1. LightBridge: Interactive Urban Lighting
Control This! October 20, 2011
Susanne Seitinger, susanne@media.mit.edu
Pol Pla I Conesa, pol@media.mit.edu
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Photo credit: David Sun Kong, www.flickr.com/davidsunkong 1
3. MIT 150th Festival of Art Science
and Technology (FAST)Light
MIT Campus, May 7-8, 2011
18,000 visitors over the weekend.
http://arts.mit.edu/fast/fast-light
4.
5. Harvard Bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_Bridge_postcard_1920ish.jpg
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6. Importance of the Charles River
Earlier campus plans included more direct connections to the river. (Haglund, Karl.
Inventing the Charles River. 2004.)
7. Inaugurating the New Campus 1916
Illustration of the “The Masque of Power” opening ceremony of 1916. The searchlight
was borrowed from a Navy ship and crossed beams with another light on the old
campus in Boston. The show also featured what may have been the first color-
illuminated floor in a performance context. Jarzombek, Mark. 2004. Designing MIT.
8. Inaugurating the New Campus 1916
Impressions from the 1916 Ceremonies
Jarzombek, Mark. 2004. Designing MIT.
9. 150 Years: Celebrating the Movements of Pedestrians in Light
Low-resolution display integrated with sensors to create a dynamic and interactive
public lighting installation
• Explore potential for responsive light infrastructure in the city
• Animate a key pedestrian thoroughfare connecting the cities of Cambridge and Boston
• Respond to the movements of pedestrians only
• Work with low-resolution and subtle animations (4 pixels by 1,500 feet or ca. ¾ of the Mass Ave. Bridge)
• Provide a live web-feed of the animation patterns
• Create ephemeral, short-term installation
Photo credit: Peter Schmitt
10. Sponsorship & Team
Philips ColorKinetics - Jeffrey Cassis , Paul Kennedy, John Warwick
MIT FAST Festival - Tod Machover, Meejin Yoon, Meg Rotzel
Additional support raised from the following groups:
MIT UROP Office - Funding for undergraduate research assistants
MIT Media Lab - Funding for undergraduate research assistants
MIT Council of the Arts - Susan Cohen
Cisco - TJ Costello, Steven Fraser, Mod Marathe, Dave Rossetti
Panasonic - Jean-Claude Junqua, Nick DeGaetano
SparkFun Electronics - Pete Dokter, Nathan Seidle
Team:
Susanne Seitinger & Pol Pla - Fluid Interfaces Group
Russell Cohen, Eugene Sun, Andrew Chen, Dave Lawrence, Daniel Taub, David Xiao
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12. Some Numbers
5,000 feet of CAT5e cable
1,200 feet of fiber optic cable
2,500 feet of power cable
17 network switches
3,240 feet of clear tape for diffuser assembly
6,000 cable ties
9,600 LED nodes
96 PDS power and data supplies
2,400 acrylic tubes
400 proximity sensors
100 Arduino-mini
10 Arduino UNO with Ethernet shields
~80 number of volunteers
∞ work hours!
13.
14. LED (light-emitting diodes) Flex
9,600 low-voltage (7.5V) individually addressable pixels
Please note that these
images are visualizations.
For actual brightness
levels see LED light
specifications.
# of pixels spacing length/ number of total length lens leader node and
pixel strip strips cable cable color
50 4” 16.67’ 86 1433.64’ translucent ~20’ white
dome
50 4” 16.67” 5 Translucent ~20’ black
dome
50 9” 37.5’ 32 1200’ no lens ~20’ white
50 10” 41.67’ 42 1666.8’ clear dome 35’ black
lens
50 12” 50’ 28 1400’ clear and ~20’ black
For more details see: www.colorkinetics.com/ls/rgb/flex translucent
domes 14
15. Diffuser System
Indirect, diffuse light via acrylic tube system on the exterior of railing
Lights become denser towards Cambridge
Boston-side 12” spacing 10” spacing 9” spacing Cambridge 4” spacing
Photo credit: Peter Schmitt
16. Diffuser Workshop
Tested many different
ideas and materials
during January 18, 2011
diffuser workshop
with students and
Philips CK guests
18. Diffuser System
Acrylic tubes (30”) with laser-cut notches for
LEDs, taped together with clear office tape, 4
pixels per tube alternately facing up and down
Photo credit: David Sun Kong, www.flickr.com/davidsunkong
19. Power Requirements and Data Network
