‘Patch of Sky’ ambient lights by Fabrica, photo: Shek Po Kwan
The idea behind ‘Patch of Sky’, a project from communication research centre Fabrica, is the ability to share the sky above in real-time with loved ones wherever they are.
Patch of Sky is a set of three Internet connected ambient light prototypes that together gather weather information based on a users’ current Facebook location and displays it with colored light animations. “Patch of Sky is your partner or friend’s silent companion, that will tell them about the sky and world you’re living in, while away.” say the designers.
Sunny displayed on a ‘Patch of Sky’ ambient light by Fabrica, photo: Shek Po Kwan
Each lamp is named after ancient Egyptian weather deities, Amun the god of wind, Set the god of storms and Tefnut the goddess of rain. The prototypes, which can be either placed on a table or hung on the wall, are developed with Arduino, while BERGCloud, a hardware and software solution for the Internet of Things, connects the lamp to the internet. Weather information based on the current Facebook location: meteorological phenomena are classified into 11 common weather conditions, each of them corresponding to a colored light animation which is displayed on the lamp.
Fog displayed on a ‘Patch of Sky’ ambient light by Fabrica, photo: Shek Po Kwan
Patch of Sky was conceived, designed, coded, soldered, crafted, painted and assembled at Fabrica during Winter 2013/2014 by Leonardo Amico, Federico Floriani, Reda Jouahri, Alice Longo, Akshataa Vishwanath and Giorgia Zanellato. Fabrica is based in Treviso, Italy, and is an integral part of the Benetton Group.
