One of the first steps for developing our wearable performer system was to control RGB lights wireless over a wifi network. We put together some of our Wemos micro controller boards with some sewable NeoPixels and can now control them over the network! Cool!

In these pictures the colour of the led is controlled from a laptop. We put together a little test program in Pd (pure data) to allow us to control the signals with little sliders, but for the performance we might use physical controllers or control them automatically using sound or movement.

We also realised that the Wemos boards could be easily powered by a regular USB battery pack – just like a smartphone. These are probably the easiest solution for power in the prototyping stage.

The little white case in the photos was a bit of an experiment; at my workplace (UiO Department of Informatics), some of my colleagues are experienced 3D printers, they found a little Wemos D1 case on Thingiverse and printed one out for me! Cool! I think we’ll print out a few more for our prototyping process as they have nice holes for sewing or mounting and could fit a few parts inside – I think we’ll need to adjust the design so that there’s a hole in the side for wires or connectors for the lights.