Carnegie Mellon University’s Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge is at once a part pedestrian bridge and a 2x30 array of programmable LED strips begging for interactive light driven experiences.

In “Interaction and Expression Using the Pausch Bridge Lighting,” a course taught across the School of Drama and School of Computer Science, our team (Noah Johnson, Taylor Tabb, Rachel Nakamura, Grant Campfield, and Max Chen) used then President Subra Suresh’s heart beat as input for a generative light show on the bridge

While Dr. Suresh was in New York City, we used biometric data pulled from the Fitbit he was wearing, and used the Fitbit API, Python, and a library designed for the bridge to illuminate the flashing color changing lights in a visually engaging way that matched his heart rate.