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| WildLight | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Robert Faludi Megan MacMurray |
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| Instructor: | Fitzgerald, Scott Igoe, Tom |
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| Class: | Introduction to Physical Computing Introduction to Physical Computing |
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| URL: | http://itp.faludi.com/wildlight | |
| Documents: | WildLight(JPEG) | |
| Keywords: | physical computing, interior, spatial design, Internet, networking | |
| WildLight brings nature's untamed light to windowless interiors. | ||
| A real-time sunlight sensor that brings the levels, color and non-linear temporal dynamics of natural light into formerly dark, windowless urban dwellings. The project uses Internet-based sensors to sample remote locations, and a subtle display that evokes organic luminance. | ||
| Background: | Many modern people live or work in windowless spaces that are only illuminated with artificial light of a constant brightness and color. This style of lighting provides neither information about the outside world, or any connection with its natural rhythms and periodic fluctuations. It is common for people who work in windowless spaces to venture outside at the end of a workday to discover that they were unaware of a torrential day-long rainstorm. | |
| Audience: | WildLight can provide a window into the natural world for anyone who lives or works in a windowless space. It can also alter the feeling of windowless parts of a home, office or medical facility by providing a connection back to the natural world. | |
| User Scenario: | The WildLight's owner simply hangs the display unit on the wall and connects the power and network cables. If the WildLight is used with a wireless network, then only power is required. Once connected, the display will begin reproducing the level and color of light supplied by the remote sensor. WildLight will therefore produce warmer tones around sunrise and sunset, and a brighter display on sunny days than cloudy ones. Because the light is reproduced in real time, passing clouds may temporarily dim the display, creating an organic reproduction of natural lighting. | |
| Technical System Description: | WildLight features two basic components--a sensor and display--connected via the Internet. The remote light sensor module detects ambient lighting conditions and transmits them from anywhere in the world over any Internet connection to the WildLight display, which reproduces both the color and brightness of the lighting conditions at the sensor. Because WildLight uses the Internet, it is possible for it to reproduce lighting from outside, down the street or on the other side of the planet. | |
| Project References, Research and Literature: | WildLight was inspired, in part by a window project created by Andrew Schneider and Ed Purver. Technical advice and assistance from Tom Igoe, Scott Fitzgerald, Nancy Lewis and Todd Holoubeck along with insightful comments from many ITP students were central to WildLight's creation. | |