Vikram and I set out to create a set of wind chimes that could be used by apartment dwellers. Our goals were simple: to create a set of wind chimes that could function like traditional analog wind chimes, creating sound by a striker striking chimes - but we wanted a set that would be silent outdoors.
I love wind chimes. They make me think of spending the summers near the ocean in Maine while I was growing up. A few years ago my friend Cate gave me a set of chimes that came off her parents' house in Lanesville, NY. I wanted to hang them out on my fire escape, but they are too loud considering how many neighbors share the alley my window looks out on.
We wanted a set of chimes that would be silent outside, but that one could listen to inside, in his or her own home.
We created two versions, one that can hang from a fire escape or terrace, and a second that can sit on a windowsill in the case that someone has no outdoor space. The signals are transmitted wirelessly via XBee radio to a computer inside the apartment, where the volume can be as low or as high as one would like.
Below is a video of the window sill version of the Chim-era:
And the hanging version of the Chim-era:
posted by Amanda @ 7:53 PM,
