When I first saw Christmas lights blinking in time to music, I had to give it a go myself! This miniature house features 31 channels of EL wire and LEDs synced via VixenLights. Handling the 200V power supply was the hardest part, but after version 5, the results are absolutely magical.

This video shows version 5 of my miniature light sync house. At less than a foot high, and USB powered, it’s super portable. LEDs and Electroluminescent wire make this possible. The amplifier and speakers are powered separately at the moment, but aren’t required if you use a bluetooth speaker or connect to a stereo.

VixenLights software allowed easy (and free) synchronization of the music and lights. Easier, I should add, as several hours still go into the making of one song’s worth of light show. The "brain" of the performance isn't just the code, but the professional-grade VixenLights software:

Choreographed Displays: Using Vixen’s visual timeline, the author spent hours mapping every musical beat to a specific light channel.
Desktop Peripheral Architecture: The house acts as a specialized computer peripheral. The connected laptop streams a data packet for every frame of the song, which the Arduino Micro then interprets and executes instantly.
Complexity Managed: By using the MM5450 chip, the Arduino can control dozens of outputs using just a few pins, preventing the hardware from becoming unmanageable.

This version of my house acts like a computer peripheral. It shows whatever light sequence VixenLights throws out. The connected laptop or computer does the work of playing the music and outputting a stream of data to the house. An Arduino microcontroller takes this stream of data and controls the lights. The EL wire requires an extra step, a power supply that raises the 5 volt USB power to 200 volts at very low current. Handling this high voltage was the hardest part of this project, and I ended up using optoisolating triacs for separating the low and high voltages.

Handling 200V Safely: The Triac Challenge

The biggest technical hurdle was powering the EL wire:

High-Voltage Inversion: EL wire requires high-frequency Alternating Current (AC) at around 200V. The project uses a dedicated inverter board to step up the 5V USB power.
Opto-Isolation: To protect the Arduino and the user, the system uses Optoisolating Triacs. This allows the low-voltage DC signals from the microcontroller to switch the high-voltage AC lines using pulses of light, physically separating the two circuits.
Portability: Despite the high internal voltages, the entire unit remains incredibly compact and USB-powered, making it the ultimate party or office desk centerpiece.

The next step I’ll be taking involves the computer software. Namely the ability to auto synchronize with music being played, such as a radio station or at a party. While version 5 uses pre-sequenced data, the developer is already planning for a system that can "listen" and auto-synchronize to a radio station or live music. This project is a perfect demonstration of how Architectural Modeling and Electronic Arts can merge into a single, cohesive, and breathtaking interactive experience.