ILLUMINATE: An interactive light installation
You walk into your room and the light is on. The only thought that crosses your mind is that the orange glow of the ceiling light is far too dim. You turn on your study lamp and the incandescent light creates an instantaneous spotlight. You adjust its position, allowing it to highlight your space of concentration.
What is light?
We are exposed to the pervasive medium for the majority of our waking hours. It often defines the mood of a setting, yet is often preconceived as a static, background medium. Through a lifetime of constant exposure, our response to it is rather familiar; we depend on it and take its reliability for granted. The Illuminate project was designed as both an exploration of light as well as a challenge to the notion of static light. They wanted to create something that inspires people to be aware of their surrounding spaces and lights.
Led by April Ding and Bryan Ong, the team created an elegant hanging light reminiscent of marine life, including realtime sound sensing LED lights and a beautiful projection of a water structure at the top. They wanted to through the creative manipulation of light that the environments which surround us can have a large impact on our moods.
Concept
With every great product comes an extensive conception process. The original prevalent goal was to explore ways in which people interact with and react to space. They eventually transitioned their focus to a dynamic light installation.
Much of the collective time spent on the project was in the planning stages. They initially wanted the physical design to be based on an animal — the two main contenders were were a jellyfish and an octopus. As a compromise, they chose a flexible theme of “marine life” instead. They settled on a wavy, folding structure as the base.
The importance of responsiveness from the observer was stressed throughout ideation. To do so, they needed a dynamic use of light to complement their structure. “Through our discussions and experimentation, we also realized that light seems to always permeate and illuminate over an area which is hardly ever defined,” said Bryan, “ it spreads out indefinitely and disappears.” They decided to control this nature of light by setting a boundary for it — to do so, they came up with the idea of shining light through water and playing with its projection (seen in image above). They would drip water into a glass bowl, creating a ripple structure seen in the shadowy projection on the floor. This enables a dynamic effect and ambience seldom seen in interior lighting.
Construction
Construction was a relatively small part of the project. A large part of the installation was assembled over the course of one day! The important part was a clear vision and intelligent ideation of the project. From there, the mechanical construction was much easier, as it was just an implementation of their ideas.
Paper
Its asymmetrical folds are representative of a more organic shape. Tissue paper was decided to be used for the material because of its cost efficiency, flexibility, and simple elegance. To add a a more natural ruggedness to the exterior, April and Helen folded several vertical lines in the paper. And to keep form, they lined the outer edges with wire. This way, the structure could be easily shaped and manipulated. They suspended this structure with string on a wooden rod.
Lights
The LED lights were programmed by Meena Nagappan, a first year electrical engineering major. Using an Arduino and breadboard, she was able to program a strip of LED lights to light up music in realtime. The audio must be from an external source — meaning it detects sound from outside speakers, or even your voice. This allowed for visualization of music and sound.
The LEDs gave the installation its character. Because it can respond to any song or sound played in the room, the mood created is essentially a choice of the user. It draws attention to both sound and visuals, making users more aware of their surroundings.
Water
The water structure served as the core of the installation, a cohesive glue binding the wavy form of the paper structure with the responsive blue LED lights.
Project co-lead Bryan Ong played with the refractive properties of water and its effect on the nature of light. The spherical shape of the glass container would serve as a sort of magnifying glass, focusing light onto the ground and controlling it in a defined space.
Initially, the team used a small fishbowl, but switched to a small, globular flask with a more comfortable and fitting size. “We then placed controlled drips inside the globe and when activated, it actually physically change the way we perceive light coming out of it, creating a sort of ripple effect — essentially giving motion and fluidity to the straight and stagnant light which we often take for granted,” said project co-lead Bryan Ong. They attached a strong flashlight to the top of the flask and used a controlled water drip. When the water drips, the projection ripples, drawing attention to not only the physical installation, but also the ground and the space around it.
Conclusion
Illuminate was a big challenge spearheaded by a small group. The final product contained several layers of different structures. Traditionally Creative Labs projects have been very web based. With Demo Day Winter 2018, we saw an exploration of various different mediums, such as a magazine as well as a photography exhibition. Illuminate was a daring physical installation, a first in the history of Creative Labs. Nonetheless, the project turned out to be a beautiful mingling of engineering and art, and was very well received during Demo Day. The audience response during their presentation seem to affirm a unifying sense of awe around their project, affirming the completion of the team’s goal to create an installation with an active impact.
Reflection
Team leads April and Bryan gained invaluable experience leading their first project and encouraging teamwork. The team also learned about the importance of mindful ideation, and that the conception of the project will make its construction much smoother.
The project was initially daunting to the team. April, a fine arts major, had never worked with engineers on a project before. Similarly, Bryan is a civil engineering major and Meena is an electrical engineering major. Helen studies marine biology. The motley small crew was not separated by their differences, but rather brought together by them — they were each able to contribute in different aspects based on their own expertise, making the project unique and beautifully specialized.
Credits
Leads: April Ding, Bryan Ong
Team: Meena Nagappan, Helen Huang
