If there are any developers out there who have always wanted to create big, crazy, interactive displays with any component, their opportunity has arrived. Since Google open-sourced its software and hardware library on GitHub, developers can now create their own light projects, similar to Google’s own installation in the lobby of its New York City office.
AnyPixel.js is an open-source software and hardware library that allows developers to use the power of the web to create interactive displays. Developers can get started right away by forking the code and the schematics and then create their own unusual display at any scale (so, it could be as big as Google’s own interactive wall!). Google’s display was made possible by using 5,880 off-the-shelf arcade buttons as their pixels.
AnyPixel.js makes it easy to build any display where each pixel is an interactive element. For instance, developers can use it to create a display using light switches, buttons, or anything else they think of.
There are two parts that make up AnyPixel.js. The first is the software, which is written in simple web code. Developers just need to know how to draw on an HTML canvas element to get started. The hardware varies, and those who don’t know where to begin can reference what Google used for its interactive display.
Some developers have already gotten started with their own interactive displays, such as a 2D ballot mural with physics simulation, a simple cellular-automata experiment, and an MTA subway-inspired design that allows someone use it to reroute the trains.
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