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A wall you can walk through. A computer you can use by
touching the air. A hygienic screen that leaves no fingerprints.
Walk-thru images. Air on which you can draw and write. Virtual
reality that is true. FogScreen is already conquering the
world.
Behind the revolutionary FogScreen are Ismo Rakkalainen,
a senior researcher at Tampere University of Technology, and
Professor Kari Palovuori. The idea is based on a light mist
formed from normal water which is so fine that an image can
be reflected with a projector on both sides of it. By using
ultrasonic waves it is possible to walk through water that
has been into dispersed into a light mist without getting
wet.
The fog wall remains steady between two air flows. The control
of these airflows is an invention that has now been patented
most recently in the United States.
Eye-catching promotion brings orders
FogScreen has been received with enthusiasm throughout the
world, and questions have been coming from dozens of countries.
FogScreen's path to the world has been funded by the Academy
of Finland, the National Technology Agency of Finland, Tekes,
and the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development
(SITRA). Equipment is rented out and sold by the FogScreen
company, which was created just over a year ago.
At this moment there are fewer than ten FogScreens, some
of which are out on hire. One of the most conspicuous of the
hirers is the movie giant 20th Century Fox, which used FogScreen
in an eye-catching marketing campaign for the film I, Robot
in Tokyo.
"The film's trailer was shown for one and a half months
on FogScreen. The main performer in the film, Will Smith,
appeared in a FogScreen promotion, which led to numerous media
appearances and directly to orders for FogScreens in the USA,
Europe and Japan," says Mika Herpiö, the CEO.
Strong visual essence and entertainment
FogScreen is easy to instal, the world's first walk-through
projection surface that makes it possible to write and draw
in the air. FogScreen is suited to many kinds of premises
and occasions.
FogScreen arouses attention with its strong visual essence.
Places of major significance where it can be used are entertainment
centres, theme parks, science centres, aquariums, planetariums,
night clubs, casinos, shops, hotels and restaurants. The unique
projection surface provides numerous uses as an artistic tool
for the visual and video arts and at the theatre.
Architects all over the world are also being inspired by
FogScreen - "You can use it, for example, to design a
wall that needs no door, because you can walk through the
wall," Herpiö explains.
Sterile screen for hospitals
One of the most important targets for future development
will be hygienic touch screens. FogScreen will serve as a
touch screen for a computer: it will be possible to use the
computer by touching the air.
"We will be able to develop a hygienic, even sterile,
computer user interface for situations where this is beneficial
e.g. in operating theatres or for information services used
by the public at large. The mist will act as a touch screen
that leaves no fingerprints," Herpiä says.
"There are other, even more far-reaching areas of research.
The scope is enormous."
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www.fogscreen.com
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