Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks

145

8

8. How to Hack a

Building-Size Display

Cost

Time

Difficulty

$50–5000

several weekends

very difficult

In 2001, a group of determined individuals with a keen eye toward art

and technology created a project called “Blinkenlights.” This project took

a twelve-story building and turned it into a large bitmapped display upon

which they put animations, static images, and a working interactive “Pong”

game.

The project was completed by the Chaos Computer Club of Germany,

which was celebrating its twentieth anniversary. They wanted to mark the

occasion and give a gift to the city of Berlin. From September 12, 2001 to

February 23, 2002, an office building in Berlin was hacked to become a

giant interactive computer.

Behind the building’s front windows on the top eight floors they placed 144

lamps. A computer switched each lamp on and off independently to produce

a monochrome matrix of 18-by-8 pixels, transforming the building into

a huge display. In the evening, an ever-changing array of animations and

images could be seen from several miles away. There was even an interactive

component: spectators could play the old arcade classic Pong on the build-

ing using their mobile phones, and passersby could place their own “love

letters” on the screen.

Credits

Photographs copyright © 2003 Chaos

Computer Club and Rene Schneider

(Figure 8-28).

What You Need

• x86-based computer (Intel or

AMD) running Windows with a free

printer port

• One LED driver board

• 144 ultra-bright LEDs

• 100 meters of CAT5 wire

• 5 amp, 5 volt DC power supply

• 20’ x 5’ roll of chicken wire

• 10’ x 18’ white sheet or frosted

plastic shower curtain

• Hot-melt glue gun and glue or

silicon rubber sealant

• Electrical crimp tool and metal

crimps

• Other items listed in

Exhibit A

ch08_building.indd 145

1/21/2002 1:02:19 PM