Last month I was invited to exhibit my spatialized umbrella project at the pluto festival in Opwijk, Belgium.  It was an amazing experience, you can read/see/hear more about my journey here.  They asked me to build 5 umbrellas, which i did, and brought along my first prototype, making it 6 total.

For the 5 new ones, i of course soldered up 5 new hackduinos using really nice perf board that was sized and shaped PERFECTLY for this application.  I got them in China when i was there this summer, and i can’t believe i didn’t buy more.  I intended to write up an instructables for the umbrellas, so anyone could build their own, but of course i was super rushed and didn’t have time to do it as i made them.  Perhaps I will work retroactively and make one, but for now you will have to deal with these pictures of my latest incarnation of the hackduino.

This battery powered electronic musical instrument is a descendant of the theremin and can be played without contact from the musician. This small instrument contains two infared (IR) sensors that measure proximity. One sensor controls the note, while the other controls the octave that is played through the speaker in the front. The tone is reflected by one of seven colors that illuminates the center area and highlights a small indicator located on the top panel. Check out the video.

Theremin Style Instrument from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.

I have posted the source code, some videos and pics as well, check out the original post.