It's 3 am and Jackson Gallagher is tired, wet, and, above all, nervous. Later the same day, the sophomore lighting-design student will help present his team's project; and, at the moment, a critical component simply isn't working. To make matters worse, it's raining.
Rewind to nine weeks ago, Gallagher is sitting in the first meeting of a unique class being co-taught by Cindy Limauro, professor of lighting design in the School of Drama, and Eric Paulos, associate professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. The subject of the class is the Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge. The bridge, near the heart of the Pittsburgh campus, literally and metaphorically connects the schools of Drama and Computer Science. It symbolizes the partnership between art and science pioneered, in part, by late professor Randy Pausch, known worldwide for The Last Lecture. The bridge's nickname among students, Rainbow Bridge, comes from its built-in LEDs that generate a walkway lightshow from sunset to sunrise. Gallagher's class is bringing together students from the College of Fine Arts and the College of Computer Science to create four new lightshows for the bridge.
After a few classes, Gallagher's group is brainstorming. While trading ideas about how best to blend technology with meaningful substance, they agree on a concept: Have a camera track students crossing the bridge so that as they cross, a random colored panel of light follows their movements. The show would symbolize the exchange of ideas between disciplines at the university and re-emphasize what the bridge represents. They name their idea "Fusion."
As the weeks unfold, Gallagher realizes that time is not on their side. With three other groups working on projects and only one bridge to test on, practice time must be carefully slotted out. To further complicate matters, the other members of Gallagher's group are students in drama, architecture, and computer science, none of which leaves much free time. The times when the bridge is available and everyone is free to meet are limited, to put it mildly. That's why Gallagher and his teammates find themselves tinkering with their program well before sunrise of presentation day.
After they make some adjustments to Fusion, a panel of the bridge suddenly lights up where they're standing. They take a step, then another, and the lighted square follows their movements. Success! Gallagher and his teammates-Robert Kubisen (A'13), Ryan Pearl (CS'12), Sang Tian (CS'13), and Monica Tong (A'13)-can finally go to sleep.
-Paul Carboni (DC'13)
