Tag Archives: lights

This chandelier made of 15,000 feet of fiber optics is ALIVE

Design, Images, , , , , , ,

This unique chandelier constructed by MadLab is called Bacterioptica.  It was designed specifically for an extended family household that includes two parents, three children, a dog, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Bacterioptica was imagined “to synchronize with the life” of this large household in a rather bizarre manner.  Besides being composed of 15,000 feet of fiber optics, the chandelier is a literal “household organism” in that it also contains an assembly of metal rods and glass petri dishes with bacteria living inside.  The idea is that this extravagant piece of lighting represents another living, breathing member of the family.  See?  Bizarre.  Different sized petri dishes can be swapped out, the light intensity can be adjusted, and the fiber optic feeds can be rerouted to make for an infinately customizable light fixture.  I am left pondering this question: Is there a real life Addams Family?  Because only a family as other-worldly as them would allow for a science experiment such as this to hang high and mighty above a dining room table upon which food is consumed.

[Via Gizmodo; MocoLoco; MadLab]

Discover new music: LIGHTS

Music, Video, , , , ,

Are you a fan of Owl City (aka Adam Young)?  If so, you will enjoy LIGHTS.  To put it another way, if Adam Young was reincarnated as a girl, he’d be LIGHTS.  Somehow, someway Young discovered LIGHTS, added her to his Spring Tour 2010 lineup, and she’s gained in popularity ever since.

Born Valerie Anne Poxleitner, LIGHTS legally changed her name to Lights Valerie Poxleitner and started her music career back in 2002.  She’s a 22-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter and has that same synth-pop vibe that Young so expressively gives off in his music.  She says her influences include Björk, Phil Collins, and ABBA.  She’s known to cover other artists like Coldplay, Architects, and Collins.

In 2008 she came out with her debut six-track EP called LIGHTS.  “Ice,” “Drive My Soul,” and “February Air” have music video counterparts, and they’re each embedded after the break.  One year later she released a second EP called Saviour.  It includes 4 tracks; two of them are remixes to the song “Saviour.”  That track also has a music video.  In 2009 she finally dropped her first album, The Listening.  The 16 track album contains mostly a combination of songs from the two EPs, plus a few new selections.  Later that year she dropped a third EP; The Ice Pack contains the album version plus six remixes of the song.

And that brings us to today.  Having met her musical soulmate in Adam Young while on tour with Owl City, what better way to celebrate their uniting than with a collaboration?  Yesterday her fourth EP found its way to iTunes; this version of Saviour includes the original track plus an Adam Young remix and a new music video to go along with it.  Listen to “Saviour (Adam Young remix)” below and check out the music video for it (and the others) after the break.

[audio: LIGHTS – Saviour (Adam Young Remix).mp3]

So, what do you think?  Does this world long for a female counterpart to Owl City?  I think it does.

Continue reading Discover new music: LIGHTS →

World’s largest revolving Christmas star

Design, environment, Images, Technology, Video, , , , , ,

Developed by Siemens and Munich multimedia artist Michael Pendry, this wind turbine-turned-Christmas “SuperStar” is made up of 9,000 spinning LED lights.  Each blade holds 3,000 LED lights and when it rotates the lights bright up the night’s sky.  The overarching reason this was made for the holiday season is because it promotes eco-friendliness.  The LEDs emit the equivalent of 22,000 candles and the structure uses as much energy as a hairdryer!  It sits in Munich until January 6.  Check out additional images of this glowing wonder in the gallery below; long exposure photography was used to capture the spinning blades at a colorful standstill.  Also, peek after the break for a video of the star’s construction and to see it in action.

[Via Gizmodo; Inhabitat]

Continue reading World’s largest revolving Christmas star →

“Christmas Light Hero”

Technology, Video, , , ,

Ex-Disney imagineer Ric Turner has created quite the holiday delight: a fusion between Guitar Hero and Christmas light decorations.  How does it all work?  Read on to find out:

Christmas Light Hero is using 7 light controllers from Light-O-Rama built from kits to control 21,268 lights and LEDs. Each controller has 16 outputs and 2-3 TTL level control inputs that are used by the game system to fire different programmed light sequences depending on what happens in the game. It relies on the fact that the game sequence is very consistent. If the game and the lighting sequences start together, they will stay in very good sync through the length of the song. The light program allows branching and overlays for fail, star power and “ready.” I have some ideas to automate the initial show/game sync, but for now you have to push doorbell buttons at the right moments.

Though this must have taken so much time to complete the final product is very impressive and looks like a lot of fun.  And Turner, good song choice!

[Via Gizmodo; MAKE]

The dervish lamp

Art, Images, Style, , ,

Created by Philippe Malouin Design.

While borrowing a friend’s car for the day, I decided to have it washed to show my gratitude. I pulled into an automated carwash, and while inside, I couldn’t help but notice how the carwash brushes completely alter their shape from flimsy drooping hair covered rods to massive powerful beams. Could this quality of transformation be applied to the home sector? Where would a transforming apparatus find use in the home?

The carwash brushes go from limp, to cones, to beams. A lamp could use this whimsical feature to direct light, from a tube of light to a cone, to an open light source. The contraption, with its spinning, would produce a rather considerable amount of wind. Ceiling fans have not changed in the slightest ever since their introduction. Apart from finishes and rotation speed, they have always remained rather dull.

By morphing the ever-changing carwash brushes with a ceiling fan, a new product is achieved and completely redefines ceiling fans. The piece is called Dervish, its spinning qualities remind one of the Turkish spinning dancers going in a trance.

[Via Gizmodo; Philippe Malouin Deisgn]