A Stroll Beneath the Sea

An interactive art display of lights, with a lighted multi-colored pathway that changes colors as you pass by. As you walk by, you are surrounded by LED sea kelp that reacts to your movement and changes colors. Large “bubbles” float above the kelp and react to your movement and “pop” if you touch them (they go dark). A large multi-colored jellyfish flows nearby with LED tentacles.

The display uses a mixture of high frequency radar, infrared and PIR sensors to detect movement and presence. The kelp uses a microcontroller and a PIR sensor. The walkway uses distance sensors to measure peoples feet from the sensor to set a color accordingly.

The “Bubbles” are large balloons with a addressable LED ring at the base and a microcontroller with either a radar sensor or a ultrasonic distance sensor. When motion is detected at close range, the bubble lights turn off.