Internet Connected Hearts

Two hearts that are connected via the internet -- changing the color on one changes the color on both, from states or countries away.

The Story Behind the Project

I have a good friend who lives far away, who I keep in touch with primarily by letters. Since there's not always time to write a letter, I wanted to come up with a way of telling each other "I'm thinking of you!" that was quick and easy but more special than a text. I came up with the idea to make these hearts where turning a knob changes the color of someone else's physical object thousands of miles away. Several of my friends have since asked me to make a pair for them and their long-distance significant other, so there are now several pairs out there in different parts of the world, keeping people just a little more connected to each other through the occasional 3-byte ping.

Features

• Status LED changes color depending on if it's disconnected, in setup mode, connected to the internet, or connected to the other heart.

• Ambient light sensor automatically dims the heart when the room gets dark. The ambient light threshold can be set by the user with the knob on the back. (this is done via hardware and includes a hysteresis loop)

• WifiManager library allows for the user to enter the wifi network credentials through a webpage with their computer. These credentials are saved across reboots of the heart. The heart creates an Access Point for new credentials if it cannot connect on boot.