Expt. 1 : Capturing Light Flickers, 2023
Experiment. 1: Capturing Light Flicker
This experiment detects and visualizes the flickering of light through various devices.
In the home, the earliest form of virtual space, light has always played a crucial role in spatial perception. During the day, sunlight remains the primary source of illumination, just as it was in the past. But in darkness, artificial lighting has increasingly shaped how we perceive our surroundings. From candlelight to incandescent bulbs, and now to modern LED lighting, artificial light has evolved to the point where its flickers and fluctuations are barely noticeable.
Modern high-frequency light sources help reduce discomfort in everyday life, but they can also interfere with how we perceive and understand space. Displays that once operated at 60Hz now reach refresh rates of up to 600Hz, further blurring the line between virtual and physical space.
This experiment invites the audience to observe light flicker as analog signals, making visible what often goes unnoticed. By translating invisible flickers into visual waveforms, viewers are encouraged to reconsider how light shapes our perception of the spaces we inhabit.
The metal object hanging from the clip just below the smartphone flash is a unijunction transistor with its top opened. This transistor is sensitive to light. It is connected via the clip to the white oscilloscope, which visualizes electrical signals. The transistor detects the analog signal produced by the smartphone flash, which flickers 10 times per second.
Below that, a small sensor is attached, which functions as a light intensity sensor. It is connected to the red oscilloscope below, displaying the brightness of the blinking smartphone flash as an analog signal.
The yellow device at the top is a lux meter, used to measure the light intensity of the fluorescent lamp.
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