Project

I was nominated for Geek of the Year in Philly and needed to come up with something in a hurry for the formal event. Of course the flaming wedding dress in the Hunger Games movie came to mind, but I didn’t want to cheat with special FX in post production. My idea was that spinning would cause a spiral of LEDs to smolder, burn and gradually dissipate. Thanks to a gyro sensor connected to NeoPixel strips I was able to realize my dream. I’m only sorry that I didn’t get a better pic of the dress, but it was finished at the last minute and makeup and hair took over an hour. So, one of these days I’ll get a pro shot. You can learn more about the details of the build here.

Future Possibilities

Considering I’m starting with a larger-than-life idea of a burning skirt, why not go even bigger? Being able to deploy special powers with a spin like Wonder Woman seems to be possible with sensors nowadays. Imagine being able to launch a sudden fog by spinning to escape being a target or being able to jam a signal on a device to disrupt attack. Now imagine the same mechanism on a plane, so its spinning becomes a trigger. Often we have to push a button or throw a switch to activate an event, but where there is an opportunity to use a certain movement that comes very naturally, that may be more desirable.