Living Pixels is a light frame that comes alive when you leave

from arduino.cc

As smart devices become more ingrained in our everyday lives, it’s perhaps only natural that we start to think of them as living things. What if such gadgets actually did have personalities and emotions that we as humans don’t ever see?

Zekun Yang’s “Living Pixels” project illustrates this idea in luminescent style, as a picture frame that shows a static pattern of lights when anyone is around. When people aren’t present, it displays a range of emotions on its 16×16 LED matrix, from sleepy, to relaxed, and even angry.

The unit uses a passive infrared sensor to pick up on human activity, while an Arduino Uno is implemented for control. More info on the build is available in Yang’s write-up, and you can see it in action in the video below.