College dorm life can be cramped and miserable, but one UC Berkeley freshman, Derek Low, has built an amazing automated dorm room, which he call’s the B.R.A.D, or Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm.
Low’s lights and curtains are controlled by his iPhone, his iPad, and voice commands on his laptop. At 8:00 a.m., he’s awakened by some loud music and the curtains opening to greet the day. A motion detector automatically turns on the lights and open the curtains when he enters. A YouTube video shows him turning on a light to read in his bed, then saying “sleep mode” to turn on the lights.
The room also includes a “homework mode” to turn on the light over his desk so he can study, a “romantic mode” that turns on some Elton John and a mirror ball, and most importantly, an emergency big red “party button,” complete with a plastic “molly guard” cover, that turns on some booming music and flashing lights. (You should also be careful if you have epilepsy while watching the video.)
This story comes to us thanks to Gizmodo. The details are all on Low’s blog.
If you’re looking for some other cool projects in a similar vein, check out a list of some of MIT’s greatest hacks, from that other major science and engineering university. You might also enjoy this building hacked to play “Space Invaders.”
