Light Follower - Testing 3D drawing with light

Light Follower is an interactive installation in which the audience generate their own light drawings in three dimensional space. A beautiful light show is created in the overhead canopy and the character of the piece evolves over time with user interaction. The emergent space has a celestial atmosphere and the audience can find a meditative interaction with the system after a period of time.

Method

This is a modular system and each LED is completely independent, rigged with its own bespoke sensing unit. External light sources (such as torches) trigger a response in the sensor that tells the LED to light up and to stay illuminated for a prescribed period of time. Hanging hundreds of these units across a space creates a canvas of pixels on which the audience can draw. The system is scalable and flexible so that it can be set up in a range of locations.

A version of Light Follower was shown at University College London in March 2018. Special thanks to the Bartlett School of Architecture and members of the Interactive Architecture Lab.