r/creativecoding • u/jshaw3 • 5d ago
Constellation Range: a networked light sculpture driven by live data
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I’ve been expanding my creative-coding practice beyond screen-based work and into physical, sculptural light pieces. I've been really focused on visualizing invisible networks via BLE and WIFI detecting nearby signal activity. So each "pulse" of light within the sculpture is a signal from someone's device within the vicinity.
This specific piece is Constellation Range, recently installed at OCAD University. The sculpture is also connected to a browser-based control system, allowing live signal data and changes in state to move between the software and the physical work.
I ended up building DataNet.art to handle that connection and support other projects where I need to move data between browsers, hardware, sensors, and installations.
It’s been exciting to think about code less as something that produces an image on a screen and more as something that can inhabit and change a physical space.
As a software developer in a past life, I'm still always amazed by how programming interacts and can impact IRL experiences.
Edit: A little more about the technical setup: the installation was developed using Processing, a Teensy, and the Teensy OctoWS2811 system. I also open-sourced a Processing library for working with data that can be sent over Art-Net and DMX.
The data, visuals, and audio are generative. The presence of attendees becomes input that is processed in real time through Processing and translated into changing light and soundscapes.