Fiber Optic Panels Are a Brilliant Idea for Wall Decor

When you think about fiber optics, light transmission from an entrance point to an end that may be some distance away likely comes to mind. As demonstrated by Andrei Erdei's project, “side glow” fibers work somewhat differently, allowing light to emanate from the sides. While one wouldn't use these fibers for long-range data transmission, they’re quite interesting to look at, and are great for decorative wall lighting.

Erdei's setup combines WS2812B “NeoPixel” LEDs with this style of fiber optics, which loop around in a series of nine square frames. These frames form a larger square as a wall installation, which would look at home in a museum, club, or modern restaurant. 216 LEDs are used here from a 60 LED/meter strip, which are cut and soldered together in sections of three each. These fit nicely in the 3D-printed frame, and the 3mm fibers used squeeze into holes where they stay without the need for an adhesive compound.

The decorative piece is controlled by an Arduino Nano, and you can see it going through a number of demo programs in the video below. Although these routines are not explicitly designed for fiber use, they work quite nice nonetheless. Impressive as it may be now, one could see this enhanced with sound reactive capabilities, or perhaps even a WiFi chip to enable it to react to external data. Erdei also notes that while his build is square, there are a wide variety of other design possibilities, like hexagons or triangles, that one could implement.