By David Gold at the London Eye

daley thompson_london_eye_20-07-12July 19 - A world first was made here tonight by EDF when the London Eye became a light spectacle that reflected the mood of the nation ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.


Using a ground-breaking system based on sentiment analysis, EDF – the official electricity supplier to London 2012 – measured how positive or negative Britons are feeling about the Games, based on tweets sents about the Olympic and Paralympics.

The analysis was then converted into a light show, with different colours reflecting positive, negative or neutral sentiments.

A purple glow reflects negativity, green neutrality while yellow shows positivity. 

Here tonight, the light show revealed Britain's mood, with just one week to go until the Games begin, as being 63 per cent positive.

Legendary decathlon champion Daley Thompson (pictured top), one of Britain's greatest ever athletes and the winner of two Olympic gold medals, unveiled the light show this evening.

"I'm a passionate supporter of London 2012," said Thompson.

EotN Concertina_July_19Diagram showing the sequences within the light show

"With a week to go before we kick off the greatest show on earth, there's an incredible sense of excitement – and maybe a bit of nervous energy.

"So let's take all those positive vibes and really lift the Energy of the Nation up to 100%!

"We want to make the EDF Energy London Eye a spectacular showcase of national support for the athletes – and one that will inspire them every night of the London 2012 Games."

EDF Energy's London 2012 project manager Gareth Wynn told insidethegames"London is going to take [social media] to a whole new level.

"Being able to link the London Eye to social media is really fun and obviously it is the first time it has been done.

EOTNHowItWorks July_19Diagram showing the tweets to lights conversion process

"To link it to something as iconic and well recognised as the EDF Energy London Eye, which you could say is the modern icon of London...it plays really well into the mood of the times in the way that people are communicating with each other and sharing what they want to say."

Every night throughout the Olympic and Paralympics, a new light show will take place reflecting the nation's mood towards London 2012 that day.

The light shows, which start at 9pm and last for 30 minutes, will also be streamed live at www.edfenergyofthenation.com.

To join in, share your tweets about London 2012 by using the #Energy2012 hashtag.

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