麻豆影院

Graduate student Lila Finch鈥檚 luminous sculpture lends artistic form to scientific function. Supported by a gift from Oracle Academy in the , her 9-foot creation, which resembles an expansive tree with outstretched branches, uses colored lights to visually demonstrate the health of a hydroponic garden growing one floor above in the Roser ATLAS Building. Sensors measuring moisture in the plants, light intake and other biological stats funnel data into a database, which communicates wirelessly with microcontrollers in the sculpture. Depending on whether the plants are thriving or withering, the colors and timing of the piece鈥檚 230 LED lights change in response to the data. Finch, a PhD student in the Technology, Media and Society program, hosts workshops for youths to construct their own 鈥渆xpressive lanterns鈥� and is designing curricula with science, art and computer science teachers to be implemented in middle and high school classrooms next year. They鈥檙e learning the basics of programming and communications, and how science and art can integrate to illuminate our world. 鈥淚 wanted to think about how you could value art and science equally in learning and learn from one another,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淭he combination, I think, can be really useful for both fields.