An Interactive Wall at Google Is Made From Thousands of Arcade Buttons

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To show off its latest tech project, Google is using a retro piece of hardware. A wall in the lobby of the company's New York City offices has been lined with 5880 light-up arcade buttons all programmed to work like pixels, Fast Company's Co.Design reports.

The display is a demonstration of the company's new hardware library and open-source software AnyPixel.js. Anyone can play around with the code to create their own super-sized display made from any number of pixels. What exactly passes for a pixel in this situation is limited to the user's imagination; at Google, they went with old-school arcade buttons. Color-changing LED lights behind each button are programmed to depict words and shapes remotely, or people can interact with the wall directly like a massive touch screen.

If you don't have access to a warehouse of arcade supplies, Google recommends using light switches, light boxes, or even balloons to build your display. In the meantime, you can check out a video of Google's colorful creation below for inspiration.

[h/t Co.Design]