Jellyfish Screen Shows Video In Living, Pulsating 3D

The Gemotion is an invention that does something so simple and amazing I just grin from ear to ear when I think about it: it's a screen that shows video in living 3-D, the jelly-like skin throbbing in response to the swirls of color cast upon it.

Gemotion is a soft, ‘living’ display that bulges and collapses in sync with the graphics on the screen, creating visuals that literally pop out at the viewer.

Yoichiro Kawaguchi, a well-known computer graphics artist and University of Tokyo professor, created Gemotion by arranging 72 air cylinders behind a flexible, 100 x 60 cm (39 x 24 inch) screen. As video is projected onto the screen, image data is relayed to the cylinders, which then push and pull on the screen accordingly.

“If used with games, TV or cinema, the screen could give images an element of power never seen before. It could lead to completely new forms of media,” says Kawaguchi.

Let's leave aside the prospects for Russ Meyer festivals. Just think about something simple: for example, a giant hand being projected on screen, which then reaches out to prod you in the chest with its fingers. Doubtlessly impractical in Gemotion's current incarnation, but such prospects make the mind race and thrill.

Gemotion screen shows video in living 3D [Pink Tentacle]