Snøkrystall

For this project, the brief was to make an interactive product that could be sold at a Christmas craft market at the end of the semester.

I wanted to make a small light to provide holiday warmth and coziness. Taking inspiration from puzzles and holiday games, I also wanted to create something that could be fun to fiddle with or interact with during the holidays.

Snøkrystall, the Norwegian word for snow crystal, is a lamp that is created by solving a foldable riddle. The lamp is an abstraction of a snow crystal when laid flat - in order to make the lamp light up, you have to fold the crystal correctly in order for the current to pass through the arms of the snow flake to the battery to the LED.

Project by: Jacob Pettersen

Project length: 3 weeks

AHO course: Tangible Interactions, Autumn 2017

Process

I made many prototypes to figure out how the form could be balanced while folded. I also experimented with what conductive material I needed to use along the arms. I tried different conductive paints and tapes, and chose the copper tape.

I laser cut the plastic forms and cut the coppertape with a knifecutting machine. I produced about 15 pieces and sold all of them.