Living Lantern.
Living Lantern.
Living Lantern
A luminous sphere that shifts emotion when you cross the line.
Project Timeline
6 Weeks
Year
02/2026
Project Type
Group
ideation
sketches
design brief
Design a ‘molecule’ experience that provokes an emotion and requires the user to interact, producing an output. This experience piece should have minimal content, and should be designed to be adapted into an exhibit with room for informational content.
visual direction
tech design
Arduino sensors will send information over serial to the Rasperry pi.
The raspberry pi will be loaded with one video with 2 timestamps; one with the calm face and one with the angry face.
When sensor is triggered, the serial message is sent, and the video jumps to the corresponding timestamp.
The video plays through HDMI to the projector, which is pointed at the center inside of the paper lantern.
The projector is attached to a rotating motion tracking tripod, initially designed for motion tracking photography (found on Amazon).
user flow
fabrication plan
paper lantern from Ikea
technology sourced from the GT Interactive Product Design Lab
Arduino Sensor Wiring:
programming
Programming for Raspberry Pi was done in Python and C++ for Arduino sensors.
There was much troubleshooting required for sensor thresholds, projector settings, and video timing.
process
soldered and clamped wires for sensors and wired to arduino
fabricated sphere and mounted projector onto rotating tripod
tested video visuals and changed projector lighting settings
final sensor setup and coding for Raspberry Pi commands
FINAL DESIGN
This design will be shown at Launchpad, the Georgia Tech Industrial Design showcase in Spring of 2026.