Six lanterns in the window of The UCLA Family Commons glow with colors that change as people’s feelings change. This interactive, data-driven display is designed to spark public conversation about how we feel. Using a mix of art and technology, it gives us another way to share and see each other’s feelings.

The shifting colors of the BEACON lanterns reflect the ups and downs, ins and outs, of how people in our community are feeling. The colors change continually, just as our feelings change from moment to moment.

Every time the lanterns flash, someone has just recorded how they feel.
 
Participation is open to all who are part of The UCLA Family Commons community – those who live and work in Santa Monica, as well as visitors. When you use the “widget” to record your emotion and its intensity – either here or on our Facebook page – your input is automatically transferred to the server that controls the lanterns.
 
The lanterns’ early morning color is set by the Family Commons’ staff to express how they feel about the coming day. The colors gradually shift throughout the day, as more people join the conversation by anonymously sharing their emotions through the server.
 
Each lantern shows one thin white stripe of light, which moves up or down in response to how many people are feeling good or troubled each day. The yellow-oranges reflect those who are feeling good, the purple-blues those who are feeling troubled. 

BEACON has been created as a collaboration between The UCLA Family Commons, the UCLA Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance, Drisko Studio Architects and Creable.