Lightwall Project- The Pinwheel

Once we were reading the varying levels of input through the Arduino when blowing on the pinwheel with varying amounts of force, we set several value thresholds that would trigger events of different intensities on the lightwall. Practically, this meant that lighter "blows" created smaller "sweep" on the lightwall and stronger blows created bigger sweeps followed by "explosions" of light.

After witnessing the dynamic effect blowing on the pinwheel had on the lightwall display, we decided it might be a fun way for children to learn about wind power and electricity generation. With this new focus, we planned a crafting activity around constructing, coloring, and installing pinwheels to the motor/arduino setup on the lightwall giving children the chance to make their pinwheels spin with their breath and watch the lights sweep across the wall...

When we took our project into "the wild" and wrangled some children to interact with the pinwheel at the library, we ran into a couple unforeseen difficulties: 1) part of the wall is only visible from any one location, diminishing the overall "sweeping" effect and 2) children are as easily distracted as they are impressed, so if you want to hold their attention for any length of time, you must focus on making their initial interaction with your concept very engaging.

This project offered an opportunity to practice and enhance our physical fabrication sills, technical skills working with Arduino and Processing, as well as working with eternal APIs. Furthermore, the opportunity to engage directly with the public made it especially meaningful.