Want To Write On Water? Use An AMOEBA.

Experimental device makes marks on water, intended for special effects at theme parks.

The AMOEBA in action (Image:Pink Tentacle.com

Some people may call it a miracle, some people may just be scratching thier heads over this one, but it seems that a Japanese research consortium made up of Akishima Laboratories and a professor at Osaka University have figured out how to draw on water.

Made up of a circular array of 50 water wave generators under computer control around a tank 1.6m in diameter and 30 cm deep (about the size of a blow-up kid’s wading pool), the AMOEBA (Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin) array uses the properties of waves interfering in water to produce a display field in the water that is actually divided into individually-controlled pixels–cylindrical in shape, each with a diameter of 10 cm (a little more than 1/2 an inch) and a height of 4 cm. The picture gives a very good idea of the display resolution.

The most recent version of this apparatus is considered a breakthough, resolving problems with the drawing of straight lines and display response times. The current version is both more accurate and faster than before, able to display the Roman alphabet as well as simple kanji, with a response time of 3 seconds (down from 15 minutes).

The device’s intended market isn’t the desktop, rather, applications for public special effects displays such as fountains.

(Via Pink Tentacle)