#BioBox
Donation protected
My name is Dan Haber, and I’m on a mission to build an art installation that inspires action on climate change like nobody has seen before. But first, a little...
About Me
I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC and graduated with Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Maryland. As a side project since my senior year, I’ve been working hard to visualize music on LED strips. It all began after I declared to my housemate that by the end of our last summer, the dance floor in our basement would have music-reactive lighting. Once I started animating LEDs to make them music-reactive, I was hooked. Over the years, it has grown to where I’ve just recently started a company around this technology with my friend Victoria Mitchell who’s super cool. She builds websites, plays the bass, skateboards, and studied Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt.
So after college and for the past 3 years, I have been working on an Earth Observing Satellite, Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard. Our job is to maintain the health and safety of our satellites, and the instruments on them, so they will continue capturing valuable Earth science data for as long as possible. The scientists at Goddard and all over the world are doing amazing work, analyzing terabytes of data to better understand the changing climate. And while the scientists are figuring out the nuances of what exactly is changing, it does not take deep analysis to know that it is, in fact, changing. This concise NASA web page sums up their work perfectly.
I am combining these two passions to work on my biggest project yet and to create what I hope is an impactful experience called...
BioBox
This installation, roughly the size of a phone booth, will use mirrors on the inside surfaces to create the optical illusion of an infinite number of lights in all directions. These lights will consist of a hemispherical LED display on the ceiling, which will look like a full sphere in the reflections, and 4 pillars of diffused LED strips. These lights will be programmed to visualize the tone and subject matter of the audio.
This audio will feature Morgan Freeman narrating the urgency we are facing in addressing climate change but also the amazing opportunity we have to build a better future. At the end, as the background music lowers, he asks how future generations will look back on us if we don’t address this issue versus if we do, and he ends by stating that it’s up to us to act now. There are 2 versions of the audio and visuals, one 3:30 long and one about 1:00 long, so this installation can be tailored to its audience, how many people there are, and can have 2 price points.
Following the experience, participants can pledge an action they’ll take to help the planet by writing on the external surfaces of BioBox. It is our hope that these pledges, born in this moment, will shape future decisions and actions for years to come.
This installation is being built for Catharsis on the Mall but will be tested at local Earth Day events in the DC region. Following Catharsis on the Mall, it will continue to be displayed around the country.
Progress
I am already making lots of progress designing the structure, putting it together, and writing the code for the lights. Below you’ll see a video of the hemisphere displaying the Earth and a CAD model of the infinity cube without two of the mirrors.
The Money
The raw materials for this installation, namely the mirrors, cost thousands of dollars. The funds raised from this GoFundMe will be used to initially develop the upper half of the infinity room where 1-2 participants will enter an infinity cube on supports (supports not seen in the above model). With enough money raised, I will be able to accelerate the development of the full BioBox infinity room concept and hopefully build more than one.
GoFundMe donations will contribute to Biobox’s development costs but while it’s installed, this installation will be used to raise money for organizations who are acting now to save our planet. The donations we make will be posted on our website for full transparency.
With a donation to this campaign of at least $10, we’ll post your name on our website in a special thank you section.
If you do choose to donate, I’d be extremely appreciative of any amount you are comfortable with!
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email redacted]ign if you’d like to get in touch.
I am still finding venues to host it so please let me know if you're interested! And if you are either knowledgeable on Earth science or on what steps we can each take to protect our planet, it would be great to have you facilitate a discussion with people in line.
Please forward this on if you know anybody who’d be interested and share it with #BioBox.
Thank you!
Dan Haber
Special thanks to:
Grant Barrett and Timmy Wallace for the space, the help, and the tools to build it
Jason Coon at EvilGeniusLabs.org for the Ducenti
Yayoi Kusama for the infinity room inspiration
Louie Schwartzberg and Hans Zimmer for creating the audio
Geoffrey Chan for designing the logo
Neil Shah for making some designs on CAD
and Megan Humes for putting up with me and this whole project!
