Ford: Interactive Lightwall

Touchdesigner, OSC, DMX, Arduino

Touchdesigner is a node-based programming environment that provides built-in optimizations for video switching and manipulating video in real-time.

For Ford's FordHub exhibition located at the Oculus in NYC, Radical Media was asked to build a massive custom screen. Built out of almost 6,000 toy cars outfitted with LEDs, the screen ran a series of dynamic animations that reacted to user movement. 

Lightwall

The FordHub Lightwall is essentially a low-fi LED screen. Around its base are a set of Doppler and IR sensors that measure the location and amount of movement in front of the screen. These measurements are read into the Touchdesigner program and used to manipulate the current animation in real-time. As the amount of movement in the room increases, the animations speed up, change color, and become embellished. 

1. Responsibilities:

  1. Engineering lead for building the Touchdesigner program.

2. Takeaways:

  1. I created a production-ready program while teaching myself Touchdesigner
    • I barely used Touchdesigner before this project, which meant I had to structure the development process around my learning.
    • I utilized the resources available to me online through forums and Touchdesigner's support team to create a program that efficiently pre-loads and manages thousands of frames of animation.
    • The program has been running daily for almost 6 months with essentially no maintenance.
  2. I took on a product management role:
    • I educated the creative team and other developers about the limitations/possibilities of the technology.
    • I set milestones and goals, collaborating with key stakeholders to create a satisfactory product.
    • I worked with our embedded hardware (Arduino) team to determine features and coordinate implementation.

REception

Over 500 people visit FordHub daily. Although there are other interactive pieces in the space, the Lightwall drives the most social shares and longest engagement time.