A Multi-Layered Display with Water Drops

Imagine playing 3D Tetris on a “display” made of multi-layered water drops. That’s right: a new projection technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute can target light onto and between individual water droplets to display text, video and other moving or still images on multiple layers of falling water.

Dubbed AquaLux 3D, this new projection technology makes it possible to create 3D images for theme parks, exhibitions and interactive games that don’t require special eyeglasses to view. The timing of drop generation between the rows are synchronized such that drops in the front rows do not block the drops in the back rows. A camera tracks the positions of the drops, so a projector can independently target each row of drops.

Here’s the technical version of the presentation: