Here are my three ideas (in order of what excites me most):
Sound frequency activated lighting: The idea here would be that the lights could then be implemented into a sound bar or speaker to add extra flare. The format for the lights would be addressable LED rings that nest inside one another. This way there could be cool pulsing effects to match ones music.
Wishing Well: (Shout out to Ellen for this idea) Using the same LED rings I propose to design a glass with a motion sensor that would be filled with some water. If something was thrown into the glass the motion sensor would detect the object and activate a rippling light effect.
Add features to Plush light project: This direction would allow me to expand some of the interactivity with Ora, my plush light project. However, there could be some restrictive things here. I would like to make them small enough and soft so they can be thrown, this would be paired with a motion sensor that would allow the light to change colors depending on its velocity. I would also like to potentially have it sense body heat or have conductive thread worked in so when someone got close or touched it, it would turn on.
Your first idea reminds me of this JBL speaker: https://www.jbl.com/bluetooth-speakers/JBL+Pulse+3.html
As we’ve discussed, frequency detection is much more complicated than volume detection. Here’s a project that visualizes frequencies on an LED display: https://learn.adafruit.com/piccolo/overview
Your second idea, while similar, seems to have much more opportunity for experimentation and personal connection. You could use a piezo element as a vibration sensor to detect objects, or perhaps a PIR motion sensor (although I’m not sure it’d work great with the glass distortion) https://www.adafruit.com/product/1739 https://www.adafruit.com/product/189 (VFL probably has both of these)
We talked about juggling balls, right? Your third idea is juggling balls: https://www.juggglow.com/en/
Email me with any questions!