Together Lights
A collaborative project that brings art-lovers in public spaces into closer connection.
Together Lights are hand-held light sculptures that respond to human interaction. Like the way that candles can light one another through contact, these Lights sense their proximity to each other and interact once close together.
The goal is to help inspire wonder and playfulness between people in public spaces.
Incubated at the Electric SEA arts-and-technology hackathon in March 2026 where it won the first prize award for innovation & excellence sponsored by Src Material.
▾ How it was built
The team formed during Electric SEA, an interdisciplinary art-and-technology hackathon in Seattle in March 2026. Together Lights was prototyped in 48 hours and won first prize.
Electric SEA is organized by SrcMaterial, PublicDisplay.ART, and Third Place Technologies to connect artists, technologists, designers, and makers at the intersection of art and technology in the Pacific Northwest.
▾ How it works
| Input | Gestures and proximity of Lights to each other, Leap Motion hand-tracking. Muse BCI headband. |
|---|---|
| Processing | Arduino controllers on each light detect gestures, and communicate with the Arduinos in other Lights to exchange information via low-level radio communication. Additional interaction is provided via hand gesture and brainwave data collect via a Leap Motion and Muse BCI headband to further control light data. |
| Output | ESP32 broadcasts location and color over ESP-NOW. Nearby light nodes receive and change. No internet required. |
| Built with | ESP-NOW, ESP32 / M5StickC Plus, PlatformIO, Arduino IDE, Python, Leap Motion, Muse MU-02, and more. |
▾ The team
Alex Guthrie, Simran Jagnik, Randy Garbrick, Hexe Fey, Reed O'Beirne
▾ What's next?
We are interested in gallery hosting, residency opportunities, and technical collaboration. Reach us at web-contact@togetherlights.art.