Categories: concepts, design, graduate school, learning, physical interactive media

Project: ILI: Interactive Light Installation
In my Physical Games and Interactive Media course, our group (Ashley Engelhardt, Jordan Fugate, and myself) had a full day of studio time to work on this project. Our project is a wall-mounted interactive light installation that visualizes users movements. As people engage with the installation, sensors will detect their proximity and change the light patterns. A series of tri-color LEDs will be mounted in a grid, each LED housed inside a semi-transparent casing. Infrared proximity sensors will be placed inside the grid, one for each column of LEDs. Using an Arduino Duemilanove board and Arduino software, the LEDs will be programmed to change color when someone is within a determined range of any of the infrared proximity sensors.

Project Schematics

The proximity sensors will detect multiple ranges; for example, an individual viewing the piece within a range of 20 ft. will see the LED colors configured in a certain pattern, but that pattern will change within a range of 15 ft., change within 10ft., and so on. Having multiple proximity sensors will also allow for multiple viewers to interact with the piece together, perhaps even cooperatively.

Materials
Arduino Duemilanove board, 9 5mm superbright tri-color LEDs, 3 ultrasonic proximity sensors, 1k-Ohm resistors, jumper wires, power supply, wood, nails, screws, textured plexiglas sheet.

Design Proposal
We presented our design proposal to the class and got some good feedback. The feedback we received actually made our project more technically complex. Suggestions consisted of experimenting with different shapes, avoiding predictable experiences, thinking about extensions of play, and adding interactions such as sonification. Though we appreciate the critique and suggestions, we see this project as experimental and foresee it to organically shape as we progress each week. We have only three weeks to build this project. If time permits, we might incorporate sound.

Last Wednesday, our group reached a milestone. Ashley figured out how to control the individual colors on a bi-color LED using an infrared proximity sensor. We’re hoping we can test this out on a superbright tri-color LED this week.