• 100 outdoor-rated Philips Color Kinetics Power and Data Supplies
• Avg. Load =
[10,000 FlexSL nodes X 0.5W per node] X 0.5 + [100 PDS-60 X 8.3W] = 3,300 Watts
• With additional electronics used 4x20A Circuits
• each PDS-60 linked via CAT5e cable to a network switch
• 16 network switches for data transmission over Ethernet
• Fiber-optic cable for long home-runs
• PC as a main control station
20. Sensors
400 PIR Sensors in a RS485 Network, 4 per 15-foot Segment
• Enable as many interactive experiences as possible
• Approximate position of pedestrians for interactive games
• Approximate distance of participants from lights
• Integrated with the light control
• PIR proximity sensors (Panasonic)
PIR --3.5’-- PIR --3.5’-- PIR --3.5’-- PIR PIR P
Computer
MCU + RS485 MCU + RS485
Arduino +
Network Ethernet 10x 15’
Switch Shield
21. Sensors
Fabrication and Assembly
• Arduino Uno, Ethernet Shield, RS485 Expansion Shield (left)
• Arduino Mini, RS485 Expansion (right)
• Sensor module, 4 per Arduino Mini connected via ribbon cable
• USB 4-conductor cable for RS485 communication between Arduinos
• Custom protocol designed by Pol Pla (Fluid Interfaces Group)
22. SmootLight: 364.4 smoots + 1 ear = approx. 2,000 ft
1958 hack by LCA fraternity to measure the bridge by placing Oliver Smoot
(he became the chairman of the American National Standards Institute!) end
over end on the Harvard Bridge and painting markers that are refreshed
every year. The unit has been included in the Google calculator.
web.mit.edu/spotlight/smoot-salute/
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www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/150875901/
24. Responsive Railing
LED Lights installed on the exterior of the bridge railing in a 1,500-foot long gradient
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Photo credit: Peter Schmitt
25. Interaction Patterns
abstract patterns to interactive games glowing light to
visualize ambient using simple, low- accompany
urban data, e.g. traffic resolution animations pedestrians as they
like lines cross the bridge
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29. Volunteers
We couldn’t have done it without them…
Photo credit: Bill Fitzpatrick
30. Volunteers
We couldn’t have done it without them…
Philips ColorKinetics - John Warwick, Fernando Matho, Joe Aubin, Emily Augason, Derek Cascio, Jeff Johnson,
Priscilla "Buzzy" McLaughlin, Stephen Lee, Jonathan Levy, Trevor Lorden, Brad Mills, Rob Piccirillo, Jon Seidman,
Max Shaffer, Ben Sweet-Block, Phillip Tripoli, Yan Tran, T.J. Wilcox
MIT Media Lab Necsys and MIT IS&T - Andrew Bonvie, Joe Doherty, John Morgante, Peter Pflanz, Jane Wojcik,
Paula Aguilera
MIT 150th Anniversary Commitee and FAST Festival Organizers - Kelley Brown, Leila Kinney, Tod Machover, Paul
Murphy, Meg Rotzel, Meejin Yoon
MIT Media Lab and MIT Facilities
Kevin Davis, John DiFrancesco, Taya Leary, Andrew Lippman, Pattie Maes, Martin Seymour, Greg Tucker
Annese Electric - Bill Fitzpatrick, Joe Annese
Rosa Aleman, Feroza Ardeshir, Anne Beamish, Turner Bohlen, Liselott Brunnberg, Olimpia Estela Caceres-Brown,
Kuan Cheng, Marcelo Coelho, Matthew Creedican, Gershon Dublon, Mark Feldmeier, MIT East Campus
Undergraduate Housing Communities, Natalie Freed, Nanwei Gong, Mike Higgins, Davey Hunt, Seth Hunter,
Evan Jonhson, Jordan Kauffman, John Kestner, Kurt Keville, Anna Kotova, Emily Lovell, Pattie Maes, David Mellis,
Sohan Mikkilineni, Evan Moore, Bo Morgan, Kunal Mukherjee, Brian Mayton, Angelique Nehmzow, Kendra Pugh,
Adriana Rodriguez-Pliego, John Ruediger, Jim Salem, Peter Schmitt, Roy Shilkrot, Jasper Sims, Praveen
Subramani, Peter Torpey, Jennifer Wang, Natthida Wiwatwicha, Grace Woo
32. 2 Inspiring New Pattern Languages
Image Credit: Franco Vairani
33. Pattern Languages for Urban Form and Light: Then
Lamps with and without light-deflecting
globes, General Electric Review 22,
December 1919.
(Jakle 2001, Figure 5.3)
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34. Pattern Languages for Urban Form and Light: Then
Lighting zones by category of street in a
hypothetical city.
Ward Harrison, O.F. Maas, Kirk M. Reid, (1930). NY:
McGraw-Hill, 122. (Jakle 2001, Fig. 5.7.)
