Gallery: SXSW's Maker Takeover Flashes, Then Fizzles

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    *The Pool*, an interactive installation by Colorado-based artist Jen Lewin, beckons crowds to Republic Square Park near downtown Austin. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Artist Jen Lewin, left, with her employees Daniel Nordsom, center, and Dominique Olvera, during set-up. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    The team unloads the 106 interactive "pucks" from their moving truck. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Jen secures a "puck" to the ground using tent stakes. The interactive nature of the installation requires everything to remain securely placed. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Friend and volunteer assistant Victoria Olson holds the mapping plan for the piece as the team perfects the final layout. Each plastic disc has a specific placement and orientation, ensuring that the lighting effects occur in the correct location. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Lewin checks the placement of one of the "pucks" before securing it into place. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Olvera fine-tunes one of the pucks as they calibrate the installation before the official unveiling. The internal circuitry contains three revolutions of LED lighting strips, accelerometers that can detect and react to the movement from being stepped on, and the components to receive and transmit data packets to the main controller. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    As the team puts on the finishing touches to the piece, now stretching 50 feet in diameter, kids take the opportunity to run across it. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Lumigeek's Joe Martin runs a series of tests at the control box before the unveiling, monitoring if the pieces of the installation are communicating properly with each other. His interface includes five self-designed lighing controllers, a Raspberry Pi board, and a Mac Mini computer. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
  • The inside of one of the pucks surrounded by strips of LED lights. At full white brightness using all of the LED...
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    The inside of one of the pucks, surrounded by strips of LED lights. At full white brightness, using all of the LED elements simultaneously, the installation draws about 50 amps of electricity. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Lumigeek's John "Parts" Taylor holds up a strip of LED lights, much like those that are used to illuminate the installation. Each small square is a multi-colored LED with a built-in controller; the entire installation contains over 16,000 controllable LED "pixels." *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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    Kids, parents, and passersby jump and run across the piece, activating light patterns. Lewin and the Lumigeek team see the system having a variety of interactive options. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*
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