Wet Pixels
I thought I had posted about this device before, but I can't find it now. An "on" pixel is a single drop of water. It's doing bottom-to-top raster scanning with drips, scrolling provided by gravity.
Tags: glitch, mpegs, toys, xscreensaver
Current Music: Graeme Revell -- Jessica Changes Water ♬
17 Responses:
[...] jwz posted by Joel Bernstein in architecture, art, awesome, furniture, watercolour | * | [...]
I'd like to see them do that with the Yerba Buena fountain.
Dear all,
I would like to know what kind of technology they use, in order to generate all those nice water drops. Does someone know what kind of technology they use for it? I really would like to know how they are able to generate so much drops after each other.
Regards
Alex
I would find it hard to tear myself away!
Same basic technology, but a greater willingness to use negative space in the designs: Canal City.
Love how excited the kids get.
I'm trying to figure out if there's some way to compensate with the designs for the acceleration of gravity on the droplets -- try to minimize the 'stretching' effect on the images? Or does that not work, because all droplets are affected eventually, and you eventually back yourself into something of a corner?
Over time there will always be an offset between the top and bottom, but you could optimize the image for least-distorted display towards the top, middle or bottom. It's not a static image, due to the scrolling and passage of time, so you have to pick.
Chrysler/Jeep used to have one of these in its exhibit at the Detroit Auto Show. Maybe they still do; I haven't been to one in four years. But they did what you suggest: The pixels are optimized for vertical scaling somewhere around the upper-middle of the image area.
It'd be interesting to set one up to play rhythms rather than display pictures. Tempo controlled by spacing the intervals, volume controlled by water volume. Maybe get some tonal variation by having the water land on wood, metal or plastic surfaces within the pool.
Oh yeah. Link provided by relaxing, below, more useful than this comment. Oh well.
If you fired the droplets sideways and looked up or down on the display, the droplets would maintain relatively constant spacing.
You could shot the droplets out at their terminal velocity, but the display might scroll a little fast if you did that. Might work for a 50-foot tall version.
So COOL!!! I can haz one? :)
The previously-posted one was this: http://gizmodo.com/229441/how-does-jeeps-waterfall-show-work
(My first recollection was that it was for Volkswagen. So much for advertising.)
Water droplets' terminal velocity depends on the droplet size. Drizzle is pretty slow. Bigger drops are more like 10-20 mph. If you increased nozzle pressure, you might be able to push out water that's already at its terminal velocity, and then you wouldn't have the stretching effect.
20mph = 30 feet/sec. This display looks to be about 10' tall, and the static images take about 1 second.
And when, pray tell, will you be installing this technology at the club?
If reusing the water was not such a requirement, they could do it in full color, with jetting dyed fluids.