Modular Light : Idea sketch

Final Project

What are they?

They are the light units with polyhedron shape that can be easily put together to form a larger structure or detached and carried with anywhere you want. Basicaly they become brighter when the colony gets bigger, and get darker when they are few.

How do they work?

Size: approx. 100*100*100mm
Weight: 100-300gram
Component:

They can speak to each other via IP protocol to recognize how many members are there in the group and decide total brightness of the colony. I am assuming this could be done wirlessly by using magnetic field that is generated and recieved by coil in each side, but if not, I will simply use I2C with 3 wires. This coil could be used as a wireless power transmitter / recepter as well. I choose lithium polymer battery because of its relativly big capacity and rechargableness. LED are dimmed by PWM.

Why make it?

This light is designed to facilitate a relationship between people living under the same roof by giving an opportunity to gather around and have conversations. Sitting around the light resembles primordial memory of surrounding real fire. By sharing sush moment we could recognize each other as friends or a family.

Living in Japan (especially in Tokyo) could be stressful and unpleasant experience.
Because houses you can rent in Tokyo are mostly small, cheesy, nevertheless, expensive.
after the modernization we have come through, traditional housings were cut into small pieces and redesigned as a flat mainly for single residence which is called 1K or 1DK.
The statistic (national census run by the government) shows that one to forth of whole households in Japan are single-person households.
We never talk with neighbors, grab some bentos at the nearest convenience-store when hungry, and shut ourselves in a little private space.
A lack of space are high rent are one of general issue among metropolis around the world.
Sharing houses or rooms is posed as an effective solution, although there are still some obstacles we need to overcome.
Among those problems, get along with sharemates is the most essencial.
I wish the module light can help.