[ Martin Bircher ] Type Case

Created by Martin Bircher, “Type Case” is a low-resolution display embedded in an old printers’ type case with 125 rectangular pixels of different sizes. These are formed from the reflecting light of Processing controlled LEDs, embedded in each section of the case. Images are converted and fed to the case via arduino.


Due to the standardized fragmentation of its compartments, the density of visual information is decreased towards the objects’ centre. Viewed close by, it is nearly impossible to recognize more than a flicker – however after moving some distance away, it becomes distinguishable, that the lights and shadows give a representation of the latest headlines.

The Processing script is fetching an RSS feed of an online newspapers headlines. It stores the title and description of the ten latest entries into a variable and rendered in the serif font Caslon, which is scrolled horizontally on the top of the window. Every frame the pixels of the middle section of the scrolling text are stored in an array (1600 pixels) and displayed on the left. These pixels are then reduced to an array of 20 x 10 pixels (also on the left of the window). Since some of the compartments are the doubled or quadrupled size of the smallest units, these pixels have to be reduced again. On the biggest part of the window there is the simulation, which represents the gray scale values of each pixel of Type Case.

Project Page

Martin Bircher, born 1978 in Aarau, Switzerland, served his apprenticeship as an electrician and studied Fine Arts. In 2006 he migrated to Kouvola, Finland, where he works as a media artist and a full-time lecturer for Digital Media. The interest in his artistic work lies in combining antiquated items and cutting-edge technology in order to create objects with new purposes. (Cartes)

from  creativeapplications