Color science demonstration kit from open source hardware and software

Abstract

Color science is perhaps the most universally tangible discipline within the optical sciences for people of all ages. Excepting a small and relatively well-understood minority, we can see that the world around us consists of a multitude of colors; yet, describing the "what", "why", and "how" of these colors is not an easy task, especially without some sort of equally colorful visual aids. While static displays (e.g., poster boards, etc.) serve their purpose, there is a growing trend, aided by the recent permeation of small interactive devices into our society, for interactive and immersive learning. However, for the uninitiated, designing software and hardware for this purpose may not be within the purview of all optical scientists and engineers. Enter open source. Open source "anything" are those tools and designs-hardware or software-that are available and free to use, often without any restrictive licensing. Open source software may be familiar to some, but the open source hardware movement is relatively new. These are electronic circuit board designs that are provided for free and can be implemented in physical hardware by anyone. This movement has led to the availability of some relatively inexpensive, but quite capable, computing power for the creation of small devices. This paper will showcase the design and implementation of the software and hardware that was used to create an interactive demonstration kit for color. Its purpose is to introduce and demonstrate the concepts of color spectra, additive color, color rendering, and metamers. © 2014 SPIE.