Would be cool if they showed how much traffic was on the bridge, going across the bridge, or if there was an accident by flashing bright to those approaching the bridge so they could avoid it
SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
21–30 of 33 posts
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#22> [...] only $11,000 will be needed to power the display per year. That might sound like a lot of money, but an estimated increase of $97 million dollars in local business will probably change your mind. $97 million increase from lights on a bridge?
Yeah, of course. Because of lights on a bridge, tens - maybe even HUNDREDS - of thousands of tourists are going to flock to the city over the course of the year. What's so hard to believe about that?
But aren't all those tourists bringing in $97 million dollars just taking $97 million out of their local economies? People don't just pull out more money from their ass when something new gets built, they have to take money away from another spending habit to re-allocate it for the new one.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, of course. Because of lights on a bridge, tens - maybe even HUNDREDS - of thousands of tourists are going to flock to the city over the course of the year. What's so hard to believe about that?
But aren't all those tourists bringing in $97 million dollars just taking $97 million out of their local economies? People don't just pull out more money from their ass when something new gets built, they have to take money away from another spending habit to re-allocate it for the new one.
> But aren't all those tourists bringing in $97 million dollars just taking $97 million out of their local economies?
I don't think that local San Francisco businesses will be crying over someone spending $20 in SF vs. spending $20 in Podunk, Tx.
Also, it doesn't necessarily get pulled out of their local economies. The money I pay to AT&T, github, etc. isn't exactly powering local businesses.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#24Similar large scale public art projects have had significant economic impacts for their host cities; the Gates project in NYC (which was up for only 2 weeks, compared to 2 years for the Bay Lights), generated $254m in economic impact.
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4...
Please consider supporting Bay Lights - its an amazing project .
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#25The cynic in me says this will get co-opted by advertising in a wink. Imagine the Nike swoosh floating across the Bay Bridge.
The artist has 100% control for the first 2(?) years (and he has been vehemently anti-advertising - there have been numerous offers already). It will need to be reevaluated in 5 years when the bridge needs to be painted - as the lights will interfere with a new paint-job.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
ditto for every site that uses that piece of junk. Onswipe has to be the worst thing to happen to the web in years.
It's at least not as bad on an iPad 4 as it was on an iPad 1; it doesn't crash Safari immediately.
It still crashes my (still existing) iPad 1.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#27Does any hardware hackers out there have a source for the large scale switching boards that are at least semi-affordable? I'd like to tinker with switching on/off few hundred leds at a time but haven't found a source for a board yet. Bonus points if it'll power RGB colored ones.
Take a look at Buck Pucks or one of the many similar easy to use drivers whose names escape me at the moment.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#28Does any hardware hackers out there have a source for the large scale switching boards that are at least semi-affordable? I'd like to tinker with switching on/off few hundred leds at a time but haven't found a source for a board yet. Bonus points if it'll power RGB colored ones.
When I was in high school (or shortly thereafter) I was working on a circuit that would use 74-series logic to let me clock out 64 LED states 8 bits at a time through my PC's parallel printer port, but got distracted by more pressing projects.
There are some serially controlled LED lighting strips, where each LED shifts its state to the next LED when it is given a new state. Thus, to set the state of a strand of 100 lights, you write a new state to the first LED 100 times.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#29Does any hardware hackers out there have a source for the large scale switching boards that are at least semi-affordable? I'd like to tinker with switching on/off few hundred leds at a time but haven't found a source for a board yet. Bonus points if it'll power RGB colored ones.
When I was in high school (or shortly thereafter) I was working on a circuit that would use 74-series logic to let me clock out 64 LED states 8 bits at a time through my PC's parallel printer port, but got distracted by more pressing projects. There are some serially controlled LED lighting strips, where each LED shifts its state to the next LED when it is given a new state. Thus, to set the state of a strand of 100…
Yes, I'm aware of the strips and have played with the ones from sparkfun. Those are really cool but I want to individually wire and control tiny led's onto a device. Picture a christmas tree that you could do effects on using the lights. Actually what I want to do is embed them into the plaster on a wall during a renovation to make it twinkle and change colors.
Re: SF Bay Bridge + 25,000 algorithmically controlled LEDs
#30Does any hardware hackers out there have a source for the large scale switching boards that are at least semi-affordable? I'd like to tinker with switching on/off few hundred leds at a time but haven't found a source for a board yet. Bonus points if it'll power RGB colored ones.
As a lighting designer my first thought was exactly the same, this is great, but how are you controlling it?
I image it's similar to the technology they use for those annoying huge LED billboards. I've investigated the driver boards used on those, but they are several thousand dollars.