Glowing Pucks are coaster-sized art objects ostensibly built to decorate tables at a celebration dinner, but with a few surprises for the guests. They are small, circular resin creations made of dried English wildflowers embedded in an epoxy disc, encased in a 3D-printed shell.
At a 'significant moment' in the dinner (e.g. when bride and groom reappear), the Pucks around the room mysteriously begin to glow: first one... then two... then eventually all of them. Soon the whole room is illuminated with bright, colorful swirling light!
A speaker suddenly stands. She explains to the murmuring guests that the Glow is intended to symbolize the love and support we share for the new couple on the threshold of their married life. It celebrates that we are a loving people who came together on this memorable day to wish them happiness.
As the dinner progresses the Pucks continue to Glow cheerily, but eventually they fade and resume their inert state. The speaker rises once again. The initial phase has ended, she explains. In preparation for the next, we are to take our Pucks home, join them to our house WiFi, and place them in a prominent location.
We learn that each of us has been granted the power to recreate the wedding Glow by touching two brass discs hidden on the Puck's underside. A so-activated Puck sends a quiet invitation to its siblings around the world to join in a new Glow. Touching the brass discs triggers a global chorus of light and remembrance.
It's a beautiful way for us to commemorate the wedding and keep its memory fresh and alive. It's how we'll reach out and say, "we remember you, and we remember this day!"
The Pucks have one more surprise in store. Every year on the date of the wedding anniversary, they perform a special celebration Glow that lasts the entire day.
The Pucks are built to operate in two different modes. As table ornaments, they are mostly asleep/inert, running off battery power and invisibly awakening every minute to check for special instructions.
At the predetermined time, the speaker (or someone in the audience) quietly enables a special 2.4GHz "Hot Spot" on her smartphone. This is the signal to begin. When the Pucks detect the new WiFi SSID wedding-fireworks, they start the spectacular celebration Glow.
The Pucks Glow for as long as that special WiFi SSID is enabled. Once it disappears, they resume their semi-dormant state.
After the Pucks have been distributed to their new homes, they must be connected to WiFi to sync with the 'Glow network'. At this point they will be kept more or less always plugged in.
Teaching a Puck its new home's WiFi credentials involves putting it into "WiFi Training Mode" and configuring it with a cell phone or tablet. Instructions can be found in the WiFi Training document.
Once set up, a Puck at home wakes whenever its brass discs are touched. This triggers a glow that cascades around the world, with a limit of one activation per Puck per day.
A Puck at home also wakes each minute to check whether any other Puck on the network has activated a Glow. If so, it joins in!
If you'd like to build your own Glow Pucks, consult the Build Guide.