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35. IESNA Guidelines for Outdoor Lighting
Illuminating Engineering Society. (2000) Lighting Handbook. Ch.10, p.10, Figure 10-6. Restaurant
entry/parking lot
36. IESNA Recommended Light Levels for Outdoors (2000)
Selected categories of outdoor space avg. horizontal avg. vertical
illuminance (lux) illuminance (lux)
bikeways (in commercial areas, by roadways) 10 20
bikeways (distant from roadways) 5 5
active-inactive building entrances 50-30 30
floodlit buildings, monuments in dark surroundings 30
floodlit buildings, monuments in bright surroundings n/a 30-100
(light to dark surfaces)
gardens general lighting 5 2
garden pathways 10 3
MIT Rotch Library - Reference Collection | TK4161.I29 2000
37. Pattern Languages for Urban Form and Light: Now
When we are creating projects like
LightBridge the following questions arise:
How do we teach students to do urban
design when we can rearrange and
reprogram infrastructures that respond to
the changing nature of urban life? How do
we design for this urban environment?
(Luminair, www.synthe-fx.com)
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39. “All sense of perspective and of realistic depth is washed away by a nocturnal
sea of electric advertising. Far and near, small (in the foreground) and large
(in the background), soaring aloft and dying away (…) these lights tend to
abolish all sense of real space, finally melting into a single plane of colored
light points and neon lines moving over a surface of black velvet sky.”
(Eisenstein 1942, 1975., p. 98)
40. Responsive City Lighting Pattern Languages
Buildings covered in 3D displays Visions for mobile street lighting, Lyon Ulrike Brandi, Light for Cities
(Philips 1997, p. 17) workshop (Philips 2007, p. 37) (Birkhaeuser 2002)
41. Urban Pixels in the City
Urban Pixels for Milla Digital, Zaragoza, Spain with Franco Vairani, rendering by Franco
Vairani, www.squareddesignlab.com
42. Urban Pixels in the City: How would you control these pixels?
Urban Pixels for Milla Digital, Zaragoza, Spain with Franco Vairani, rendering by Franco
Vairani, www.squareddesignlab.com
Talk about the relationship between urban form and light. My goals are to present some thoughts on the future of urban lighting as it relates the potential for highly programmable and dynamic light sources. This is very informal so please feel free to ask questions, interrupt etc. Also I’m hoping to get some of your feedback on challenges that you’re facing when it comes to dreaming up new products and application ideas.
Harvard Bridge Symbolizes Connection to the Boston Campus of the 1861 Charter
Fig. 6.29, The “classical auraof the Great Court was heightened by the placement of a large statue of Athena in front of the domed main building and by the paved, almost unplanted terraces that stepped down to a boat landing along the water. Automobiles and trees are completely absent from the center of the Esplanade.”
It was then time for one of the most spectacular public events Boston had ever seen – an outdoor performance of “The Masque of Power” with more than 1,000 students and faculty participating. Steam engines blasted out mists that in turn were illuminated by hidden colored high-powered lights lights – all designed by the same firm that created the much-admired night lighting of the Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. p. 90-91As a final good-bye to the old building, one of the searchlights raised its beam into the air until it crossed in the sky with the searchlight on top of Old Rogers. Then slowly the two lights died out, leaving everything in blackness, except for a single shaft of light rising skyward from the new courtyard. p. 91
Leaving the Rogers building at dusk, the procession made its way in silence to the shore of the Charles river where they boarded a lavishly outfitted boat, also designed by Cram. The barge featured Mother Technology holding a torch in one hand. Once onboard, search lights on top of the new MIT buildings trained their beams to the Charles river to illuminate the boat and guide it to the Cambridge shore. They then proceeded to the Grand Court.
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T10 = 1.25” diameterT8 is what we’re using in the end…
Power Requirements and Data NetworkTotal average load ~3,300W, Maximum Capacity 4x20A CircuitsNetwork for data transmission via EthernetAvg. Load = [10,000 FlexSL nodes X 0.5W per node] X 0.5 + [100 PDS-60 X 8.3W]Maximum power requirements 5,830W/120V = 49A16 network switches (10x 8-port, 6x 24-port) for data transmission over Ethernet
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In the 19th century engineers began specifying public lighting in great deal. 5.3: Lamps with and without light-deflecting globes. Shown above are the patterns of light thrown by each lamp. Shown below is the related light intensity measured in foot-candles. On the left the luminance is substantially deflected down on the street, on the right it is not. ….the above diagram shows the patterns of light thrown by each lamp. Light intensity is in foot-candles. Light A deflects more light onto the street. 5.8 (p. 105) Recommended lighting for residential street. Hierarchically ordered. 2,500-10,000 lumens at various heights…1929. Engineering perspective / priority. Quantification Automobile and driver’s needs shaped direction/development.Focused on asking “how much light” should there be?”, rather than “what should the quality of light should there be”?”
