

Show HN: Audio-Responsive, Hackable LED Light - neltnerb
http://blog.saikoled.com/post/45813531743/saikoled-myki-led-light-funding-campaign-launch

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neya
Thank you so much for building this and thank you so much for building this on
Open hardware. I can already see a lot of use-cases for this - For example
commercial complexes like expensive theaters and 5-star lounges where many
people visit everyday. You have your own niche, please don't listen to any of
the negative comments (like how this would improve this your life, etc.) It
certainly has its place and it would be great if you could drop in your skype,
I'd love to have a chat about this (Packaging, Target audience, Marketing,
etc)

Cheers, Neya

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jfoxdreamart
The lights are finally here! How exciting, Brian and Dan. As a visual artist,
I've seen first-hand the awesome effects the lights can deliver when viewing
artwork. Combining those effects with programmable and responsive audio
control is a fantastic next step. The ability for users to program the lights
will allow them to enhance creativity in their visual, art, and audio
projects.

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glasser
I saw some of these installed at Burning Man last year. They looked great! If
I had time to play with blinky lights this would totally be my first choice.

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at81
This product looks fantastic, congratulations on creating the product and good
luck on the production/marketing phase. One question that comes to mind is
does it only respond to specific audio frequencies? Like how does it
differentiate between someone talking, versus music playing?

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neltnerb
So this is fairly up to the user, actually. There are several implementations
of a FFT like algorithm that run on the Arduino, so any of those should be
usable to get frequency data. It's also of course possible to do something
like wavelet analysis to pick out more complex patterns. For my example I just
did a simple envelope follower with beat detection and a rotating hue, but
that's just because I'm (personally) not a great programmer. I think that the
right person could make this way, way better than I could on my own =) I see
this as one of the great strengths of doing this open source, we can build it
together instead of each keeping our secrets like the "big fish".

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kordless
I realize you are trying to show off the product in the video, but the
lighting on you guys in the video could be a bit less distracting. Still, I
absolutely love the idea of a big bright multicolored LED I can control! Good
stuff!

~~~
dmt
i totally agree kordless, more mykis set up in white mode would have been good
front lighting :)

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nitrogen
Would there be any chance of getting early access to a developer version,
maybe on loan? I'd like to add support for these to my automation equipment
(see my profile for a link).

~~~
dmt
cool stuff. we may be running another contest soon, focused on the west coast
to give away prototypes. sign up for our announcement list or email us via the
website.

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wiradikusuma
Can anyone please explain what is this in plain English? (or rather: for
programmers who don't understand hardware but think this is cool)

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dmt
OK> It's a light that you can program over USB using the Arduino IDE. There is
already a library/api in development so you can say
"light.rgbSend(0x8000,0,0,0xFFFF);" and it will create bright white with half-
on red (notice the 16-bit color resolution--not just 0-255).

The microphone input will have software frequency binning so you can--say--
trigger green whenever you hear a bass drum in the music.

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jtsauls
Very slick. Though I'm unfamiliar with the space... you say this is cheap,
what would a comparable component cost?

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neltnerb
LED strand lighting is in the $30-40 range, but has no controller or power
supply. Professional grade equipment is in the $300 range. There's a range in
between, but for context, the LED itself is a $10 part.

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libian
This might be tangential, but the project reminds me of
<http://www.truonex.com/afro/wristwave>

Imagine walking into a party where everyone's clothes are reacting in
different patterns according to the music!

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dmt
Hey does anyone have any ideas for integrating these into a computer science
curriculum?

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at81
The description says that it is "hackable," so in that sense I'm sure you
would be able to play with the coding and program in specific color patterns,
or play with the timing?

~~~
dmt
Correct. There are a ton of examples already and it's programmable like any
Arduino is. What I'm wondering about is what the curriculum goals are in
different districts.

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bcourter
I have one of these guys' previous gen devices and it is awesome. Super bright
and a very flexible board.

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hp50g
Honestly, how would spending $79 on this improve my life?

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dmt
Depends on if you're an artist, or hacker. It greatly simplifies the process
of making high-powered LEDs that respond to music. Also, if you buy ~10 you'll
be helping a student somewhere because when these are made, a portion are
being given away to schools.

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hp50g
That actually entirely avoided the question I asked.

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neltnerb
A better question would be: Why spend money on anything other than cancer
research?

Let's answer that question instead. Because it's obviously at all relevant.

