

Bay Lights Project turns SF Bay Bridge into a ‘big-ass display’ - cwilson
http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/05/bay-lights-project-turns-sf-bay-bridge-into-a-big-ass-display/

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scottoller
It's quite a sight to see. I love it. Although it doesn't officially start
until this evening, they've been testing it every night. Here's a short
timelapse that I shot of the bridge during one of the tests:
<https://vimeo.com/60966438>

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kapilkale
I might have misread the article, but it seems like the artist will be
controlling the display.

It'd be cool if they built an API over this and allowed for crowdsourced
displays, almost like how Google accepts designs for their homepage logo.

~~~
ChuckMcM
That would be seriously fun but a bit dicey. Looking at the LED 'pixel' it
looks like it could have easily been an RGB pixel. Not sure that would be all
that useful but still to have the colors would have been another dimension.
With 9 LEDs you could either go 3-3-3 or 2-2-5 in terms of using Red, Green,
and Blue LEDs to light it up. Or RGBK with 2-2-2-3. Lots of fun.

I've been watching the setups as the local newscast keeps their web cam
pointed at the bridge for their nightly news. I hope it generates enough
interest to become permanent.

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wheels
Hmm, kind of sad that there's no mention of it's forerunner, the Blinkenlights
project:

<http://blinkenlights.net/project>

It was done by a handful of folks (mostly CCC members) and included an API and
the ability to play pong on it via cell phone. The 2002 follow-up was higher
resolution:

<http://blinkenlights.net/arcade>

~~~
cwzwarich
The Blinkenlights project doesn't seem to mention its forerunners either:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwNQqePk8Kg>
<http://bastilleweb.techhouse.org>

I wonder who was the first to do this.

~~~
mos2
Marcel Duchamp, Rotary Glass Plates [Precision Optics] (formerly Revolving
Glass Machine), 1920 Painted glass and iron with electric motor 65 1/4 x 62 x
38 inches Collection of Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Collection
Société Anonyme

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cwilson
"The world’s largest LED light sculpture will light up San Francisco tonight:
1.8 miles long, 500 feet high, and consisting of 25,000 individually
programmed lights tied onto the entire length of the Bay Bridge’s western
span..."

This is going to be pretty incredible.

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cwilson
Full article (it's 2 pages and the pagination isn't the most obvious):
[http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/05/bay-lights-project-
turns-s...](http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/05/bay-lights-project-turns-sf-bay-
bridge-into-a-big-ass-display/view-all/)

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jeremyrwelch
Leo Villareal, the creator of this project, is one of my favorite artists
because he is a geek like us. He builds and codes all of his light
installations himself (at least to date he has).

My favorite piece is this large floor-to-ceiling gallery installation:
<http://youtu.be/IhKshdYr5rE?t=34s>

There were 5 or 6 Mac minis mounted at the top of the installation driving the
light changes.

Additionally the gallery rep explained that Villareal programmed the light
change combinations to be random (pseudorandom -- she wasn't a geek), and will
never repeat within our lifetimes. I expect the same is true of the bridge
installation.

~~~
jeremyrwelch
Here's another video with Leo explaining details of how/why he builds:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplsGiSmnJI>

Discusses writing software around the 1:50 mark.

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spikels
Is there anyway we can get the lights turned back on the Golden Gate Bridge?
They turned them off a long time ago to save money or the environment or
something. I can remember how cool it used to look.

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Fundlab
I am very interested in learning how to do this. Can anyone point me to some
information; tutorial on how or where to start?

~~~
rdouble
[http://createdigitalmotion.com/2012/09/shine-an-led-wall-
loo...](http://createdigitalmotion.com/2012/09/shine-an-led-wall-looks-great-
tours-easily-and-you-can-build-it-open-source-hardware/)

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bduerst
I thought it already launched - the bay bridge has been lighting up for past
few weeks.

~~~
scottoller
They've been testing and calibrating. Tonight is the grand launch.

~~~
catch23
is it a permanent install?

~~~
joshmlewis
If you read the article it was a "temporary" but probably at least long-term
install. There was an issue with calling it permanent. But read the article,
it talks about it. :)

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seldo
Obligatory reference explaining why I read this as "big ass-display":
<http://xkcd.com/37/>

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sliverstorm
How long until it becomes a billboard, though?

~~~
jeremyrwelch
never. I know your comment was a joke, but this dude Villareal takes his work
very seriously and I want to convey 1) that he is legit and 2) that all of my
fellow HN readers should be following his work beyond just this bridge.

