Hey Osgeld; here's an idea for the software side of your matrix (or maybe somebody else could do it?):
If you can control the brightness of each LED individually, by using PWM in the multiplexing scheme, along with its color - then by using a color palette of white/yellow/orange/red/umber/black, and the proper code - you could simulate a digital "flame".
For the code to make the flame/fire, there is a ton of it out there in the demo-coder scene; it was a classic trick in graphic demos.
I was just enjoying a fire in my fireplace the other day, and since there are so many "no burn" days here in the Arizona area (and I assume for other regions as well), a fake "fire" would be kinda fun to have sitting on your desk (maybe a small 8x8 matrix), or even something sitting inside an unused (or fake) fireplace; if you added digital pops and crackles via a speaker, that would be even better!
