Oscar Wilde famously said, "Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Whether you agree or not, Wilde didn't have access to lightning bolt emojis or entertaining apps like Poncho to make rain-predicting small talk quirky and, well, interesting. Whether you have family across the country, or significant other's across seas, sometimes knowing what the skies above your loved one's heads is a welcomed comfort that makes you feel closer. Therefore, Patch of Sky—a set of three Internet-connected ambient lights developed by Fabrica—is just the tool to make weather-based conversation more interactive.The three objects of Patch of Sky are part-mirrors, part-lights that can be hung on a wall or placed on a table. They gather weather information based on your current Facebook location and translate that data into colored light animations. During storms, the devices flicker and become a dark blue, but on cloudless days they gleam an ebullient yellow. On the project site, the creators explain, "Meteorological phenomena are classified into eleven common weather conditions, each of them corresponding to a colored light animation. These animations are carefully designed to be understood at first glance."The prototypes implement Arduino and an Internet of Things-based technology called BERGCloud that allows the objects to cull data from your geo-tagged social media accounts. So if you're in bleak and rainy London, while you're spouse is catching rays in LA, now you have a tool that makes you feel like you're right there with 'em—dodging raindrops or applying an extra coat of sunscreen.
Learn more about Patch of Sky on the project's website, and visit Fabrica for more.For more on the Internet of Things, see: Kinetic Sculpture Moves And Changes According To The WeatherCould This Digital Cooking Machine Replace Chefs?Is This Big Red Button The Evolution Of The Remote Control?'Pixel Track' Reinvents Analog Signs Of The Past
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