We ‘90s youngsters grew up with some fairly iconic toys and trend, however one of the crucial “of the period” traits have been light-up sneakers. L.A. Lights kicked issues off and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the good factor your footwear might do was blink with each footstep. At a time when LEDs have been nonetheless pretty thrilling know-how, that felt like dwelling in a sci-fi film. Right this moment, nevertheless, it’s trivial to cram a battery and a few low cost LEDs within the soles of some tennis footwear and due to this fact the attract is gone. That’s why 陳亮 (Chen Liang) introduced the idea into the fashionable period with his Footstep Magic challenge.
Footstep Magic is a wearable system, strapped to the consumer’s ankle, that tasks a picture down onto the bottom in entrance of the consumer’s foot after they take a step. It’s like an L.A. Lights sneaker, however far more spectacular. The projected picture might be something, even brief movies. Chen selected a really brief clip of a snowflake that expands with a purpose to create the phantasm of a crystal rising on the bottom with every footstep, however the one restrict is your personal creativeness.
The projector Chen used is extremely easy—actually only a mild supply with a lens and a slot the place the consumer can place a static transparency picture. Chen then transformed that into what is basically a miniature LCD projector. He did so through the use of a LILYGO T-QT Professional, which is an ESP32S3-based growth board that comes with a small LCD that has a decision of 128×128 pixels.
You’ll be able to’t simply put a standard LCD in entrance of a vibrant mild to make a projector, as a result of the LCD will have already got its personal backlight panel. However in case you take away that backlight, as Chen did, you’ll get a clear LCD. With that rather than the unique static transparency photos, Chen had a digital projector able to projecting no matter he exhibits on the display.
Chen connected that DIY LCD projector onto a shin guard, with energy coming from a 502025 LiPo battery. A vibration sensor detects agency footsteps, which tells the ESP32 to activate the projector and play the snowflake video clip. The projector’s LED mild supply can get fairly scorching, so Chen recommends including a warmth sink if operating the projector for any prolonged time period.
It has been about 30 years for the reason that heyday of L.A. Lights and we expect the world is now prepared for Footstep Magic.