Like your options, really clever! diplomod

cool idea. Are you going to build one? howman

i think i\'ve seen a light that projects the stars onto the ceiling. maybe not w/ LEDs. if you\'re going all the way with this you have it account for precession as well!! quasi

Therefore the GPS functionality could help I think. Anyway you\'re right, precision is an issue - if you don\'t want to go don the road of crappy products. diplomod

To keep the costs down and still maintain accuracy, maybe being able to send the controller (via USB) a zip code or latitude, longitude type data would work accurately enough. LED Head

To be honest, I suspect practical limits will prevent it from ever being too good (unless it costs thousands). The stars will probably be a few mm in size. Finding a powerful single die LED will be half the challenge (multi-die LED\'s will make double images) - the Diamond Dragon looks promising. Adding the planets (which need precession) will add a LOT of complexity for 4 points of light. Already the moon will be tricky. I guess mainly it is a wonderous item intended to enhance bedrooms and midnight fireside picnics, rather than a scientific instrument. Astronomical accuracy would probably be limited to allowing people to find their favourite constellations or stars. @ LED Head: maybe just two dials to set Latitude and Longitude? That way you can see what Australia is looking at any time you like! @ Howman: I\'m not sure. So many ideas, so little time. If only I didn\'t have a day job to cling to! JohnG

That dial idea is spot on, in fact I have dials on my telescope that are set based on my location so that I then can look up where certain things are supposed to be. A set of dials is a nice inexpensive solution! LED Head

I wonder if you would be able to configure this so that it had unlimited point of light generation so you could hook it up to a computer and use it as a planetarium tool... it would be cool to be able to zoom in and out like you can with Google Sky but also be able to get it to rotate you around the stars in 3D. howman

Not exactly the same, but an interesting product nonetheless... http://inventorspot.com/articles/laser_stars_wish_upon_your_very_own_star_29587 LED Head