Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this “dream ball” concept, and I gotta say, it’s been a wild ride. It all started with a simple idea: could I create a visual representation of a dream? Not like, a painting or anything, but something… more dynamic. More alive.
Getting Started
First, I just started sketching. Lots of scribbles, really. Trying to figure out what this thing should even look like. I knew I wanted it to be spherical, like a crystal ball, but beyond that? No clue. I went through a ton of paper, just letting my hand move, seeing what shapes felt right. I ended up with something that looked vaguely like a swirling galaxy inside a glass orb. Cool, but how do you make that real?
The Techy Stuff
Then came the hard part. I needed a way to project images inside a sphere. I looked at some existing tech, projectors, but every result search return a flat image. That’s not gonna work. So i was thinking. what about to make it from zero? I decided to use tiny LED to make it, it will be hard but it’s the only way.
Coding and Soldering (Lots of It)
- LED Matrix: I grabbed a bunch of those tiny, individually addressable LEDs. I mean, a lot of them.
- The Sphere: I found a clear acrylic sphere online. It was surprisingly hard to find one that was the right size and totally clear.
- Microcontroller: I used a microcontroller to Control all LEDs.
- Coding Nightmare: This was the real headache. Getting the LEDs to display the right colors, in the right patterns, to create that swirling, dream-like effect… let’s just say I spent a lot of late nights staring at code and error messages. I had to map 2D images onto a 3D surface, which involved some math I definitely hadn’t used since high school.
- Soldering Hell: Wiring up all those LEDs was… tedious. Seriously, my fingers were cramping, and I think I inhaled more solder fumes than is probably healthy. But, slowly, painstakingly, it started to come together. I built a basic frame to hold the LEDs in the shape of the sphere.
The “Aha!” Moment
After weeks of tinkering, I finally had something that resembled my initial sketches. I loaded up a simple animation – just some swirling colors – and held my breath. I flipped the switch… and there it was. This glowing, swirling ball of light. It wasn’t perfect, the resolution was kinda low, and the colors weren’t quite as vibrant as I’d hoped, but it worked. It felt… magical. Like I’d actually pulled something out of the ether.
Still Tinkering
It’s still a work in progress, of course. I want to improve the resolution, make the animations smoother, and maybe even add some sound reactivity. But for now, I’m pretty happy with my little dream ball. It’s a reminder that even the craziest ideas can be brought to life with enough persistence (and maybe a few too many cups of coffee). I love this feeling when an idea just start in my head but with some effort and it becomes a real thing.
