Journal 3 – Color Sensor
“The sensor essentially consists of an RGB LED and a photo cell placed right next to each other with a small divider between them so that the light of the LED does not directly hit the photo cell. An object is placed a short distance (about 1-2 inches with the components I’m using, though brighter LEDs could likely change this range of distance) from the sensor. The red, green, and blue lights on the LED are switched on one at a time. If the object’s color contains any amount of red, green, or blue, that color is reflected back onto the photocell when the corresponding light is on and read into Arduino as an analog value. The three colors are then mixed into one, the color of the object.”
http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/sensors/Reports/DIYColorSensor
For such a simple task I could see this having a great impact at all types of events. It would be great at creating ambient lighting that reflects the atmosphere. Some television manufactures also use this technology to help expand the image. I personally would like to take this a step further and make the LED display a complimentary color to give the atmosphere more vibrancy. One downside I see is that if there is something to close to the photocell it could cause the LED to display the wrong color.
