Opto is a tool for moving physical objects with pixels. The core idea is based on optical devices (hence the name) where visual information is used as control messages for different systems, such as . It is a software developed for the Arduino platform that lets its user interacting with actuators such as LEDs, motors in a playful way that requires no programming.

How?

Opto has a very simple user interface, where you can place different objects on an empty canvas. These objects have one thing in common: they all convert pixel colours into data that can be sent to your Arduino. They are based on the different image based media that you can use with your computer: camera input, images, image sequences (animations), video, microphone input (using the image of the current sound spectrum). These visual contents can be converted into small data packages by simply positioning a “pixel sensor” above the desired area. Opto looks for the pixel brightness behind this sensor, and forwards its value to the selected pin on your Arduino.

Current state > desktop version 

At the moment, Opto is capable for making pulse width modulation and driving servo motors. This means you can use its output as digital, analog (pwm) and servo types. It is compiled for OSX and Windows, but you can compile your version for Linux (hence of course Raspberry PI), from the source.

Future > mobile platform

Beginner workshops, fun challenges, kids workshops and events for the community of people who are interested in interaction design are the main goals of the project. Otto will be available for mobile devices, soon, that means embeddable, standalone projects can be created easily with the framework. Its simplified user interface makes it really handy when you run it on a mobile device. Images, camera, microphone input and other sensors are also available on mobile devices.

Appearances

Opto has been introduced at the Arduino Day 2015 event as a tool for creating simple an fun interactions. Participants were able to control their own robots within less then four hours without  (or with minimal) knowledge about the Arduino environment. A brief overview from the workshop can be read on our blog. 

Downloads & source

Recent versions can be downloaded from here, this also includes builds for OSX, Windows.