When they played Yellow, they went yellow. It doesn’t take a genius to programme Coldplay’s Xyloband wristbands, but the effect – at a Glastonbury that even the normally Pollyanna-ish Michael Eavis dubbed the “muddiest ever” – was to add a touch of closing-night glamour to a sodden Worthy Farm.
The Xylobands have become a proprietary part of Chris Martin’s sets, filled with red, yellow and blue LEDs. These are synched to a radio transmitter, allowing them to be manipulated in time with the music, creating vast rivers of coloured light, like the slush-ballad mid-set lighter experience for the age of the e-cig. Their inventor, Jason Regler, claims to have had the idea while watching Coldplay perform their mid-set slush-ballad Fix You.
Since the group began adopting the technology during their Mylo Xyloto tour in 2012, Regler has grown the initial idea into a range of offerings to suit various occasions. The Household Cavalry slapped wristbands on to their horses’ hooves for their Music Ride. They’ve been used in the Cancer Research Night Walk, the Arsenal kit launch, and My Super Sweet 16-style outre birthday parties. Xylobands now also offer lanyards and beach balls filled with LEDs.
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!
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Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!