About Me
I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC and graduated with Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Maryland. As a side project since my senior year, I’ve been working hard to visualize music on LED strips. It all began after I declared to my housemate that by the end of our last summer, the dance floor in our basement would have music-reactive lighting. Once I started animating LEDs to make them music-reactive, I was hooked. Over the years, it has grown to where I’ve just recently started a company around this technology with my friend Victoria Mitchell who’s super cool. She builds websites, plays the bass, skateboards, and studied Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt.
So after college and for the past 3 years, I have been working on an Earth Observing Satellite, Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard. Our job is to maintain the health and safety of our satellites, and the instruments on them, so they will continue capturing valuable Earth science data for as long as possible. The scientists at Goddard and all over the world are doing amazing work, analyzing terabytes of data to better understand the changing climate. And while the scientists are figuring out the nuances of what exactly is changing, it does not take deep analysis to know that it is, in fact, changing. This concise NASA web page sums up their work perfectly.
I am combining these two passions to work on my biggest project yet and to create what I hope is an impactful experience called...
BioBox
This installation, roughly the size of a phone booth, will use mirrors on the inside surfaces to create the optical illusion of an infinite number of lights in all directions. These lights will consist of a hemispherical LED display on the ceiling, which will look like a full sphere in the reflections, and 4 pillars of diffused LED strips. These lights will be programmed to visualize the tone and subject matter of the audio.
This audio will feature Morgan Freeman narrating the urgency we are facing in addressing climate change but also the amazing opportunity we have to build a better future. At the end, as the background music lowers, he asks how future generations will look back on us if we don’t address this issue versus if we do, and he ends by stating that it’s up to us to act now. There are 2 versions of the audio and visuals, one 3:30 long and one about 1:00 long, so this installation can be tailored to its audience, how many people there are, and can have 2 price points.
Following the experience, participants can pledge an action they’ll take to help the planet by writing on the external surfaces of BioBox. It is our hope that these pledges, born in this moment, will shape future decisions and actions for years to come.
This installation is being built for Catharsis on the Mall but will be tested at local Earth Day events in the DC region. Following Catharsis on the Mall, it will continue to be displayed around the country.
Progress
I am already making lots of progress designing the structure, putting it together, and writing the code for the lights. Below you’ll see a video of the hemisphere displaying the Earth and a CAD model of the infinity cube without two of the mirrors.
The Money
The raw materials for this installation, namely the mirrors, cost thousands of dollars. The funds raised from this GoFundMe will be used to initially develop the upper half of the infinity room where 1-2 participants will enter an infinity cube on supports (supports not seen in the above model). With enough money raised, I will be able to accelerate the development of the full BioBox infinity room concept and hopefully build more than one.
GoFundMe donations will contribute to Biobox’s development costs but while it’s installed, this installation will be used to raise money for organizations who are acting now to save our planet. The donations we make will be posted on our website for full transparency.
With a donation to this campaign of at least $10, we’ll post your name on our website in a special thank you section.
If you do choose to donate, I’d be extremely appreciative of any amount you are comfortable with!
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email redacted]ign if you’d like to get in touch.
I am still finding venues to host it so please let me know if you're interested! And if you are either knowledgeable on Earth science or on what steps we can each take to protect our planet, it would be great to have you facilitate a discussion with people in line.
Please forward this on if you know anybody who’d be interested and share it with #BioBox.
Thank you!
Dan Haber
Special thanks to:
Grant Barrett and Timmy Wallace for the space, the help, and the tools to build it
Jason Coon at EvilGeniusLabs.org for the Ducenti
Yayoi Kusama for the infinity room inspiration
Louie Schwartzberg and Hans Zimmer for creating the audio
Geoffrey Chan for designing the logo
Neil Shah for making some designs on CAD
and Megan Humes for putting up with me and this whole project!
Organiser
Daniel Haber
Organiser
Washington D.C., DC
