Sensory-driven installations for exhibitions, brand spaces and museums
Ember is a live link to my lab in Hamburg. Every interaction you have with it is mirrored in real time on its physical twin.
I am in between design, tech, mindfulness and meditation, documenting my own creative journey and working for international clients.
Every movement leaves a trail of light that slowly fades away, glowing in a room you may never be in. This is about connecting the digital and physical worlds with a website that reaches beyond the screen into physical space. You can even see what other visitors are doing.
I create interactive installations, sensory exhibits, and physical-digital experiences for brands, museums, and public spaces. My deliverables range from early-stage hardware prototyping and technology consulting to creative coding and full on-site technical production.
I operate as a solo specialist. For larger-scale productions or tight deadlines, I tap into a trusted network of partners and specialized freelancers to ensure every technical and spatial layer is covered by a pro.
That depends entirely on the complexity of the installation. Rapid physical prototypes or interactive consulting sprints can be completed within 2 to 4 weeks. Full-scale museum exhibits, custom hardware developments, or complex sensory installations typically range from 2 to 6 months from initial concept to the final rollout.
You receive fully functional, stress-tested interactive systems including software, hardware components, and technical documentation. Additionally, I deliver structural layout plans for the physical setup, source code, and maintenance guides so your on-site team can run the installation smoothly.
During well-defined productions, installations, or full project lifecycles, I work with fixed project-based pricing. For exploratory phases, early-stage strategy consulting, or open-ended prototyping, I offer weekly or daily rates.
Every installation undergoes stress testing before deployment. Post-launch, I provide remote tech support, on-site troubleshooting during event days, and clear guidelines to guarantee long-term stability.
Information according to § 5 DDG
Tom Janssens
Marienthaler Str. 158
20535 Hamburg
Germany
E-Mail: hello@tomjanssens.de
Phone: +49 178 1416921
VAT ID according to § 27a UStG: DE366374777
Responsible for the content according to § 18 (2) MStV:
Tom Janssens, address above.
I am neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (§ 36 VSBG).
This website is under ongoing development.
This site only processes the technical data it needs to be shown and to run the LED matrix. It sets no cookies, has no tracking, no accounts and no forms. The only thing stored in your browser comes from the bot check described below. Without the technical data of a request, though, the site cannot be shown. There is no automated decision-making or profiling.
The controller under the GDPR is Tom Janssens, address above, hello@tomjanssens.de.
This website is hosted by Netlify, Inc., USA. When you open it, Netlify processes what every request carries: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the page you came from, and your browser and operating system. It does so on my behalf, under a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR), to deliver the site and keep it secure (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). Netlify, Inc. (101 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA) is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, so the data may go to the USA on the basis of the European Commission's adequacy decision (Art. 45 GDPR); Netlify also uses the EU standard contractual clauses (Art. 46 (2) (c) GDPR). More in Netlify's privacy policy.
Once you open Ember, the LED matrix, your browser keeps a connection, for as long as the page stays open, to a server I run at STRATO GmbH, Berlin, in a data centre in Germany, which mirrors the matrix. Only the position of your cursor or finger is sent, while it is on the matrix — no text, no images, nothing about you. What you draw lights up live on the physical twin in my lab in Hamburg and on the matrix of other visitors who have the page open, without anything that identifies you. The server holds your IP address only in memory — while you are connected and up to ten minutes after you last drew, or, should your connection draw for a minute without a break or for more than five of ten minutes, for an hour after — to limit the number of connections per visitor and to stop scripts that draw on and on. It does not store it (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). STRATO runs the server on my behalf, under a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR).
So that only people, not scripts, can draw on the matrix, your browser is checked by Cloudflare Turnstile each time it connects — invisibly, with no puzzle and no checkbox. For this, your browser loads a script from Cloudflare, Inc. (101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA), which processes your IP address and technical information about your browser and device, keeps one entry in the browser storage of its own frame (no cookie), and tells my server only whether the check was passed. This keeps the matrix free of abuse (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). Cloudflare is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Art. 45 GDPR). More in Cloudflare's privacy policy and its Turnstile Privacy Addendum.
What you draw on the matrix is kept for an artistic visualisation of how it is used: only when it was drawn and how bright each LED was, moment by moment. It is stored without your IP address or anything else that could identify you, so it can't be traced back to you. The server above keeps it; once a night it is turned into images on GitHub's servers (GitHub, Inc., USA), which I store in my webspace at STRATO in Germany.
To keep that server secure and running, it records technical errors, such as connections that break off. Such a record can include the IP address and the time; it is used for nothing else and deleted after seven days at the latest (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR).
If you write to me, I use your address and what you write only to answer you (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR where it is about working together, otherwise Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). My mailbox is hosted by STRATO GmbH, Berlin, under a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR). I delete the e-mails once they are no longer needed, unless the law requires me to keep them (e.g. business letters, § 147 AO).
Fonts, images and videos come from this website itself; none of them is loaded from a third party.
Links to LinkedIn, Instagram, GitHub, Figma or other sites only lead there; nothing of theirs is loaded until you click. Their privacy policies apply there.
You can ask for access to your data (Art. 15 GDPR), its correction (Art. 16), deletion (Art. 17) or restricted processing (Art. 18), and take it with you (Art. 20). Where processing rests on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, you can object to it on grounds relating to your particular situation (Art. 21). An e-mail is enough. You may also complain to a supervisory authority, e.g. the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
As of November 2026.