ENERGY APPLICATIONS

One of the most important aspects of the Sustainable Dance Floor is its feedback system: making people dancing on the floor understand that they are the ones powering the floor. The basic visual feedback is the LED lights in the floor; these light up when modules are being stepped on. The sensitivity and colors can be adjusted. Next to the floor, there can be more different feedback systems that provide the experience of the dance floor:

The Digital Energy Meter

The Digital Energy Meter is a software that shows the instantaneous power (watt) and the total power produced (joules or watt x seconds). These information are preferably to be shown on a large screen in high resolution. The design of the meter can be fully customized according to the client’s wishes.

The Energy Tower visualizes the amount of energy produced by the dancing crowd on the interactive floor modules. This way, feedback is provided in a shape of a 2 meter high tower, which with help of LED’s visually fills up with energy. Using the accompanied software, an upper threshold can be set to determine the maximum level. The meter is divided into five different levels (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% ).

A 2,5 meter high LED battery working in the same way the Energy Tower does, but with more visual impact. The battery can be used to create a climax in a large dancing crowd or to attract visitors to a booth or location where the floor is installed.  

The  Photo Application  is  a  perfect  example  for  a combination  of  sustainability  and  interaction . Once the Energy Tower (or Battery) reached the 100%, a camera which is installed on top of the Tower takes a photo of the dancing crowd. This picture is shown on the Digital Energy Meter, and can be printed on the spot or used afterwards online (social media). The application can also be used in combination with a Red Button integrated in the DJ booth, which will be hit by the DJ when the maximum is reached.

    

Furthermore we can also provide SDF in a gaming set up: creating a competition with the floor in combination with the applications mentioned above. For example the Energy Battle, where the total electricity generated for different groups at the same time is measured and shown on a screen, or where instructions are given and the participants have to step on a certain colour of modules as fast as possible. In this scenario, the feedback from the Energy Meter is made understandable by linking the information to daily life examples like:
- “The energy you generated is enough to power your microwave and heat up your dinner”
- “Congratulations! You just powered this light bulb for 25 seconds!”
- “In the last 3 minutes you burnt the equivalent of 1/10th Big Mac in calories.”

The  floor  can  trigger  or  power  external  systems, such  as  music,  video  screens,  charging  mobile phones and charging a Christmas tree.