This is an interactive LED map I made of San Francisco. I built a 96 pixel x 96 pixel custom LED screen that can act as a computer's external monitor. I also made a plywood sheet with holes cut out in the shape of San Francisco. The grid of holes (almost) perfectly matches the grid of LEDs behind it, allowing light to shine through. Because the light shines through a thin layer of plywood, what light you can see is dependent upon the viewing angle. Here, the center of the map is directly opposite the camera, so the central pixels appear brightest. Some of the outer pixels cannot be seen directly - you are only seeing the reflection of individual LEDs off of their respective plywood holes.
Clockwise from top left: - The plywood screen set slightly apart from the LED display. - The rear of the LED display. It is composed of eighteen 32x16 LED panels, wired together for data and power. Power runs vertically (three columns), while data runs horizontally (six rows). Each row of data plugs into the receiver card (the left green board), which is connected via ethernet to the sender card (the right green board) which in turn can be connected to any computer. - Close-up of the plywood grid. Holes were drilled by a Shopbot Alpha CNC router. There are over 7000 of them. - Close-up of the LED grid. You can see slight deviations in the uniformity of the grid where different panels meet.
Here you can see the interactive nature of the map. What the map displays is basically up to your imagination. It can show video or static images. Clockwise from top left: - A representation of San Francisco's fog moving in. This is actually a kinetic map - it runs a .gif continually. - San Francisco neighborhoods - San Francisco apartment rental prices. - Major San Francisco roads. This is also a motion graphic. Soon it will be able to show major traffic routes in real-time.
