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USB Disco Dance Floor

Posted by timothy on Tue Apr 12, 2005 02:57 AM
from the know-how-to-party dept.

pi42 writes "Some MIT students built this USB controlled disco dance floor for their dorm lounge. It was built in a week, has 1536 LEDs, 20,000 hand-soldered connections, and is capable of displaying 12-bit color. Check out videos and photos." You can even send the floor an email, though it might not write back.

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TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)

by Electroly (708000) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @02:59AM (#12209806)

So while Caltech is traveling across the country to put up balloons, MIT students are building a kickass USB-controlled disco floor? I think we all know which school knows where it's at.
- Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:07AM (#12209832)
  
  Caltech enacts a series of amusing, though not all that great, pranks.
  
  MIT responds by building a dance floor for a fad which hasn't been popular in 25 years.
  
  Oh yeah. Geek fight!
  
  Parent
  - Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:4, Funny)
    
    by SomeoneGotMyNick (200685) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @07:39AM (#12210747) Homepage Journal
    
    MIT responds by building a dance floor for a fad which hasn't been popular in 25 years.
    
    At least they aren't wearing Jordache jeans (or Toughskins for that matter).
    
    I wonder how that floor would hold up to roller skates. I suppose we'll never know considering the people involved. Geeks always had the chance to leave the rink before the rest of the crowd because of the final Couple's Skate.
    
    Parent
- Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by mr_tommy (619972) * <tom@neowinOPENBSD.net minus bsd> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:25AM (#12209909) Journal
  
  HA! And they were so smug with those balloons....
  
  Parent
- Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by Hinhule (811436) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @06:20AM (#12210421)
  
  Geeks - dancefloor
  
  Hmmm...
  
  Geeks - Internet
  
  More probable...
  
  Geeks - Internet - webcams
  
  Uh oh...
  
  Geeks - Dancefloor - webcams
  
  I think we have found the reason they made this, they added webcams and light to the floor. Getting a limitless supply of upskirt shots. ;P
  
  Parent
Disco Stu (Score:3, Funny)

by derphilipp (745164) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:00AM (#12209807) Homepage

Disco Stu likes to go down with the boogie! Reminds me of Leisure Suit Larry 1....
And they STILL can't dance (Score:4, Funny)

by joelethan (782993) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:00AM (#12209808) Journal

We geeks should give up now.
The girls always go for John Travolta, not Poindexter
/joelethan
Do a little dance, make a little love - get down tonight!
- Re:And they STILL can't dance (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:09AM (#12209837)
  
  Actually, what they don't say is the Disco floor will light rhythmically to DDR steps, allowing even the REALLY geeky to appear as though they have a mild amount of dancing talent!
  
  Parent
  - Re:And they STILL can't dance (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by Adrilla (830520) * on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:48AM (#12210157) Homepage
    
    If you think DDR is dancing, maybe you should stay off all dance floors completely.
    
    Parent
- - Re:Neo? (Score:5, Insightful)
    
    by Adrilla (830520) * on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:53AM (#12210171) Homepage
    
    They go for Neo though, didn't they? Almost every girl I know like "The Matrix" movie because of him.
    
    They go for 'Movie Star, Keanu Reeves', not, 'Hacker, Neo'.
    
    Parent
Disco is dead (Score:5, Funny)

by thedogcow (694111) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:02AM (#12209812)

Screw that disco crap. I can see a better use for it.

A Giant Tetris Board. Think of it. You've got the grid-like squares that Tetris has.
- Re:Disco is dead (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:18AM (#12209878)
  
  How about (very low-resolution) DivX movies on the floor?
  
  That way we nerds can brag about having sex on the floor every night... :)
  
  Parent
- - Re:low-res... (Score:3, Informative)
    
    by PeDRoRist (639207)
    
    It says 30 FPS (and 4096 colors) on the front page.
MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Funny)

by Dancin_Santa (265275) <DancinSanta@gmail.com> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:04AM (#12209819) Journal

I had the opportunity to go to several parties in Boston a few years back. A couple at Harvard and a couple at MIT and a couple near BU. Needless to say, the quality of the parties was inversely proportional to the U.S. News and World Report rankings of these schools. Not to take anything away from the homely girls and stereotypical MIT men, but MIT parties were only slightly better than the Harvard parties in terms of fun. However, Harvard edged out MIT in terms of attractive women (much to Mrs. Claus' chagrin).

