Materials needed to make interactive LED table.

Sounds like fun! are you looking to detect the proximity vertically, horizontally, or both?  I.E. do you want to detect somebody walking up to the table, or how close, say, their hand is to the table top?

@jbix detect their proximity vertically. i had in mind ding something like a analog read of the ir reciever and do an analog write of that value to the color led, thats a simple version of what. i think for the programming side im pretty secure im an undergrad software major, my main questions is about the electrical side of things. for instance what kind of resistors should i be using is im wiring the leds in parrell, and the driver chips needed

More details about the design?  How many Emitters/detectors are you planning on using?  Have you selected a microcontroller yet?  Have you selected your proximity sensors?  You mention wiring the LED's, so I'm guessing you're using separate IR Emitters/Detectors?

Regarding resistor selection, when you wire devices in parallel, they all receive the same source voltage, and their currents are added up.  You'll need to know the operating current (forward current) of your LED's to select your resistor(s).  You'll also need to know your source voltage, and the forward voltage of the LED's you will be using.  To select the current-limiting resistor for the LED, take your source voltage, subtract the LED forward voltage from it. divide that value by the forward current of the LED (note, if the current is 30mA, you divide by .03, not 30).

For example, if your source voltage is 5V, your LED forward voltage is 1.2V and the forward current is 30mA:

5V - 1.2V = 3.8V

3.8V / 30mA = 126.667 Ohms (Select the nearest higher value available)

There are plenty of calculators available to do the math for you as well.

i was planning on building a 8ft by 2ft table to house the unit, i want to use an arduino uno for the microcontroller. i want to fill the table with an LED display. grouping the LEDs in 4s putting emitters around those groups with a single detector in the center of the group. and repeat this pattern until the table is filled with this array. the IR emitter/detector will be used as proximity sensors in this case. thanks for that example it helps alot

Have you done any math on how many sets of LED's you'll be using?  Each cluster will be pretty small depending on the spacing, you could be looking at hundreds of clusters.

Have you done any math on how many sets of LED's you'll be using?  Each cluster will be pretty small depending on the spacing, you could be looking at hundreds of clusters.

I Haven't done the math just yet. I really just have a concept down. I wanted getan idea of what kind of things I'd need to get. As far as spacing goes I was going to use peg board (hard cork with holes in it) to place the leds and what not since they'd fit snugly.  With the peg board I'll be able to evenly space the leds in such a way that the clusters could be larger than just a group of four