Color Orb

The Color Orb project is a very simple idea.  Basically connect a full-spectrum LED to the desktop computer via USB and control it by sending standard hex triplets (#FFFF00 etc.). 

The resulting indicator can be used in an endless variety of ways to signal local and network events via color.  It is more or less an autonomous and application-independent implementation of the color indication strategy behind Ambient Devices' pager network color objects.

The housing could be any frosted glass or plastic container which mixes the light yet is highly transmissive.  The prototype shown here uses a modified accent lamp, which though interesting, as the bubbles transmit concentrations of the current color, is not as simply effective as a frosted surface would be.

This project is currently under development for an April completion and is tentatively scheduled to be featured in Make magazine issue number three.  I'll not post details here until after that article is published, so check back at the beginning of the summer.