Stonehouse - The projection finalisation demo

The final stage of our Transforming Stonehouse module was to create a demo of our project idea based on what we had worked on over the year which demonstrated what we would plan to do and how if we were able to properly implement it into our site location.
Our idea for our project was to use arduino connected to a light sensor to provide information as to whether a pedestrian crossing button had been pressed.  When a pedestrian presses the button on a crossing a light appears on the console, with either usually a 'WAIT' or pedestrian symbol. By using a light sensor we could tell when this had been switched on and so when the button had been pressed.  The data from the light sensor would then both control and trigger a projection.  The projection would be run from a Flash app in which the data from the arduino would be sent to the application and then this would be used to modify and control it.  If the data said that the light was on a selection of words would be projected linking to our idea of communication through light.  The number of words shown would be based on the length of time between the light being switched on.  The words shown have been chosen to counter act the current opinions of the Stonehouse area by being more positive, encouraging the viewers to think more positively and so improving how people feel in the Stonehouse area. Below is a video demonstrating how the system works using the arduino with light sensor, a computer and a projector but in a classroom environment as we currently have not be able to implement it due to its requirements:

Transforming Stonehouse Demo from Rebecca Veater on Vimeo.
The plan for the projection would be that only the words would be shown and could be projected either on the nearby wall, or on the floor in front of the pedestrians.  As well as making people feel more positive the system is also designed to prevent pedestrians from crossing the road at incorrect times when the traffic has not actually been stopped.  Often people press pedestrian crossing buttons but the cross before the traffic has been stopped for them, leaving drivers stopped for no reason.  By preventing people from crossing without signal by distracting them with the projection this should help to make the traffic lights and pedestrian crossing more effective and efficient.
To make this working demo we used a open source Arduino - Flash library called Glue.  From this (or from the Arduino software) we were able to download the FirmataStandard arduino script onto the board which allowed us to communicate with the arduino directly from Flash making it easier to connect the data to the projection image.  The projection was then made in Flash using additional AS3 script and a text file which was parsed into the flash file to provide the list of words.  To be able to run the projection we also needed to have the proxy server running that came with the Glue software.  This acted as a server between the arduino and the flash from within the computer, allowing for the data to be transferred and the projection to be controlled.