Singaporean student's dorm room a hit on YouTube
by Singapore Students Accommodation on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 1:44pm ·
S'porean student's dorm room a hit on YouTube
Benita Aw Yeong | The New Paper | Sat May 5 2012
When he received acceptance letters to study at several US universities two years ago, Singaporean Derek Low began fantasising about "pimping" his dormitory room.
On Sunday, the first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, put the finishing touches to his dream turned reality.
The result? A room fitted out with slick features such as voice-controlled lighting, automated curtains and room modes such as "party", "romantic", and "homework".
A video of his room, which he named Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm (Brad), went viral after he uploaded it onto his Facebook page on Monday.
As of press time, it had attracted more than 110,000 views on YouTube.
The transformation began in February and was completed on Sunday. Mr Low does not know how many have requested to visit the room, claiming that there are "too many".
The most intriguing aspect of the room is its voice-control features, said the 21-year-old major in electrical engineering and computer science.
"You can voice control everything, from the lights to the sound. It's like talking to a buddy - the room."
He confessed spending three hours training a voice-recognition software on his laptop to adapt to his Singapore accent.
His efforts have paid off. Popular news agencies such as Time magazine, The Huffington Post and CBS News have also featured the room.
Life has not changed much for this humble undergraduate, however.
"I'm not some celebrity. Life goes on as normal, I just get occasional compliments," he said in a Facebook interview with The New Paper.
Taking technology and its applications to the next level - not laziness - is what motivated the project, maintained Mr Low, who stays in the room with two US schoolmates.
Getting started on the endeavour was the main challenge, said Mr Low, who hopes to start his own technology business in the future.
He said: "I'm in college and I don't have a lot of cash to throw around.
"Putting down US$200 (S$250) for a bunch of electronics for a project that may not work is quite a difficult step to take."
Most of the project's costs went towards buying the automation equipment, he said, adding that the lighting devices such as a disco ball, UV lights, and lasers were not expensive.
He built the room based on trial and error after reading up on automation technology.
Automating the curtains blinds, which draw open in the morning, along with a specially programmed alarm lock, was the most technically challenging part.
"It's a rather complex mechanism that moves it, unlike the rest of the setup which just involves switching on and off lights," he said.
Mr Low is so proud of the room that he has entered it for a competition which pits his project against others from his university.
The winner will get US$1,000 in cash.
The room is one of many experiments he has conducted over the years.
He began conducting science research projects when he was a student at Bukit Panjang Government High School and these experiments have put him in good stead for the future.
Computer magazine TechCrunch commented: "Getting an education is important, but something tells me that there are lots of start-ups and larger tech companies out there that are chomping at the bit to have more people like him (Mr Low)on their teams."
Time magazine concurred: "We're going to go ahead and say that Low probably hasn't hurt his chances at landing a great internship with this video, even if he's driving his RA (resident advisor) crazy."
Voice command
Saying the words 'sleep mode' will turn the lights in the room off and draw the curtains.
Saying the words 'romantic mode' will draw the curtains and dim the lights in the room gently till they are turned off completely.
Saying the words 'lights on' and 'lights off' can control all lighting devices within the room. UV & STROBE LIGHTS
These mobile devices are used to facilitate voice and remote commands.
Emergency party button
Punching this red 'emergency-party' button mounted on the side of the bed will transform the room into a club-like environment, complete with techno music and green laser lights.
Automated curtains
At a pre-set time every morning, the curtains will be drawn automatically and pop music will play loudly from speakers as part of an alarm system Mr Low designed.
Laser lights
The laser lights can be configured to display different patterns.
The frequency of the flashes and its movements are also customisable. Lasers can also be programmed to react to sound, so that they only flash when a beat loud enough is detected.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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