Project · January 2019

BarkLight

A tangible interface embedded in flattened poplar bark, built by an undergraduate HCI capstone team I advised — 1st place at the 2019 VTURCS Spring Research Symposium.

Role: Advisor to the capstone team
Tags: Tangible Interface, Arduino, Mentoring

Exploded-view diagram of Barklight, showing three layered panels: a textured bark-surfaced front panel with glowing lights, a milled bark panel with a grid of small holes, and a rear illuminated LED array, all measuring 96 inches tall by 42 inches wide. Two illustrated figures stand beside the assembly for scale, looking up at it.

Cover photo courtesy of Matt Wagner.

A tangible interface embedded in flattened poplar bark that applied biophilic design principles. I advised a team of undergraduate students in an HCI capstone class as they built a functional prototype and collaborated on its implementation. The project was awarded 1st place in the capstone awards at the 2019 VTURCS Spring Research Symposium.

A large wooden panel embedded with rows of small LEDs and hundreds of yellow wires lies on a black metal fabrication table in a workshop, with the wires gathered into bundles feeding toward control electronics. A 3D printer, printer, and whiteboards with diagrams are visible in the background.