WhiteSpace TweetTrain
Somebody knows how to have fun in the office and with Arduino. Have a look at this project by [whitespacers] powered with our boards
Christmas is a time of gathering the family around and enjoying the simple things in life. And what could be simpler than a good old fashioned train set… powered by tweets?
Tweeters can simply send a message to #tweettrain then enjoy the ride via the onboard camera streaming to whitespacers.com/tweettrain as they puff their way round the Whitespace HQ Winter Wonderland.
The magic also lets tweeters control the Tweet Train’s direction and speed by telling it to go in ‘reverse’ or ‘fast’.
Iain Valentine, creative director and Whitespace Santa said: “When visual, digital and experiential marketing are linked effectively, it can seem like magic. We wanted to bring our clients something special for the festive season and so our elves were kept busy bringing the late 19th century Christmas gift of choice into the digital age. Deep down, everyone wants a toy train set for Christmas!”
If you’re wondering which particular type of Christmas magic we used; it’s the extra special Arduino-micro-controller coupled with a wifi receiver type.
You see Santa’s elves replaced the Tweet Train’s manual train controller with a wifi receiver so the train can be controlled by digital commands. Tweets containing the hashtag #tweettrain are searched for, simplified, and sent to a new URL that the arduino checks for new tweets. Each time it spots one, it powers the train motors. Magic basically.
We reckon it gives the Hogwarts Express a run for its chocolate money, but why not try it for yourself? Visit. Tweet. Drive the train. The station is in live cam on the [website]