“Whoa Board: Interactive Lighting for Wearables and Beyond” by Vekhter, Gordonson, Addington-White and Vekhter

We present a custom PCB which integrates a novel, fast, highvoltage tolerant, capacitive sensing circuit. This board makes it possible to turn Electro-Luminescient (EL) materials into interface elements with no modification. This sensing works at a distance (and through materials like fabric). It is the first device that makes it possible to make commodity EL materials interactive, without requiring additional modification to the EL elements. EL materials come in a number of forms, including wires, panels, and paint. They are light, flexible, low-power, and can produce even illumination over large areas without needing a diffuser. This makes them well suited for integrating lighting into everything from wearables to complex architectural installations.