Project Quick Facts
The Olympic Rings are one of the most recognized symbols on Earth. When the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee opened their new Olympic Museum in Bratislava, they wanted those five rings on the ceiling of the main hall to actually glow — in the right colors, with dynamic effects for events, and with clean white light for everyday use. No PC. No cables running across the hall. Controlled from an iPad.
That’s exactly what we built.
Planning the Strip and Diffusion #
Before ordering anything, we received the exact dimensions of the rings. From there we worked out two key decisions: how many LEDs per meter, and how to mount the strip so individual dots aren’t visible through the diffuser.
We chose a digital LED strip at 60 LEDs per meter. At that density, the rings produce enough light output to serve as the primary light source in the museum hall — not just decorative accent lighting, but functional illumination. That matters in a main hall that hosts events and receives visitors daily.
The second decision was about placement. Mounting the addressable LED strip flat against the back of the ring and pointing directly at the diffuser creates visible hotspots — you see the individual LED dots through the cover. The fix: mount the strip to the side of the ring interior, angled so the light bounces off the surface before hitting the diffuser. That single change produced a perfectly even, dot-free glow. The diffuser did the rest.
Strip attachment was done with silicone — clean, secure, and flexible enough to handle the curved ring geometry without stressing the strip.
One REACTIVO Per Ring #
For control, we chose the REACTIVO wireless Art-Net controller — one unit per ring, five total. REACTIVO connects to WiFi and receives Art-Net commands, but it also stores animations internally and can run completely standalone without any network connection. That standalone capability was non-negotiable for a museum environment.
The client had three hard requirements:
- No PC on site. Museums don’t have a technician watching a computer all day. The system had to run on its own.
- iPad control. Staff needed to switch between effects from a tablet — simple, approachable, no training required.
- Fully wireless. No signal cables running between the rings. The ceiling installation had to be clean.
REACTIVO checks all three. Each unit connects to the museum’s WiFi network. The LED Strip Studio mobile app on the iPad reaches all five controllers over that same network. Done.
Synchronization: Master and Slaves #
Here’s where it gets interesting. The mobile app controls one device at a time. If you have five independent controllers and you want them all to change animation simultaneously, tapping each one separately isn’t going to work — the rings would change at slightly different moments and the effect would look sloppy.
REACTIVO solves this with a built-in synchronization feature. You designate one unit as the Master. The remaining four become Slaves. When you select an animation on the Master — from the iPad app — the Slave units receive that command instantly and switch in sync. All five rings change together, simultaneously, from a single tap.
For the museum, this means one person with an iPad can switch the entire installation between:
- Event mode — full color effects using each ring’s official Olympic color (blue, yellow, black, green, red)
- Dynamic mode — animated transitions for daily visitor hours
- White maintenance mode — clean neutral white for cleaning staff or technical access
No steps, no sequence, no complexity. Tap, and all five rings respond.
The Result #
The main hall of the Slovak Olympic Museum now has a working, beautiful, museum-grade LED installation on what is literally the most iconic symbol in sports. It runs reliably without any technical supervision, adapts to different events and uses via iPad, and produces even, professional light quality across all five rings.
The combination of digital addressable LED strip, careful diffusion mounting, and wireless REACTIVO controllers with master-slave sync delivered exactly what the client needed: something that just works, looks great, and doesn’t require a technician to babysit it.
If you’re looking for a PC-free, wireless LED controller solution for a permanent installation, check out reactivo.lighting.
Frequently Asked Questions #
How do you avoid visible LED dots when illuminating a circular ring with LED strips?
The key is the angle between the strip and the diffuser. If you mount the digital LED strip flat and pointing directly at the diffuser, each LED creates a visible hotspot. The fix used at the Olympic Museum: mount the strip to the side of the ring interior so the light hits the ring surface first and scatters before reaching the diffuser. Combined with a good quality diffuser cover, this produces a perfectly even, dot-free glow. Strip density also matters — 60 LEDs per meter gives enough overlap between points for smooth output.
How do you avoid visible LED dots when illuminating a circular ring with LED strips?
The key is the angle between the strip and the diffuser. If you mount the digital LED strip flat and pointing directly at the diffuser, each LED creates a visible hotspot. The fix used at the Olympic Museum: mount the strip to the side of the ring interior so the light hits the ring surface first and scatters before reaching the diffuser. Combined with a good quality diffuser cover, this produces a perfectly even, dot-free glow. Strip density also matters — 60 LEDs per meter gives enough overlap between points for smooth output.
What is REACTIVO and how does it work without a PC?
REACTIVO is a standalone wireless Art-Net LED controller with built-in WiFi and internal animation storage. You program effects into it using LED Strip Studio software, then save them to the device’s internal memory. After that, REACTIVO runs those animations on its own at power-on — no computer, no network connection required. It can also receive Art-Net commands over WiFi from a tablet or phone app for live control. This makes it ideal for permanent installations in venues like museums where no technical operator is present day-to-day.
How do you synchronize multiple LED controllers without a PC?
REACTIVO’s Master-Slave synchronization handles this. You designate one unit as the Master in the device settings. The remaining units are configured as Slaves on the same WiFi network. When you select an animation on the Master (via the mobile app or manually), it broadcasts the command to all Slave units simultaneously. All controllers switch to the same animation at the same moment. For the Olympic Rings, this means all five rings respond to a single tap on the iPad.
Can you control LED strips from an iPad or smartphone without a PC?
Yes, with the right controller. REACTIVO connects to your WiFi network and is accessible through the LED Strip Studio mobile app on iOS or Android. From the app, you can select pre-programmed animations, adjust brightness, and trigger effects on any connected REACTIVO device. With Master-Slave sync enabled, a single app action controls all linked units at once. No laptop or desktop is needed anywhere in the setup.
How many LEDs per meter do you need for rings to serve as primary lighting?
It depends on ring diameter and the space, but 60 LEDs per meter is generally the threshold where digital LED strips transition from accent lighting to functional primary illumination. At lower densities (30 LEDs/m), you get nice decorative glow but not enough total output to light a room. At 60/m, the total lumen output from a large ring is comparable to a ceiling fixture. For the Olympic Museum’s main hall, 60/m was the choice specifically because the rings needed to work as the room’s primary light source, not just a decorative element.
Why use a dedicated controller per ring instead of one controller for all five?
Dedicated controllers per ring gives you true independence. Each ring operates, stores its animation, and communicates on its own. If one controller has a fault, the other four keep running — there’s no single point of failure. It also simplifies wiring: each REACTIVO connects wirelessly and drives only its own ring’s strip, so there’s no long SPI signal run between rings (which would require signal boosters and careful cable management). For five separate ceiling-mounted rings in a large hall, one controller per ring is the clean solution.