In this project, we experimented with long time exposure and high speed photography combined with Arduino - experimentation in two parts (as explained in the next sections). The changes in the movement of light are usually hidden and this project makes some of these movements more visible through images.

1. Object Scanner

Exploration of light effects and paths of light including distortion, amplification and reflection by building an “Object Scanner” that was remote controlled by human motion using a smartphone's gyro sensor. This scanner is essentially a laser-painting robot placed inside a dark space and directed from outside. With the combination of aluminium foil, metallic cellophane, mirrors and coloured acrylic allowed to create a range of lighting effects. With a camera installed inside the box and a robot which mimicked the orientation of a phone, laser light was directed to different physical objects and travelled through them where the camera captured these movements by shooting long exposure photos of the laser beam.

2. Movement and Light

The second experiment was about exploring ways of translating rotary movements of the bike wheel and the bike itself into a visual representation of waves of light. Distorting these waves using a combination of camera movements and different exposure times allowed for exploration of various light patterns. To achieve that, an LED strip was wired up with an Arduino micro controller which controlled the lights. In order to reveal the progress of time, the LEDs emitted light in different colors and cycled through these colors repeatedly which was then captured in a picture as colored slices of light.