The result of this engineering specification was a hierarchical organization of the city which works well…..however…..what happens when you can rearrange, reprogram and respond to the changing nature of urban life? Infrastructures of imageability….Lighting zones by category of street in a hypothetical city. (1930), Ward Harrison, O.F. Maas, Kirk M. Reid, NY: McGraw-Hill, 122. Diagram shows how city streets were characterized by their importance. Busiest and downtown were the brightest…How lighting engineers organized city streets hierarchically, busiest thoroughfares and downtown areas lit at highest intensities. (Jakle 2001, p. 104)
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, http://www.ies.org/ provides “Illuminance Recommendations” organized by visual tasks (orientation and simple, common, special) and seven categories (A public spaces, B simple orientation for short visits, C working spaces, D and so on…)primary focus is still to achieve the best light levels on the surfaces which are supposed to be illuminated, even if the calculations are more complexMost measurement instruments utilize either photodiodes, charge-coupled devices (CCDs) or photomultiplier tubes (PMTs)determining appropriate levels of lighting mixed vehicular and pedestrian areas defined in terms of horizontal illuminance and uniformitydifferent heights for roadway lighting (8-10 m) and pedestrian areas (5-6 m)uniformity: ratio of the minimum illuminance value divided by the average value, e.g. 0.8 for the working area in an office (ibid., p. 93), otherwise called the light distribution on task planeRobert Bean. (2004) Lighting: Interior and Exterior. Oxford, Burlington, MA: Architectural Press, Part 3: Chapter 24, p. 275-280.Or from the thesis in New York IT:Lighting of roadways, sidewalks, avoiding objects and wayfindingSafety of users security against crime and theftHorizontal illuminance: “density of luminous flux falling onto a horizontal surface, measured in lux (lumens per square meter) or footcandles (lumens per square foot), measured 0.91m or 36 inches above the ground at grade outdoorsVertical illuminance: Same thing only on vertical surfaces
The result of this engineering specification was a hierarchical organization of the city which works well…..however…..what happens when you can rearrange, reprogram and respond to the changing nature of urban life? Infrastructures of imageability….
Exciting problem space for painterly approaches to urban display and information systems that fulfill the design criteria listed earlier:flexible placementautonomous powerunboundedvariable resolutionresponsiveThe temporary installation on the theater façade in Scotland begins to demonstrate some of these criteria in action:-- The temporary light installation was spontaneously placed on a theater façade without support infrastructure. The network of pixels enhanced the building leaving no traces behind after its deployment. -- The interactions between changing natural conditions and the lighting units enriched the preprogrammed display patterns significantly. Together, the natural and programmed patterns demonstrated the merits of a painterly approach to deploying points of light in an urban scene that could be explored further. -- The system supports user-deployment as well as larger-scale deployments for many different kinds of temporary applications. -- Visitors to the theater enjoyed interacting with the system and the visual effect it had on the theater. Many more aesthetic and interactional possibilities remain to be explored. More experimentation is required to explore the full potential of these “liberated” infrastructures that blur the boundary between urban displays, ambient information systems and traditional infrastructures such as urban street-lighting, but I hope I’ve convinced you of the exciting potential that this direction proposes.
Strategically deploying light shapes our impressions of a landscape, especially at nighttime, and allows us to do at least two things: First, we can reinterpret urban space using light. Unlike during the daytime when many physical relationships remain fixed, light makes it possible to edit the nighttime landscape. early on photographers realized that they could re-interpret well known urban spaces at night using light strategically For example, Stieglitz writes in the late 1890s: “Such imperfections (like halations) introduced (…) life into nighttime images and recreated what the photographer saw as he exposed the image. This was ‘real picture-making,’ as opposed to a mere topographical view.” (Neumann, D. Architecture of the Night: The Illuminated Building. Presetel, Munich, New York, 2002, p.69)Second, we can use animation, i.e. moving light to impact our sense of spatial relationships.The film maker Eisenstein describes this effect in the following way: “All sense of perspective and of realistic depth is washed away by a nocturnal sea of electric advertising. Far and near, small (in the foreground) and large (in the background), soaring aloft and dying away (…) these lights tend to abolish all sense of real space, finally melting into a single plane of colored light points and neon lines moving over a surface of black velvet sky.” (Eisenstein, S. M. The Film Sense. Jay Leyda, transl. and ed. Harvest Book, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1942, 1975., p. 98)The following examples demonstrate how these abstract, “painterly” strategies can be translated into specific technological interventions.
