Links

Here you find some interesting links to various blinking stuff in the web.

Other Blinkenlights Projects

Various groups and single persons have felt motivated by Blinkenlights to produce their own close of Blinkenlights in various sizes using different techniques.

Sometimes our software and file formats have been used, sometimes even completely new components have been developed.

BlinkenArea

http://www.blinkenarea.org/

The BlinkenArea is a strong community inspired by our installations that has produced a variety of great projects that push the original idea further. The BlinkenArea features all kinds of clones and developments and here you can find many gifted people to ask if you want to do some blinkin' on your own.

BlinkenLEDs

http://www.jalcds.de/blinkenleds/

BlinkenLEDs is one of the first reconstruction projects. 18 8-bit shift register ICs (MOS 4094) were used to control 144 LEDs arranged in the original Blinkenlights 18x8 matrix. The electronics is connected to the PC's parallel port. The web site provides detailed descriptions and circuit diagrams. A community of interested people uses the Forum talk about the basic technical concept and other inventions.

The project provides drivers for Windows to play Blinkenlights Movies on the system.

BlinkenMINI

http://blinkenmini.schuermans.info/

BlinkenMINI is based around the same technical concept as BlinkenLEDS, but comes with an enclosure and even more detailed step-by-step construction instructions and schematic diagrams. A couple of new file formats allows for authoring of movies with 256 greyscales. The driver software runs on UNIX.

BlinkenBoard

http://blinkenleds.spline.de/

BlinkenBoard is also based on BlinkenLEDS, but has been designed as a single board. The software uses the current version of the Blinkenlights Library, that has been developed for the Arcade project. That way, BlinkenBoard is compatible to the complete Blinkenlights Software.

LittleLights

http://littlelights.de/

LittleLights also uses electronics based on shift register ICs, but the lamps are real light bulbs driven by a special amplifier circuit. It is also connected via the parallel port.

Highlight of the project is the wooden enclosure in the original Haus-des-Lehrers design including the frieze of Womacka.

XMasLights

http://www.elektronikseiten.de/anderes/blinkenlights/

The XMasLights clone users christmas lights for lighting and the system is controlled using an Atmel microcontroller and shift register ICs.

Blinkenlights Projects at grumpfzotz.org

http://blinkserv.sourceforge.net/

grumpfzotz.org is a project devoted to developing a client/server software for quick and easy exchange of Blinkenlights Movies.

Especially cool is the telnet-based Automated BLM player!

Blinkenlights Pop Art

At the same time Blinkenlights started in Berlin Kylie Minogue featured a virtual "Blinkenlights"-style background in her new video "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" http://www.kylie.com/

German cult rock band "Die Toten Hosen" situated their video "Was zählt" right within our Blinkenlights installation. So the video features Blinkenlights from the inside out in all angles. http://www.dth.de/

And Sven Väth is also on the list. His new video "Je t'aime - moi non plus" features Blinkenlights in the background. http://www.sven-vaeth.de/

Finally Golden Boy and Miss Kittin used the House Of The Teacher and the Blinkenlights animations in the music video "Rippin Kitten" in various ways. http://www.ladomat.de/

Related Projects

Blinkenlights is not the first project of its kind. There have been a couple of precursors that we want to point to. We actually knew none of them when we were planning and building Blinkenlights. Long live the parallel universe.

Matrix-based

La Bastille - A Tech House Art Installation (2000) http://bastilleweb.techhouse.org/

The Green Building Sound (VU) Meter (1993) http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1993/green_bldg_vu_meter/

Tetris @ TU-Delft (1995) http://www.etv.tudelft.nl/vereeniging/archief/lustrum/90/english.html

Clickscape 98 (1998) http://www.servus.at/clickscape98/

Marnix (2000/2001) http://marnix2001.bbl.be/intro.asp

KPN Headquarter Rotterdam (2000) http://www.sylvania.com/aboutus/stories/112000a.htm

Once upon a time, the European Parliament has been enlightened as well. We have no clue why and when. If you have any hints, please tell us.

Non Matrix-based

Vectorial Elevation (1999/2002) http://www.alzado.net/

Hello Mr. President (2001) http://hellomrpresident.com/

RGB Interactive Light Installation, Los Angeles (2001) http://www.cm2a.com/sciarc/

Lights On The Net, Masaki FUJIHATA (????) http://light.softopia.pref.gifu.jp/

Urban Diary - Alexanderplatz (2001) http://www.urban-diary.de/

Various Fun Stuff

Game Over (How to do Tetris on a building the cheap way) http://www.esf.nsk.ru/esf2002/barnaul.rm

World's smallest Pong game http://www.guimp.com/pong_flash.html

Pong - Not Just A Game http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pongoska.html

20th Century TEXT: Star Wars Episode IV @ blinkenlights.nl telnet://towel.blinkenlights.nl

Pure Blinkenlights: The Connection Machine http://mission.base.com/tamiko/cm/cm-image.html