Geometry of Light
Client: Luftwerk
Temporary Installation
Luftwerk's recent project at Mies van der Rohe's historic Barcelona Pavilion presented the opportunity to dive into a complicated wireless control project that would take me overseas.
Luftwerk had chosen a battery of laser levels as their medium for this installation, and they needed someone to figure out how to take control of these devices, and orchestrate them to follow a complex synchronous pattern. The entire installation needed to operate wirelessly, as the Barcelone Pavilion's open plan offered few places to conceal cables. It was also important to provide clear technical documentation for pavilion staff, who would be setting up and dismantling equipment nightly for the duration of the project.
Technical Design
Hijacking BLE Protocols
The contracting lasers could be controlled via a smartphone app, but
it was not capable of precise timing or distributed control. With the
help of a friend, we reverse
engineered the bluetooth communication protocol used by the lasers.
After that, it was easy to take control of each device from an arbitrary
bluetooth source.
Working around the limitations of BLE
The bluetooth low energy control platform was not capable of covering
the distance that I needed it to. I added a secondary network of
transponders built on battery powered
Rasperry Pi Zeroes
to increase the effective broadcast range of the control signal.
Commands would be routed from the primary controller to the secondary
controllers over wifi, and then the final leg of the journey would
happen over a very short distance using BLE.
Remote Support and Monitoring
Geometry of Light was nearly all custom software and hardware, but
I wasn't available to provide onsite support once it opened. To be
able to quickly resolve any future issues with the installation,
I created an SSH tunnel out of the primary controller, through the
pavilion's wifi that allowed me remote access to the site in case
support was required once I had left.
Synchronizing with the Work of other Artists
Geometry of Light featured a musical composition created for the
installation, but we had just a brief window to coordinate the music
once onsite. I was able to integrate the composer's playback computer
with my network, and used Qlab
to keep the light show and music in step with one another.
Centralized Control
I designed the project to have a centralized brain located in the
basement, which propagated control signals out to the lasers via a
small network setup. A trigger button allowed the pavilion staff to
easily start up the installation at its opening hours.
Video
Geometry of Light, Luftwerk & Iker Gil from Spirit of Space on Vimeo.
Images
Project Team
Visual Design: Luftwerk and Iker Gil
Technical Design: Andy Kauff
Programming Support: Aaron Gallagher
Composition: Oriol Tarragó
Photography: Kate Joyce and RedMike Marianek
Supported by:
The Graham Foundation
MAS Context
Bosch Tools
Spirit of Space
Tech Elements
- Bosch Contracting Lasers
- Raspberry Pi
- Qlab 4
- Python 3
- Ubiquiti Networking Gear