Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video)

Ask any home audio enthusiast and they’ll tell you: there’s nothing quite like precisely adjusting settings via a giant knob. However, they can’t all be huge or our living rooms would be covered by the things. Enter the Puck: a wireless RFID reader that also contains an accelerometer, controlled by an Arduino Mini and created by Eric Gradman along with Tyler and Brent Bushnell. RFIDs mounted to walls or other surfaces tell the PUCK what function to control, and then the accelerometer serves to increase or decrease the value as it’s turned, truly turning it into a virtual knob. If you’re done snickering, there’s a video after the break showing one Puck controlling three separate light colors individually, perfect for dialing in the perfect mood or concert lighting — if only it could dial down the amplitude of dude’s fauxhawk.

Update: We received a note indicating a grave factual inaccuracy in this post. We’ve been told that the hair depicted in the video below is, indeed, a genuine mohawk. We’ve yet to receive photo confirmation of this fact (the mood lighting in the demo is a bit too dark to tell), but in the interest of accuracy we’re providing this update just the same.

Update 2: Photo proof received; mohawk confirmed. And a quite impressive one, too.

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Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This post is tagged: arduino, arduino mini, ArduinoMini, brent bushnell, BrentBushnell, eric gradman, EricGradman, puck