This Crazy Spherical LED Art Ball Pulses And Shape-Shifts

February 18, 2021 by Dave Haynes

It can be a struggle, at times, to try to describe some of the more arts-oriented AV visual experiences that come on my radar, and that is particularly true with an LED/robotics/sensor sphere thingie called Morph.

It is a modular, kinetic, AV ball that is touch sensitive and pulses for interactivity.

Says one description:

Morph is composed of 155 touch sensitive and illuminated modules, connected by a flexible and expandable surface. Each module is completely reconfigurable and features six individually addressable LEDs to illuminate the six edges of the hexagonal surfaces.

Barely comprehensible art-speak description:

It demonstrates the possibilities of functional tangible media prototypes and, serves as a tool for experimenting with abstract machine movement and gesture to create personality and encourage interaction.

Morph is the first example of a fully actuated and touch sensitive luminous spherical surface. It is a reinvention of the digital canvas that allows artists to experiment with more than just light and sound. This is the future of tangible media, a fully modular and flexible framework which allows for rapid expansion and experimentation with both form and function.

I dunno … my layman’s description is a cool, spherical thing that flashes and pulses and would be a people magnet in the right setting. But probably a servicing and repair nightmare.

I think the creators are in Berlin, but art projects rarely seem to come with descriptions suited for people who don’t move and communicate in art circles.

Here’s a video that I cannot, sadly, embed: https://augmentl.com/work/morph

But … here’s a quick video seen on Linkedin of what appears to be a larger next-gen version. It is said to have 486 stepper motors, 86,000 LEDs and a 5 channel granular synth engine (I know what the 86,000 LEDs means, the rest … not so much).

I have seen LED modules crafted as big spheres and even have some movement, but these things are beyond that.