OBJECTIVE: ACTIVATE ALL LIGHTS is an interactive escape room-like experience built by Sofia Hoek and me, centered around trusting your own skills and knowledge instead of that of an AI.

Your goal is simple: activate all lights. You do this by finding the eight interactive buttons on the intricate control panel and figuring out the right combination to turn on all lights. You can choose to use the AI chatbot Alissa to help, but this might not make things easier. We aim to encourage the player to trust in themselves and to keep training their brain.

This video shows how the installation works and the different endings you can get. The puzzle is solvable at all times, so the player doesn't feel like they were never able to solve it.

During this project, my task was to create all the digital aspects of the installation. This includes the logic of the light puzzle (the testing of which is shown in the pictures above), the workings and visualization of the chatbot, the workings of the interactive buttons and ammeters, the HTML pages that make up the timer and scoreboard, and the connection between all these components. I learned a lot about how to make everything communicate with Arduino, MaxMSP, HTML, and JavaScript. This project really solidified my interest in creative technology and interaction and reawakened my love for puzzles.

A video of part of the technical process of OBJECTIVE: ACTIVATE ALL LIGHTS that shows the beginnings of the connection between the physical buttons, timer, and scoreboard. When the (first) button is pressed, the timer starts going, and when the puzzle is solved, the timer stops and the remaining time shows up on the scoreboard. The solution to the puzzle is covered so as to not spoil anything for the experience.