The Galileo board is both Linux-based and Arduino-compatible, providing our developers with the opportunity to play with advanced tools created by the Linux community and electronics components and shields from the Maker community. It also offers enough processing power to make innovation accessible to engineers and non-engineers alike, a product ideally suited for professional tinkerers as well as novices.

We needed to create a prototype that would engage visitors to the Maker Faire Rome 2013 and encourage and inspire them to build something similar themselves. We found inspiration for our concept in “Real Fast Draw” and “Infinite Creativity”, two of our previous projects exploring the vast potential of collaborative canvases, but this innovation was something brand new.

The prototype, called Lyt, is an interactive, collaborative lighting fixture that users can control with their mobile device. It allows individuals and groups to paint their space with color and movement, creating a beautiful, unique, and hypnotic effect. Connecting to the fixture via WiFi, they use a web interface on their mobile device to draw on the fixture, control its intensity, and adjust the character of the light in their environment. The effect is visually and experientially memorable, empowering users to interact with their surroundings in a unique way.

The prototype is intended to inspire Makers to create interactive ambient lighting fixtures themselves. We have open-sourced the code and build instructions for the project through GitHub, encouraging anyone interested to try their hand at building their own lighting solution.

In developing the project, we used openFrameworks, HTML5, WebSockets, CSS, and Arduino. Hardware-wise we kept things simple, using Intel Galileo development boards and RGB LEDs.

Our end goal for the project was to demo a prototype at Maker Faire Rome 2013 that showcased the capabilities of the Intel Galileo development board, and the client was very pleased with the outcome, particularly given the tight timeline.

Lyt beautifully highlights one of the many ways in which consumers can connect with and enjoy enhanced control over their environment: through digitally enabled furnishings (in this case, lighting). There is no scope for further development of the project at this time, but, as a studio, we are exploring the seemingly limitless potential of responsive environments to satisfy needs and empower people to interact with their surroundings and with one another. Lyt has proven a terrific jumping off point for further adventures in Making in our lab, and we’re excited to see where we can take it next.