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Back in the day smartphones with GPS became widespread, I had a more convoluted but much cheaper idea that involved no external hardware: an app that would regi

Back in the day smartphones with GPS became widespread, I had a more convoluted but much cheaper idea that involved no external hardware: an app that would register to a database with seat position, then refine it using GPS (in case someone is changing seat or wandering around), then it would have been just a matter of keeping the phone in sight using a phone necklace: the app would download its sequence to be played (each screen would essentially act as a big RGB pixel) then synchronize the pattern against NTP+GPS precise timing, then wait for the right moment to play it. Phone in closed spaces could not have used GPS, so they would rely on seat registration, although I was exploring the idea to use Bluetooth or ad-hoc WiFi links to synchronize with nearby devices to detect movement (that is, if I have say 5 devices very close, their seats match while mine doesn't, very likely I'm the one who moved elsewhere and my phone would update position accordingly). Probably too complicated to gain success, but I didn't even try to develop it beyond the simple idea; laziness and other problems sucked me away from any creative work.

taylorfinley 2y ago
Don't want to ask you your name or location to preserve privacy, but do you happen to live near what used to be a really cool coffee shop, and do you have an awesome garage with a plasma cutter? If so I think you told me about this project a decade ago while we built a little backyard forge!
- squarefoot 2y ago
  Central Italy here, and no, unfortunately I never lived near a cool coffee shop and I never had a garage with a plasma cutter, but talked about the idea to some friends roughly in 2011 so it is possible that the word traveled around.
  - taylorfinley 2y ago
    My buddy was working on exactly the same project around then in Austin tx. He was trying to make it as a web app with access to location permissions, where the page's background color would change for each individual pixel in the virtual display. Concertgoers would visit the url and their phone would become a pixel in the screen. He was trying to figure out how to get better location resolution when we talked about it, sounds like you guys had similar ideas and both discovered the implementation was trickier than it initially seemed it would be. I wonder how many other folks worked on that idea around that time?
    - avaldes10 2y ago
      Hi, I also had this idea circa 2014. I realized it wouldn't work accurately enough given the GPS limitations (and my limitations as a programmer) at the time. I pivoted to encoding color instructions in a high-frequency range of an audio signal emitted through the audio system of the stadium. I had a prototype working, but it was inconsistent and did not warrant a contract with the client. I've had the itch to complete this app since then.
ipqk 2y ago
If you watch the linked video, the kpop concerts basically do that. You bring your own light, pair it via bluetooth, and specify your seat.
TeMPOraL 2y ago
I feel this is doomed to fail for a simple reason: phones are too janky for this. Even flagships can't be relied to respond in real-time-ish (under a second); there's too much bloat in both the apps and the OS itself. And phones most people sport have weaker hardware (sometimes even underspecced for the expected load right at the time of purchase). I imagine the resulting stadium-scale video would be glitchy AF - even syncing to wall time, you'd have pixels freezing randomly all over the place.

taylorfinley 2y ago

Don't want to ask you your name or location to preserve privacy, but do you happen to live near what used to be a really cool coffee shop, and do you have an awesome garage with a plasma cutter? If so I think you told me about this project a decade ago while we built a little backyard forge!

squarefoot 2y ago
Central Italy here, and no, unfortunately I never lived near a cool coffee shop and I never had a garage with a plasma cutter, but talked about the idea to some friends roughly in 2011 so it is possible that the word traveled around.
- taylorfinley 2y ago
  My buddy was working on exactly the same project around then in Austin tx. He was trying to make it as a web app with access to location permissions, where the page's background color would change for each individual pixel in the virtual display. Concertgoers would visit the url and their phone would become a pixel in the screen. He was trying to figure out how to get better location resolution when we talked about it, sounds like you guys had similar ideas and both discovered the implementation was trickier than it initially seemed it would be. I wonder how many other folks worked on that idea around that time?
  - avaldes10 2y ago
    Hi, I also had this idea circa 2014. I realized it wouldn't work accurately enough given the GPS limitations (and my limitations as a programmer) at the time. I pivoted to encoding color instructions in a high-frequency range of an audio signal emitted through the audio system of the stadium. I had a prototype working, but it was inconsistent and did not warrant a contract with the client. I've had the itch to complete this app since then.

ipqk 2y ago

If you watch the linked video, the kpop concerts basically do that. You bring your own light, pair it via bluetooth, and specify your seat.

TeMPOraL 2y ago

I feel this is doomed to fail for a simple reason: phones are too janky for this. Even flagships can't be relied to respond in real-time-ish (under a second); there's too much bloat in both the apps and the OS itself. And phones most people sport have weaker hardware (sometimes even underspecced for the expected load right at the time of purchase). I imagine the resulting stadium-scale video would be glitchy AF - even syncing to wall time, you'd have pixels freezing randomly all over the place.