In September 2021, we demoed our first prototype. We designed and cut enclosures for the light PCBs out of MDF. These have holes for the lenses in the front, and vent slots in the back. We painted the MDF white.

We assembled four poles, and set them up in a circle, using 8' lengths of 1" EMT.

Carving and painting the MDF was a huge pain. MDF is not a very robust material, and the paint flaked off pretty easily. This was OK for a prototype, but we definitely wouldn't want to leave it outside, even for a week.

Overall, the prototype worked pretty well! One thing we found is that the circle wasn't a great form factor - it was difficult to know which way to look when the lights changed direction. The circle also made the space feel cramped. The previous version used a single 5x5 stage light pointed at a screen. We found that (1) the area for shadows was small, since the screen size was limited by wind loading, and (2) going in front of the screen felt like performing, which most people didn't want to do. Using the ground as the canvas worked well, but we wanted more people to be able to use it at once!

We gained valuable insight from this prototype, and continued working.