by Jason Safir and Martin Ceperley

DESCRIPTION

chromaCubes is an interactive color control panel and game for all ages. The intense colors and the visceral reactions they provoke produce a relaxing and entrancing experience. It can either be in free form input mode, where the user is free to move the knobs around the circumference of the color wheel, or a short challenging game. The object of the game is simple: a sequence of colors appear, and it is your job to turn the knobs, rotating through the color wheel, to recreate the colors. The result is an enjoyable, immersive experience as you watch the glowing colors respond to your touch, and are guided by a computer voice (there is no text on the minimalist interface).

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION

MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGY

Four plastic cubes
Sheets of fog transparency paper
Scotch Tape
Double sided Tape
Tools: drill, saw, rulor, scissors, hammer
Krazy Glue
Wood
Small plastic cube
Four potentiometers
Arduino Microcontroller
Four Controlled RGB Leds (BlinkM)
Push button switch
USB Cord
Arduino
Processing

FUTURE PROTOTYPES AND IMPROVEMENTS

- More advanced color patterns- The boxes can communicate in other ways such as by opening and closing
- LED Timer that is arranged in square shape
- Develop different modes (i.e. game mode, input mode, light reaction from RSS feeds)
- More sounds! Such as when the user turns a knob and when light motion occurs
- Since we are playing with lights and diffusion, the use of a photocell (light sensor) can serve as an interesting input. It can also add another dimension such as by acting as trigger instead of a typical push button switch.
- Develop the user interface process
- Design improvement of the push button switch (i.e. text, logo, a cube blinking button)