LED Matrix Shades - Blue

Our LED Matrix Shades are a great way to stand out at your next party, concert, trade show, Burning Man, or other event. They're cool shades that you can program! You can make them scroll custom messages across the 166 LED array on the front, or select various animations. Any computer with a USB port can be used to upload new messages and patterns to the LED Shades. The rechargeable battery will last 4+ hours depending on the selected brightness and patterns, and is also charged through the USB port.

The LED Shades have an Arduino-compatible circuit built into the right temple, and a battery built into the left temple. If you're familiar with Arduino programming and the Arduino IDE, you can make the LED Shades do virtually anything; modify our patterns or design your own, change how the control buttons work, or even solder your own external devices to the provided I/O pads for sensing or communication. Learning to program the LED Shades is also a fun way to improve microcontroller programming skills.

Click here for LED Matrix Shades Documentation and Code

Of course, you don't need to be a programmer to enjoy wearing and customizing our LED Shades. We can help you get the Arduino IDE up and running on your computer, which will allow you to easily change the scrolling text messages to anything you want. We're also working on an easy-to-use program that will let non-programmers develop their own animated patterns.

The LED Shades are made from exposed printed circuit boards for a unique look and easy access for electronics experimenters. This does mean that they need to be kept away from metal objects like keys and jewelry that could short the electronics, and if they get splashed with any liquid they should be allowed to dry before powering on. They are also as fragile as any other electronic device and should not be dropped on a hard surface.

All the plastic components of the LED Shades are currently made using Reprap 3D printing technology. As such, they may look different from most plastic parts found on electronic products, but can be made on demand and improved as we receive feedback (which we definitely appreciate).

LED Shades are available in very limited quantities at this time.

Technical specifications:

• 166 bright individually-addressable single-color LEDs
• 256-level PWM brightness control of each LED
• Separate brightness control of full array (up to 256 levels)
• 400mAh Lithium-Polymer battery
• Charge from any USB port
• USB power and charging indicator LEDs
• ATmega328P at 8MHz, Arduino-compatible bootloader
• Built-in USB-RS232 converter
• Built-in ambient light sensor
• TTL-serial and I/O pins available for hacking

Need more color?

If you want LED Glasses with full RGB capabilities, look no further than our popular RGB Shades.