Ambient Orb

Home Built Ambient Orb

2008-02-12T10:35:00.000Z

This bloke has built his own Orb using an Arduino.
It predicts weather at the moment, but theres no reason this couldnt do other things:
http://www.therestons.com/scott/blog/?p=29

Ambient Orb Code for Developers

2008-01-11T10:17:00.000Z

Recently, I found some c# wrapper code for ambient orb developers.
So if your interested in working with the orb and know c#, then check out:
http://betterthaneveryone.com/archive/2007/09/22/orb-code.aspx

Customers save Electricity by using the Ambient Orb

2008-01-03T14:26:00.000Z

"[The Ambient Orb is] a groovy little ball that changes color in sync with incoming data — growing more purple, for example, as your email inbox fills up or as the chance of rain increases. Martinez realized he could use Orbs to signal changes in electrical rates, programming them to glow green when the grid was underused — and, thus, electricity cheaper — and red during peak hours when customers were paying more for power."

Read More about this Ambient Orb Story

A video of my orb

2007-11-09T15:45:00.000Z

Here is a video of my orb just cycling colours:

How to Make a Music Syncing Light Orb Alarm Clock

2006-12-27T15:22:00.000Z

This just takes the Ambient Orb to the next level:

http://zedomax.com/blog/2006/12/22/zedomax-diy125-howto-make-a-music-syncing-light-orb-alarm-clock/

Check out the Video

Ambient Orb - Make your own

2006-12-06T22:27:00.000Z

This guy has made his own orb:

http://weblogs.java.net/blog/kohsuke/archive/2006/11/diyorb_my_own_e.html

"While it's not as pretty as the ambient orb, this is cheaper, and more importantly it's way more fun! If anyone is interested in the source code / schematic, I'd be happy to make them available"

Ambient Devices latest release - The Ambient Clock

2006-11-30T14:28:00.000Z

Assuming that you keep your schedule in Google Calendar (and really, who doesn't these days?), you can link it up the Ambient Clock (via Ambient's "nationwide wireless network") to find out what your schedule is. Meaning, a quick glance will help determine when you have scheduled events (the block rectangles on the clock) and the clock itself will change color if you have an upcoming appointment. As of right now the Ambient Clock isn't actually in production, although there is an online beta so you can get a feel for the features and help the engineers decide certain aspects of the build.

http://www.ambientclock.com

Ambient Orb reminds you to take your medication!

2006-10-16T12:32:00.000Z

The following article explains how the Orb has been integrated into a pill box to remind you take your medicine. It flashes when your overdue:

http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2102

New Ambient Device - The Ambient Umbrella!

2006-07-18T14:09:00.000Z

Not a bad idea if your concerned about the weather:

In the dry days of the Southern California summer, it's a pretty safe
bet that there won't be any need to take the umbrella out of the closet.
But
for those people who would rather not take their chances on a sudden downpour,
Ambient Devices has created an umbrella that tells you when it might be a good
idea to bring it along.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/business/article/0,1375,VCS_128_4849187,00.html

Ambient Orb used to show levels of satisfaction

2006-06-20T08:57:00.000Z

The ambient orb has been used by an American bank to show the level of customer satisfaction:

A six-story obelisk topped by a glowing blue box stands outside the new headquarters of Truliant Federal Credit Union in Winston-Salem. Blue means the people who bank with Truliant are happy. Otherwise, the box gradually glows less blue, then yellow, then increasingly green.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/14857933.htm

Ambient Orb used in Silicon Valley

2006-05-30T11:13:00.000Z

Just found this new use for the Ambient Orb:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13029245/

Basically, the Energy Companies can tell local customers when power usage is high through the power of the Ambient Orb.
It changes colour from Green, to Amber, to Red based on Power Load.

Ambient Orb Developer Kit hooked up....

2006-03-23T09:49:00.000Z

I have my hands on the dev kit
I have it plugged into my orb
I have it plugged into my PC

I can make it change colours :)

Watch this space.....

Recieved my Ambient Orb Developers Kit

2006-02-27T12:06:00.000Z

As some of you may know, I bought a US orb and got a transformer, so I could use it here in the UK.

However, it wasnt much use as I couldnt do much with it!

Ive finally got my hands on a developers kit for it... So watch this space!
If you have any ideas for things youd like to see it do, then post a comment here
:)

News of Ambient Orb Support in Uk and Europe

2006-02-27T12:04:00.000Z

Sorry for the long wait on a update here...

Spoke to Jason @ ambient devices and he said i need to check back with him in 6 months.

Not great news for now - hope to keep you informed as soon as I hear anything

When will the ambient orb be available in the UK?

2005-12-29T09:51:00.000Z

Ive emailed Ambient Devices to find out when the Orb will be available in the UK.

Last time i spoke with them, they said early 2006....

New Ambient Orb Article

2005-06-12T09:21:00.000Z

Ive written a new article on how the Ambient Orb can help you by displaying information that you would normall get from other sources.

It shows how its easier to just get an orb and throw your TV away....

Ambient Orb: Instant Information

Voltage Transformer for Ambient Orb Device

2005-06-05T13:41:00.000Z

Well the orb arrived with a US plug.
The USA use a different Voltage to the UK (110V instead of 240V) so i need a transformer to step down the voltage for my Ambient Orb Device.

Managed to get one off ebay for about £10 ($16).

For anyone else:

Click here for Transformer to power your Orb

Sourced Ambient Orb Device

2005-06-02T15:00:00.000Z

Managed to get an Ambient Orb shipped over from the US.
Would be good if Amazon US shipped them internationally - but oh no, that would be far too easy!

Managed to get one from some dodgy Musuem in america who shipped it... had to pay £30 import TAX.... bit steep but never mind!

Now just need to get a power convertor... to step down 240V to 110V

Ambient Orb available to the UK! (maybe)

2005-04-24T21:31:00.000Z

Well, as i said in an earlier post, the ambient orb wasnt available to the UK.
Amazon and ThinkGeek, although shipping generally to the UK, would not ship the Orb!!

I know have possibly found somewhere who has accepted my order for the Ambient Orb and if it comes through, ill tell you all where!

Watch this space for more Ambient Orb news!

The Differences between the Mathmos Color Bubble and the Ambient Orb

2005-04-19T15:56:00.000Z

There seems to be some confusion between the Mathmos Color Bubble and the Ambient Orb.

Basically, the Ambient Orb recieves information wirelessly and changes color based on the information it gets and the Color Bubble changes color randomly.

For more information, Check the differences between the Orb and the Bubble

Sourcing an Ambient Orb

2005-04-13T20:16:00.000Z

Being in the Uk.... it's rather difficult to get hold of an ambient orb...

My Plan is to get an Orb and hook it up to a PC via the developers kit.... (which you also can't get in the UK!)

First of all, I need to get the orb, Amazon.com don't ship the orb to the UK, Ambient Devices (the makers of the orb), also decided that just because we cant get the Ambient Network signal in the UK, that we wouldn't want to buy one at all...

The search continues...

If you want to buy an orb (if your in the US or check status if you live in another country) - see Buying an Orb