Project Blinkenlights

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Project Blinkenlights was created by the German Chaos Computer Club in 2001 as a celebration of its 20th birthday. A light installation in the Haus des Lehrers building at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin transformed its front into a giant monochrome low-resolution computer screen. Some novel uses of the screen are for people to call a number and play Pong via mobile phone or display animations sent in by the public.

A similar installation was created by the CCC for the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. This installation was called Arcade, and featured a higher resolution as well as eight shades of grey.

The electrical engineering and computer science students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics turn their Schönherz Dormitory into a giant display (the "Matrix") at their annual Scönherz Cup competition, where amongst others, teams compete in creating the most interesting and funny animation.

The term "blinkenlights" originates in hacker humor.

[edit] External links

• Project Blinkenlights homepage
• Project Blinkenlights: Arcade homepage
• Video of a winning Schönherz animation and homepage of the Shönherz Blinkenlights