ALICE

Share your feelings through light

ALICE (Ambient Light Interface for Communication Enhancement) is an invention that explores a new way of sharing emotions between friends and loved ones. The device aims to explore ways in which patterns and colors can help humans express a message with more emotional clarity and with less intrusion than the one generated with normal phone notifications, alerts and screens. A user has a set of predetermined messages that can be sent to the tangible interface from a smart phone and the device will showcase light animations with different color tones and frequencies, displaying the message when it is activated by the proximity of the receiving user. This ambient communication device is meant to add a layer of emotion that is impossible to obtain with standard methods of communication built into today’s devices.

The device is based on an ESP8266 WiFi micro-controller that allows users to control their device through a smart phone. The control dashboard and internet connectivity are based on Blynk's development cloud. During operation, the Arduino Nano receives signals directly from the NodeMCU and controls the lighting functions for each signal received as well as monitoring the infrared sensor that is used to activate the device by receiving users.

Electronic Integration

Control Interface

For the first prototype of the device, messages to the lamp are sent via a smartphone App in which you can decide the colors and patterns that you want to show as well as the meaning of each color animation. The App interface was built to experiment with the feelings generated on the users in the receiving end. Future improvements will include the addition of ways in which you can send messages using the lamp instead of your phone as well as moments of live interaction between multiple lamps.

Credits & Acknowledgements

Alice Lara (Inspiration)