DIY Arduino Based Gesture Controlled Lamp

 Amazing is the gesture magic of hands. A lift up can show joy to millions and one move sideways can direct the whole traffic. Giving wings to interaction, gestures power a lot of actions and emotions. Ever wondered how easy it would be control gadgets just by a wave of hand? You won’t need any remote control or a switchboard on the wall as your hand would, literally, be enough. While getting hold of large gadgets for this purpose, might turn a bit heavy, let’s make one such essential device that gets controlled by nothing but the hand.

Let’s explore one such Arduino based DIY gadget known as Luminch. Innovated by Francisco Castro, Luminch is a lamp that works on the principle of proximity sensing and uses some of the simplest electronic components. What sets it apart from other DIY’s is the art which can be seen in the lampshade design. Inspired from the Lego designs, the lampshade would add to the aesthetics of the ambience where the lamp is kept. An array of LEDs has been used as the light source in this lamp and complements the simple assembling of the device.

So, we use an Arduino and a proximity sensor just for switching the lamp on and off? No, like an orchestra master, your hand gestures can even control the brightness of the lamp. Hover above the lamp to switch it on and off, wave your hand up and down beside the lamp to control the brightness. What’s more, once you are done with building and showing off the Luminch, you can safely dissemble it and use your Arduino for other projects.

One of the questions that keep us guessing is the fact that how much easy can computing make our lives. A hobby based development board has pulled here a nice experiment of gestural interactions. We do have a lot of gesture input based gadgets like the X-Box, but the hindrance of price tag never backs off. Why not give a try to this DIY and see how far can we take it?

See Video Here : http://vimeo.com/34435437