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Children's Museum

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

The morphing colors and changing shapes that take place when looking through a kaleidoscope have always fascinated children. Knowing this, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis decided to create a virtual kaleidoscope, one that would give children the sense of standing inside a moving kaleidoscope. Their stunning vision comes to life through the power of Color Kinetics LED lighting. The museum's walk-in kaleidoscope is an utterly unique demonstration of creativity made possible through cutting-edge technology. By mixing color changing lighting, mirrored walls and a little ingenuity, the Museum has developed an innovative exhibit that takes visitors someplace they never thought they could go -- inside a kaleidoscope. The walk-in kaleidoscope consists of a wall measuring 7' tall at its peak that contains approximately 49 triangular shelves or "cubbies." Each of these shelves are lined with 6" and 12" lengths of Color Kinetics® iColor® Cove fixtures; the shelves are then covered with a milky-white plastic material so the fixtures aren't visible. The surrounding walls and ceiling panels are made entirely of mirrors. The designers created a unique light show using Color Kinetics ColorPlay® light show authoring software, and store and play it back on a Color Kinetics iPlayer®. When the lights are turned on and the show is running, the color changes occurring within the triangular shelves are reflected onto the mirrored walls, giving visitors the sense of standing within an actual, moving kaleidoscope!