Boston U had the best combination of attractive women and fun parties, though the "talent" pool in Boston left much to be desired.

What would be nice is to have this floor shipped over to Caltech or CMU where the attractive and successful Californians can take full advantage of it. The MIT geeks can still control the floor remotely from their dorms in Boston.
- Re:MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
  
  by wan-fu (746576) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:52AM (#12209988)
  
  CMU is in Pittsburgh unless you mean their west coast extension, in which case, there are just a bunch of unattractive Ph.D. students hanging out there. Caltech has even fewer women than MIT and they are also less attractive (yes, this sounds impossible, but it's true). In summary, while many Californians are attractive, they are not at Caltech or CMU.
  
  Parent
- Getting laid at MIT (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by plimsoll (247070) <[5dj82jy7c001] [at] [sneakemail.com]> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:16AM (#12210061) Homepage
  
  The odds are good, but the goods are odd.
  
  Parent
  - Re:Getting laid at MIT (Score:4, Funny)
    
    by FleaPlus (6935) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:23AM (#12210250) Homepage Journal
    
    When I was at CMU, that's what the CS girls often said about the CS guys. Another saying goes: "Women at MIT/Caltech/CMU are like parking spaces. They're all either taken or handicapped."
    
    I actually disagree with the saying myself, but it's certainly amusing.
    
    Parent
  - Re:Getting laid at MIT (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by wsloand (176072)
    
    At Georgia Tech, while the girls said that about the guys, I would say about the girls: "Good from afar, but far from good."
- Re:MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
  
  by Somnus (46089) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:34AM (#12210119)
  
  MIT has really gone down hill on this front since the late 80s (link [http]). I caught the tail end before that Krueger kid drank himself to death in '98. Since then, the administration has leveraged the event to change the student landscape: more "well-rounded" admittees, tighter alcohol controls, and less housing choice -- a more Ivy League-like model. I think it's a shame ... you can fix the problems (e.g., real-world competence) without making MIT less distinctive and fun. As a prelude to my graduate education, MIT was perfect.
  
  As for the women, those at MIT were fit, sharp, non-skanky, and often quite beautiful -- no other campus I've visited/attended matches up. (De gustibus non disputandum, etc.)
  
  Parent
Wow! Just imagine.. (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:04AM (#12209822)

Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things!
*ponder* (Score:3, Funny)

by Duncan3 (10537) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:05AM (#12209823) Homepage

MIT... dancefloor...

There is a joke in there somewhere, I just know it.
- - Re:*ponder* (Score:3, Insightful)
    
    by jay-be-em (664602)
    
    So your friend putting up a bunch of xmas light strings in shapes with different timers is more impressive than a usb controlled _programmable_ disco floor with 20k hand soldered connections?
    
    No. It isn't.
If only (Score:4, Funny)

by dark grep (766587) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:06AM (#12209824)

If only I had thought of that 20 years ago when disco was 'in' and I was a uni (college if you live in the US). There may have been some chance of spending nights with a real girl in stead of a cold, cold terminal. On the other hand. Probably not.
Wow with all that hand crafted soldering (Score:5, Funny)

by Timesprout (579035) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:06AM (#12209828)

I bet they are having to beat hot babes off the dance floor now to make sure all the hotties get a fair chance to show their goodies.
DDR (Score:4, Insightful)

by Ailure (853833) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:13AM (#12209853) Homepage

Anyone else starting to think on DDR with a big dancefloor instead of a tiny dancemat? With all thoose touch sensors...
There's only one style of dance for geeks... (Score:3, Funny)

by datafr0g (831498) <datafrog AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:14AM (#12209855) Homepage

The Robot! old skool geeks, word to ya mammas
Tetris (and other ideas) (Score:5, Insightful)

by FleaPlus (6935) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:17AM (#12209869) Homepage Journal

Any bets on how long until a Tetris clone is implemented for this?

