Once the results we wanted to achieve was finally clear, two main directions where identified:
- Get the right visual quality from the weather output system;
- Get the right shape considering the mood and the affordance.
The RGB LED array, the core of the system, was finished in less than a week, but the problem was that it delivers a very concentrated light, and not much saturated color due to the imperfect alignment of the three primary colored lights inside each RGB led.
On top of the led array we put a layer of brushed semitransparent paper to get a much more consistent color saturation, then four small spacers to mount the main diffusion surface material.
This diffusion layer is made of opal Acrylic (3 mm), and is located five centimeters over the semitransparent paper. Many trials where necessary to find the correct materials and distances to achieve the desired result.
In the video we wanted to show all the materials we tried; in order of appearence:
- Brushed polypropylene sheet
(too trasparent and not enough diffusive) - Brushed trasparent plexyglass 3mm
(not enough diffusive) - Brushed trasparent plexyglass 3mm + 3mm (double layer)
(still not enough diffusive) - White semi-trasparent plexyglass 3mm
(too opaque and not enough diffusive) - Opacized / Brushed plexyglass 3mm
(far too opaque – kills the light) - Semi-trasparent paper sheet
(good diffusion and color quality) - Opal acrylic 3mm
(perfect diffusion, even if the surface is not brushed, because the diffraction is internal) - Semi-trasparent paper sheet + Opal acrylic 3mm
(Final solution: paper for color saturation and cohesion near the leds, opal acrylic for main diffusion at 5 cm from the paper layer).
Once we found the right object, we had to design a better way to fit all the electronics, the cables, the sensors and the lighting system inside it.
We found that for the kind of shape we where working with, surely it was best to try different arrangements using a 3D model. If not faster, it was much cheaper, and could give a good representation of what the object, or lots of them, could look like when finished.
Once the model was complete, and the arrangement tested with a fast and cheap paper prototype, we realized some high quality renderings of the prototype before starting its real construction, just to be better inspired.
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