by reproducing force and contact cues within VR/AR, safely evaluating operator readiness without exposure to real danger.

Humanoids take the field

Since 1997, RoboCup has gathered universities worldwide to compete, from football robotics to domestic service platforms. Sapienza University of Rome’s SPQR Team has competed in the humanoid football league since 1998, developing AI algorithms with applications far beyond the pitch. At MFR2025, SPQR will present a widely recognized humanoid robot in a science-communication showcase. The same model was used at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last August, where only three European nations qualified — Italy, the Netherlands and Germany — all invited to Maker Faire Rome. RoboCup’s long-term moonshot remains: by 2050, a team of autonomous humanoids capable of challenging — and ideally beating — the human world champions.

Agri-food & sustainable innovation

The Agri-food area brings deployable innovation for farms, supply chains and local systems, with Italy’s major research bodies — ENEA, CREA and CNR — alongside universities. Highlights include Demetra / SAVI by ENEA, a prototype aquaponics plant combining aquaculture and hydroponics within a circular bio-economy framework; ReVita by start-up We Are Bi-Rex, a sustainable paper derived from agri-food waste that preserves the visual identity of the source materials; and Smart Move, Smart Food by G&A Engineering, pairing a compact autonomous micro-EV with AMORE, a multi-flavor 3D food printer for personalized nutrition.

Education & Gaming

An expanded Education & Gaming area champions learning by doing with workshops and live science shows for all ages. The Make Lab programme spans cardboard robots, a Drone-Building Workshop, and Minecraft-style maths challenges, while international partners such as AllNet run activities in educational robotics, 3D printing and exploratory science.

CNR at Maker Faire Rome

CNR returns with an institutional space featuring interactive games, computational design, education projects focused on disability and inclusion, physics demonstrations, and AI and tech-transfer showcases. A standout is Lifeshell by CNR-IBE, developed with IED Roma, as part of an ambitious education initiative.

Experiences & exhibits to watch

From social behaviour to hard tech, don’t miss: Virtual Distance, Real Connections (a VR study of personal-space instincts in virtual worlds); Prosthetic Hands: from Design to Closed-Loop Control (3D-printed hands with force sensing and non-invasive haptic feedback); AI-driven diagnostics for skin cancer and breast cancer (MAV d-IA-gnosis); AURA by the University of Trieste (Formula SAE chassis using flax fibre instead of carbon fibre); Not so Cool (an edible stick made from artichoke by-products for a fully plant-based, 3D-printed ice lolly); BIAS & Games (computer vision on discarded scratch cards to spot early signs of gambling addiction); Digidouble.share (a 40-camera instant human scanner for high-fidelity avatars); and Jules Verne 200, a 10-minute VR journey through five classics led by “Little Verne”.

Fashion, creativity and responsible choices

NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) presents a multidisciplinary program blending design, technology, fashion and art, showcasing applied research and practical creativity. Assoutenti stages the eighth Expo Consumatori, bringing together institutions, businesses, schools and associations to promote responsible, sustainable choices — with labs on renewables, financial education and smart energy, plus panels on reuse, energy transition and data protection.

Institutional partners & regional ecosystem

With support from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ICE – Italian Trade Agency, international delegations — investors, journalists and bloggers — are curated to amplify business outcomes. Regione Lazio returns as institutional partner with a 100 sq m space featuring a collective of start-ups and SMEs selected via a dedicated call and supported by PR FESR Lazio 2021–2027, alongside FabLab Lazio and Lazio Innova’s Active Spaces. Showcases include prototypes from programmes such as Faber School Digital Manufacturing and Startupper School Academy, with matchmaking to spark new synergies between local industry and visiting delegations. Orientation sessions will address AI’s impact on professions and current regional funding opportunities.

Roma Capitale contributes through CTE Roma (the House of Emerging Technologies) with an interactive stand of start-ups and accelerator demos; Tecnopolo Roma presents companies from the Castel Romano and Tiburtino hubs along with R.O.M.E. DIGITAL HUB, part of the European Digital Innovation Hub network, helping enterprises trial and adopt AI and advanced digital skills. Fondazione Rome Technopole showcases projects from digital health to renewable energy and environmental sustainability, while CNA hosts the conference “Small firms, big tools: how to use AI today” on Saturday 18 October.

Debuting this year, Selfiestreet turns photos into a shared, participatory experience on a giant interactive screen via a simple app. IED Roma presents earthquake-resistant furniture — tables, beds, wardrobes, desks and school benches — that transform into protective shelters, proving innovation is also physical, practical and human-centred.

Competitions 2025

Three contests spotlight standout projects: Make it Circular, promoting the Charter of Circular Consumption and the values of reuse, repair and co-design; STEAM in Minecraft, run with Maker Camp in collaboration with ASviS, Arduino and AIV, engaging Italian schools on AI as a tool for a greener, more inclusive society (122 projects, 264 classes); and Top of the PID 2025 (Unioncamere), awarding four projects across agri-food, manufacturing, tourism and services for innovative uses of AI and Industry 4.0. Winners will be announced on 17 October at the Gazometro and streamed live.

Organization & partners

Now in its thirteenth year, Maker Faire Rome is promoted and organised by the Rome Chamber of Commerce through its special agency Innova Camera, with curation by Alessandro Ranellucci and a specialised area team. The 2025 edition is supported by Roma Capitale and partners including INAIL, InfoCamere, Dintec – Unioncamere, PID, Si.Camera, Rome Technopole, Tecnopolo Roma and CNA. Sponsors — national and international — make the event possible and amplify its content offering. Eni is confirmed as Main Partner for the eleventh consecutive year; Arduino, DigiKey, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, Maire, STMicroelectronics and Unidata are Gold Partners.

Stay tuned: www.makerfairerome.eu • #MFR2025

Facebook: @MakerFaireRome • X/Twitter: @MakerFaireRome • Instagram: @MakerFaireRome

Press office — Rome Chamber of Commerce: +39 06 678 1178