Apparently the panels also have pressure sensors on them -- that's so cool. It sounds they have the hardware they need for an awesome game of massively-multiplayer Twister or Mosh Mosh Revolution [megatokyo.com]. Variants of pinball, pong, or arkanoid could also be fun, with virtual paddles drawn wherever there were two nearby pressure points (i.e. feet).
hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anubis350 (772791) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:17AM (#12209875)

I see this, sitting in my dorm room at 4:30AM and I say to myself, wow, if I were more productive I'd be building something like this instead of reading slashdot. Then I realize that I'm lazy and stop this line of inquiry before it makes me want to actually get up and do something, maybe next week......
Vertigo? (Score:3, Funny)

by op12 (830015) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:20AM (#12209888) Homepage

How long do you think you could stare at the floor before falling over/vomiting/having a seizure? I'm going with 15 minutes.
- Re:Vertigo? (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by syzler (748241) <david AT syzdek DOT net> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:42AM (#12209958)
  
  Dude, was something in the punch, because I think the floor is spinning and changing colors.
  
  Parent
nice work boys, but... (Score:4, Informative)

by mezzman (652612) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:24AM (#12209907)

...someone else beat you to it:
http://www.lightspace.biz/
- Re:nice work boys, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
  
  by Anonymous Coward
  
  except theirs cost about 30 grand for this size. This cost $2500.
Wow.. (Score:5, Funny)

by teamhasnoi (554944) <[moc.oohay] [ta] [ionsahmaet]> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @03:32AM (#12209937) Homepage Journal

Seeing cool stuff like that makes me wish I was smart.
Well, back to studying for my Caltech entrance exams.
Anyone here know how to blow up a baboon?
It's cool, and sturdy! (Score:5, Funny)

by AndyChrist (161262) <andy_christNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:01AM (#12210016) Homepage

Seriously, I saw one girl in there who was apparantly there to test the floor's durability.
If only (Score:3, Insightful)

by octal666 (668007) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:26AM (#12210092)

they had chicks to dance with...
Another one in process (Score:3, Interesting)

by mecanicaz (641010) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @04:41AM (#12210137) Homepage

We thought here of making something similar that even mimics the "Dance Dance Revolution" machine that you find in video arcades, haven't figured out how to sense the pressure though, any ideas?
- Re:Another one in process (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by Anonymous Coward
  
  The sensors on this floor are bare wirecoils seperated with a few layers of plastic wrap. The resistance of the wrap drops dramatically under heavy pressure, but this was found out by simply experimenting with handy materials. See if you can find something better and more reliable (though you probably won't find anything cheaper!)
They're engineers all right (Score:5, Funny)

by MotorMachineMercenar (124135) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:00AM (#12210183)

As you can see on the video, the floor surface was thoroughly stress-tested by a 300-pound hippopotamus on high heels doing the macarena.
800x600 version (Score:3, Funny)

by Edward Teach (11577) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:01AM (#12210186)

I want one but man, soldering 1,444,000 led's would be a bit tiring.
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

by dark-br (473115) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:18AM (#12210236) Homepage

... MIT's giant usb controlled disco dance floor hacked now scrolling "C A L T E C H"
What's the return policy for dead pixels... (Score:3, Funny)

by sxsnyc (786561) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:39AM (#12210299)

and...who's writing the firmware update and driver so I can hook up my PSP to this thing?
Bah ... (Score:5, Funny)

by hotspotbloc (767418) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @06:57AM (#12210549) Homepage Journal

Bexley had the same thing 20 years ago and that one was controlled with your mind! Man, I miss their parties. Sorry, what were we talking about?
ping dancefloor (Score:5, Funny)

by hughk (248126) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @07:15AM (#12210633) Journal

% ping dancefloor.mit.edu Pinging 172.74.99.17 with 32 bytes of data Reply from 172.74.99.17 bytes=32 time=100ms Node 172.19.15.17 is staying alive!

