The challenge was to utilize photo luminescent paint for the 2014 solar decathlon Brown University, RISD collaborative entry. Our goal was to give viewers not only a chance to experience the house, but for them to leave their mark behind. The result was an interactive wall of spheres acting as individual pixels, allowing the user to leave a gestural impact on the space.
How it works: Each module is composed of 61 spheres sandwiched between two sheets of perfectly cut acrylic, allowing each sphere to rotate 360 degrees in every direction. During the day, the sun charges only half of each sphere, so that as the sun goes down, the front half of each ball begins to glow. The user swipes his/ her hand across the surface, hiding the glow side, and exposing a dark void. This allows the user to infinitely change these “pixels” from on to off throughout the course of the night, with just a swipe of the hand. Ball Wall is an infinitely evolving drawing, as the sun comes up the next morning, the process begins anew.
Solar Decathlon final proposal for Spring 2014 competition.
