I once again showed the interactive laser project at Mindshare LA at Lot613 in Downtown Los Angeles.

This time it was contained inside the 6 foot tall Obelisk I constructed for DANCEiSM, with a new twist.

I added LED’s in the tip of the metal pyramid that houses the laser so that the obelisk is visible even if no one is interacting with it. The lights are white if no one is around but once but the camera finds someone the lights turn red instead. I cut up a broken piece of plastic from a ceiling light fixture to act as a light diffuser.

The LED’s are controlled by an Arduino receiving messages over serial from the camera program running on my laptop.

Here are more photos of the event:

The organizers of DANCEiSM invited me to bring the interactive laser project to their show on Friday September 4th. It was held at Lot 613, a warehouse / event complex in downtown Los Angeles.

They requested that I enclose the laser in an ‘abstract geometric shape’ to fit with their aesthetic direction. This was also a good way to ensure the laser and computer were protected from the crowd.

I chose to build a pyramid / obelisk that would get the camera and laser high enough off the ground but still be stable and not liable to fall over. The obelisk was made mostly of wood but the top is made of aluminum flashing and rivets.

I also added Infrared (IR) LEDs which allows the camera to ’see in the dark’. This way I do not need to rely on bright lighting for the camera to get a good picture. I also had to get a special camera lens that does not have an IR-blocking coating for maximum IR sensitivity. IR light is not visible to human eyes but shows up purple on digital cameras.

The event went well and over 900 attendees had fun dancing at two DJ stages and playing with the interactive laser and body paint.

See below for pictures of the build process and the event!