The HeadLamp Is Just as Strange as It Sounds
This system diffuses LED light through HVAC ducting and a foam head.
Programmable LED lighting (known to many as NeoPixels) have transformed the type of luminescent creations that we can easily make. Although connecting the lighting itself is fairly easy, diffusing it nicely takes some finesse. If you’d like to see a great example of a weird and masterful light creation, then look no further than the “HeadLamp” by LiabilityLabs.
Instead of strapping to your head as a lamp, this setup uses a length of HVAC ducting to conceal a strip of WS2812B lights. These are held in place inside with the help of recycled takeout containers.
On the base of this assembly is stuck a foam “tail,” and the literal head of this HeadLamp is a foam head. This is drilled out with a spade bit, and LEDs are stuck inside, enabling it to glow along with its body. The effect — as seen in the video below — is quite interesting and strange, the tubing can be positioned for all kinds of lighting configurations.
The HeadLamp's brain is a Pixelblaze V2+ ESP8266 board, designed especially for such LED exploits. This allows the head/body to be controlled over the network, and can be used with an optional expansion board for accelerometer/light/microphone input and more. It’s a great example of how to diffuse and arrange LEDs for maximum effect, and thanks to its hardware, the possibilities for this crazy snake/man/worm head are limitless!