Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

	Cool, our interactive LED coffee tables got a mention in the October issue of Popular Science!
What's an interactive LED coffee table? (Funny you should ask....) It's a coffee table that has hundreds of LEDs in the top surface that respond to motion above the table. We have (finally) put together a movie to give you a better idea of how they respond to their environment. You can see the movie on YouTube or watch it embedded: The complete tables are for sale from Because We Can, our partners in design on this project. There are presently two models, The Ripple (left) and The Wave (right):

Since we first showed these off, we have had a lot of inquiries about how you can make your own table like this. We are now producing (very large) electronic soldering kits so that you indeed can make your own. Our kits include the giant printed circuit boards, components, instructions, LEDs, and all other parts needed to build the electronic portion of the table tops. Constructed, you end up with what essentially amounts to a single extra-ginormous circuit board that can sit underneath the clear or frosted glass (or plastic) top of your own table. Interesting in getting a kit? Click here to read the details! (Revised 11/16/2007).

Contributed by: Windell on Wednesday, September 26 2007 @ 08:16 PM PDT, in EMSL Projects
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19 comments

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Authored by: Creech on Wednesday, September 26 2007 @ 08:46 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

It's nice to see the tables in action. I have been curious as to how they look while operating. Nice work, Windell.

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- Creech

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: Windell on Wednesday, September 26 2007 @ 08:54 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

It's very, very hard to record the action of the tables in a way that reflects your eye's experience. The chief problem is one of dynamic range; our eyes can see things over a much wider range than the CCD can. I'm still profoundly unsatisfied with how the tables come across in the video... Up until now I've been debating whether it was better to post this or to post nothing at all. It's a tough call. We lose subtlety, responsiveness, and color definition. It's a tough call indeed.

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Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, September 27 2007 @ 10:24 AM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Wow! This is an awesome! I think it would be super cool to put this in a storefront window and let people play with it at night. - Bre

Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, September 29 2007 @ 04:53 AM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

this would be a good beer pong table

Authored by: Patti on Wednesday, September 26 2007 @ 09:18 PM PDT Ripple vs Wave

I've coveted these forever, but we had a coffee table, and they were too expensive. We've found a home for our coffee table, so now I'm rethinking. Is size the only difference between the Ripple and the Wave - not the behaviour? (I feel like I'm discussing condoms, for some reason)

Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, September 27 2007 @ 12:41 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

would this work mounted on a wall?

Authored by: Windell on Thursday, September 27 2007 @ 12:47 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

The panels would work very well as a wall display-- I probably should have mentioned that as a good application. The only thing to be careful about is to make sure that they are securely attached to a sturdy surface; the board-to-board connections do not provide mechanical strength.

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Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 04 2007 @ 08:26 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Your coffee'd fall off...

Authored by: Windell on Thursday, October 04 2007 @ 08:29 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Bravo!

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Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, September 27 2007 @ 12:53 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Silly question, but have you tested this with frosted glass? While the PCBs are gorgeous, the wife doesn't share my geek aesthetic :)

Authored by: Windell on Thursday, September 27 2007 @ 01:08 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Yes, it looks better (IMHO as well) with frosted glass; it just tends to be damned expensive, that's all. ;)

The tables that BWC sells are available with a sanded plastic top as a standard option; that works very well. The picture of the "ripple" table lit up with a martini glass on top has that surface-- you can see some pictures of how that looks here.

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Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, October 05 2007 @ 05:25 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Use LEDs as your photo diodes, then use a diffusing finish, or sandblast some design into the glass and you have something a bit cooler.

Jeff Han's LED sensor

Paper on LEDs as Diodes

Authored by: Windell on Friday, October 05 2007 @ 05:31 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Our current sensors are visible-blocking IR phototransistors that enable the active IR sensing so that the tables still work in the dark. They aren't expensive.

We already have frosted tops as a standard option on our tables-- and if you use a kit, you can use whatever design you want on the surface.

---
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, October 28 2007 @ 01:20 AM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

hey man nice job on this. I do plan to buy this myself but do u have to use it just for a coffee table or can it be sumthing else

Authored by: Windell on Sunday, October 28 2007 @ 03:16 AM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

It would look good as wall art. Some differences in how you might want to mount it, but that's it.

---
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, November 26 2007 @ 02:24 AM PST Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

----------------------> MUST SEE:

Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, April 18 2008 @ 08:25 PM PDT Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits!

Would make a cool wall...

Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, November 23 2008 @ 11:47 AM PST Cube Mounting and Organic Layout

Two quick questions:

Are the edge connectors okay (electrically) if you join them cube-wise? This reminded me of AdaFruit's Conway Life boards, which can be bussed into a cube. http://www.ladyada.net/images/conway/cubetest2_t.jpg (I can work out the connectors if the circuit doesn't mind this arrangement.)

It would also be neat to arrange the lights on each panel in a slightly less boxy, more organic way. Like the arrangement pattern of the yellow "20" symbols on the back of a 20 dollar bill. Or make a hexagonal PCB for your next design...

Authored by: Windell on Sunday, November 23 2008 @ 12:15 PM PST Cube Mounting and Organic Layout

They can be electrically connected in a cube. Mechanically, that might be a bit of a challenge.

As far as the LED arrangement goes, we initially had them in a somewhat scattered pattern that did not look like a grid. And people kept asking why we didn't make them in a grid. So we changed them to a grid. And now people keep asking why we put them in a grid. Go figure.

---
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

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