Apologies!
Some clarifications and notes (Score:5, Informative)

by asoko (657763) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @09:32AM (#12211572)
I can't claim that I was a major player, but I did help with the driver and some visualizations for this thing. Just to clarify:
- The emails you send do not get displayed on the floor, in case you were wondering. Ddf is just the email list.
- The people dancing in the video are not at a party, but members of a theater group that were recuited after their performance to shoot the video. At parties it's much groovier.
- The tiles on the floor can be controlled in real time, and by either a standalone program or an XMMS plugin (a spectrum analyzer is working as of recently) And yes, it should be relatively trivial to program tetris for it, though it hasn't been done yet.
- Our inspirational song is "Work it" by Daft Punk.
Aaron S.
What are you going to do today, Napoleon? (Score:5, Funny)

by Jakeypants (860350) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @09:40AM (#12211617)

"Build a USB dance floor, gosh!" [mit.edu]
Okay. That was cool. Up until... (Score:4, Funny)

by blair1q (305137) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @01:47PM (#12214981) Journal

...I actually saw the pictures... ...and then the movies... ...and then the movies of MIT students "dancing" on it... ...and then what an MIT soldering-iron jockey's idea of film editing meant... ...I'd say "they must've sniffed too many flux fumes," but no, that's not going to be what caused this...
- Re:Laser? (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by FleaPlus (6935)
  
  How so? Lasers generally don't go through bodies very well. Maybe if you had a laser shining from below and had a translucent dance floor, but that actually seems more difficult than just using LEDs.
  
  Actually, I suppose maybe the lasers could go through bodies, but then you'd have other problems to deal with.
- Re:wow (Score:4, Informative)
  
  by martingunnarsson (590268) * <martin&snarl-up,com> on Tuesday April 12 2005, @05:42AM (#12210306) Homepage
  
  They have a simple touch sensor under every tile, RTFA.
  
  Parent
- Bus powered? (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by godal (674406) on Tuesday April 12 2005, @07:42AM (#12210764) Homepage
  
  does it draw power from the usb bus or does it require an external power supply?
  
  Parent
- Re:Music in the video (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by Ice Tiger (10883)
  
  I thought I was watching an Amiga demo.

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TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)

Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)

Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:4, Funny)

Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:4, Funny)

Re:TAKE THAT CALTECH (Score:5, Funny)

Disco Stu (Score:3, Funny)

And they STILL can't dance (Score:4, Funny)

Re:And they STILL can't dance (Score:4, Funny)

Re:And they STILL can't dance (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Neo? (Score:5, Insightful)

Disco is dead (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Disco is dead (Score:5, Funny)

Re:low-res... (Score:3, Informative)

MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Funny)

Re:MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Interesting)

Getting laid at MIT (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Getting laid at MIT (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Getting laid at MIT (Score:3, Funny)

Re:MIT parties are interesting (Score:5, Interesting)

Wow! Just imagine.. (Score:5, Funny)

*ponder* (Score:3, Funny)

Re:*ponder* (Score:3, Insightful)

If only (Score:4, Funny)

Wow with all that hand crafted soldering (Score:5, Funny)

DDR (Score:4, Insightful)

There's only one style of dance for geeks... (Score:3, Funny)

Tetris (and other ideas) (Score:5, Insightful)

hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

Vertigo? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Vertigo? (Score:5, Funny)

nice work boys, but... (Score:4, Informative)

Re:nice work boys, but... (Score:3, Insightful)

Wow.. (Score:5, Funny)

It's cool, and sturdy! (Score:5, Funny)

If only (Score:3, Insightful)

Another one in process (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:Another one in process (Score:3, Informative)

They're engineers all right (Score:5, Funny)

800x600 version (Score:3, Funny)

In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

What's the return policy for dead pixels... (Score:3, Funny)

Bah ... (Score:5, Funny)

ping dancefloor (Score:5, Funny)

Some clarifications and notes (Score:5, Informative)

What are you going to do today, Napoleon? (Score:5, Funny)

Okay. That was cool. Up until... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Laser? (Score:3, Informative)

Re:wow (Score:4, Informative)

Bus powered? (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Music in the video (Score:3, Funny)

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ponder (Score:3, Funny)

Re:ponder (Score:3, Insightful)