FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

protest art

Spinning This Hacked Umbrella Turns It into an LED Screen for Protesters

GS&P's BETA lab speed-hacked a bike LED, turning it into the perfect tool for urban disruption.

The problem with protest signs? They never change, and in changing times, it's often adapt on the fly—or die. Well, hackers at BETA Lab, the tech art arm of creative agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners have come up with a solution, and if it takes off, it could make your daily disruptions more dazzling.

SPRIZZLE = "Spinning Visual" is a spinning umbrella LED protest sign that can show images and video. Basically, by zip-tying a spinning bike LED sign to an umbrella, they've created a collapsible digital screen that allows you to get a multimedia message out on the fly. "The idea is that a single or multiple people could use these during a protest to push their messaging further and in a more digital fashion," Troy Lumpkin, a member of the BETA team, tells Creators. "It's basically a Blade Runner-protest sign-conversation starter."

Advertisement

While, like the Lab itself, SPRIZZLE is still in beta, you can check it out in action in the GIFs and images below.

Click here to visit GS&P's website.

SPRIZZLE = "Spinning Visual" credits:
August Björnberg
Severin Sauliere
Matt Chiang
Quinn Gravier
Mark Sandhoff
Michael Miller
Hanna Hellneg
Troy Lumpkin

Related:

Homemade Gas Masks Show the Ingenuity of Protest

Hacked TV Only Works When You Smile

Play 'Doom' with Instagram Filters and a Selfie Stick in This Amazing Mod