What's an interactive LED coffee table? (Funny you should ask....) It's a coffee table that has hundreds of LEDs in the top surface that respond to motion above the table.

Complete tables are for sale from Because We Can, our partners in design on this project. There are presently two models, The Ripple (left) and The Wave (right):

Our kits include the giant printed circuit boards, components, instructions, regulated power supply, and all other parts needed to build the electronic portion of the table tops. Constructed, you end up with what essentially amounts to a single extra-ginormous circuit board that can sit underneath the clear or frosted glass (or plastic) top of your own table.

The printed circuit boards in the kits are 12x14" in size, double-sided, with a smooth silver-immersion finish. This finish is lead-free, attractive and very easy to solder.

While our video and most of our photos show our older "bare" circuit boards in their natural (fire-retardant dull-orange) color, we are now having most boards manufactured with a permanent black "solder mask" coating that increases the visual contrast, improves the durability of the boards, and makes them easier to solder. Component marking on these boards is in a highly-readable white silkscreen layer on one side.

(Note: We are presently sold out of black circuit boards; we'll have a new version coming out in April. "Natural color" kits are still in stock, with a $50 per kit discount. Both look about the same underneath a frosted top!)

Two kit sizes are available: a six-panel kit and an eight-panel kit. The boards in a kit can be connected in any rectangular arrangement. Each circuit board panel has four photosensor nodes, each of which drives 20 LEDs, for a total of 80 LEDs per board. So, the 6-panel board has 24 sensors and 480 LEDs, while the 8-panel version has 32 sensor nodes and 640 LEDs.

Multiple kits can be connected together if you wish to build a larger display. You can also mount these panels on a wall, or on facing sides of a hallway, for an interesting art project.

With the eight-panel kit, you can make an interactive LED panel that is 28 x 48" or 24 x 56". (You can also make a long skinny bar that is 12" or 14" wide, and even longer.) This is the same kit that is used in The Wave table that Because We Can sells.

In the photo, you can see eight printed circuit board panels fully assembled and mounted to a backing board.

(Obviously, the sizes stated are a minimum; you can span a larger area if you assemble kits with gaps between the boards. While there is no obvious limit to the number of boards that can be connected together, you will need exercise some care in the power supply arrangement when working with more than eight panels that are networked together.)

The six-panel kit costs $400 ($350 with natural-color boards), and the eight-panel kit costs $500 ($450 with natural-color boards). Our "standard" LED option at present is ultrabright white; you can also choose all blue LEDs at no extra cost. (Some other LED colors are also available by special order for an additional charge ($50 per kit and up, depending on selection. Suggested upgrade: pure green LEDs look great for $75 extra.)

To summarize the data:

We take great pride in our kit designs (see our other popular kits here); we believe in clear instructions, clear labeling, goodies, and including a few extras of most small, easy to lose and/or break components. Assembly of the boards is pretty straightforward if you like to solder; it basically requires stuffing the components in the boards and soldering (a lot of) easy through-hole components. Unsure? If you would like to flip through our detailed assembly guide, just ask.

International usage:
The power supply provided with each kit is actually a super-nice "universal input" power supply, with input range 100-240 VAC, 47-63 Hz. (Data sheet here.) A USA line cord is supplied, but *you* will need to provide a substitute input line cord that connects your local wall port to the IEC-320 C5 input of the power supply. (UK example here.)

How to order
Let us reiterate that we are selling electronic soldering kits to build the interactive LED display panels. (To make one of these into a coffee table, you will need to provide your own base and top surface, e.g., a boring old coffee table with a glass top.)

Availability: We are temporarily sold out of existing stock. (Doh!) We are refreshing the product line with brand-new circuit boards that will be available for sale in late April mid May. Contact us if you'd like to be first in line when we've got the new ones in!

The new boards are are a real upgrade-- even easier to assemble and use. They are 12" x 12"(30.5 cm) square, with 80 LEDs now arranged on a more regular grid. We will be offering the new boards both as soldering kits and (now for the first time) as fully assembled, ready-to-use LED panels. Pricing for the kits and assembled panels is not yet determined. We may be offering these items for pre-order as well. If you would like to hear when the new design is released, please do contact us or sign up for our mailing list.

Shipping and sales tax -- Domestic orders:

These kits are heavy! The standard shipping weights for the 6 and 8 panel kits are 7.5 lbs and 9.5 lbs, respectively. (3.5 kg and 4.3 kg.)

Domestic orders: We ship United States Postal Service Priority Mail and charge actual postage rates. (Typical cost is ~$20 for the 6-panel kit and ~$25 for the 8-panel kit, although it varies with distance and can be as low as $7 if you happen to live in northern California.)

Unless prior arrangements are made, sales tax will be collected on orders sent to California addresses.

Shipping -- International orders:

These kits are still heavy, even when they go overseas-- and a lot of them do. The standard shipping weights for the 6 and 8 panel kits are 7.5 lbs and 9.5 lbs, respectively. (3.5 kg and 4.3 kg.)

We ship International Priority Mail (6-10 day airmail) as appropriate. The actual cost depends both on the size of your kit and country of destination. Depending on those two factors, shipping cost to Europe is typically in the range $50-60, Australia $55-65, South Africa $55-65, and so forth. If you would like a better estimate of the shipping cost for your particular destination, just ask.

Got questions? Don't hesitate to contact us.