Projecting
Images on the Air
THE PRODUCT
The FogScreen is a new invention which makes objects seem to
appear and move in thin air! The FogScreen is a suspensible
device that creates a thin, smooth fog surface almost instantly when it is
switched on. It can be used for image projection just like a conventional
screen.
FogScreen
is, however, a screen you can walk through! The fog, made of ordinary water
with no chemicals whatsoever, dissolves in seconds by itself, leaving no
trace behind when you switch it off. The viewer can walk through the screen
– walk directly into the picture! People and things can be brought into view
through the screen. There are numerous other ways to use the FogScreen.
Write your message in fog - it will not vanish in the air
The FogScreen is an excellent eye-catcher. Whenever
FogScreen has been presented to an audience, it has proved its
ability to draw magnificent attention, gathering people around in crowds.
Especially children love it, as you see from the video on the Company page.
It nails people's attention, and as such, it is a very valuable airborne
advertising media.
You can even create walk-through or drive-through posters. It is especially
useful in malls, airports, stations and other public places, not to forget
mass events. Can you think of a better way to introduce a new product than
to bring it into the view of the audience through the screen? Looking for a
magical eye-catcher for your booth at a trade event? Now you have found it!
Customers who walk through your company logo at a trade fair will likely
remember the experience and the logo and your company.
FogScreen on stage
The images projected onto the FogScreen seem magical, like in
a vision. As the screen itself can appear from nowhere, and disappear again,
it creates huge possibilities for use in theater plays and concerts.
Entertain your guests with FogScreen
Whether you are planning a rock concert, a prize ceremony, an anniversary,
any commercial or private event, elevate the atmosphere with the magical
FogScreen. Guests can enter through the screen to an event!
Attract people with FogScreen
The Fog Screen attracts viewers to play with it whenever it is used for
image projection in public. The screen can be used to attract people to
theme parks and other attractions, museums (both art and science),
nightclubs (why not surround the dance floor with a walk-through screen),
theaters, casinos, PR events… For example, you can use the FogScreen
to create a fantastic theme park dark ride, to project a horrible monster on
the screen, and to make the real thing come right through the screen, or you
can make the cart move through the projection.
Create a luxurious interior with FogScreen
Lobbies and entrances of Fortune 500 companies, high level government and
other office buildings, and luxurious residences and cruisers are also
places where you will find a FogScreen in the future.
Companies will be projecting their PR videos and graphics on the screen,
while others will use it to view TV and movies. As the FogScreen
becomes integrated into our daily lives, architects will be integrating it
into the structures of new buildings.
Some special applications
The FogScreen is silent and non-breakable, which enables safe
gaming, exercise or training, and allows non-supervised public
presentations. It also enables the audience to enter and exit rapidly
through the walls into virtual environments, which can even be sequential.
Mixed reality and immersive projection technology
could use CAVE-like virtual rooms with fog walls, making them effectively
“virtual virtual rooms”.
OUR TECHNOLOGY
All the important principles of FogScreen technology have
patent pending. The basic components of the screen are a laminar,
non-turbulent airflow, and a thin fog screen (or any particles) injected
into and inside a laminar flow. Created this way, the fog screen is an
internal part of the laminar airflow, and remains thin, crisp, and protected
from turbulence.
When the screen is formed, images can be projected onto it. The screen can
be translucent or fully opaque. The quality, size, and other features of the
screen have been thoroughly improved in our latest prototype which was shown
at Siggraph 2003.
The fog is made within the device using water and ultrasonic waves. If you
hold your hands in the fog flow, the fog feels dry and cool, and your hands
do not get wet. When the device is in operation, it generates a mild
downward air and fog flow.
The FogScreen works very much like an ordinary screen in terms
of projection properties. It can be used for both back- and
front-projection. Normal stray light is not a problem, as long as it is
weaker than the projector. A projector with at least 3000 ANSI Lumen is
recommended. Distance between projector and screen should be a minimum of 2
meters.
The image is spectacular in normal daylight, but the darker the room, the
better the result. For the best result, a dark background is highly
recommended. The world premiere demonstration was at the Science Fair
in Turku, Finland in October 2002. This exciting new
product was reported by all the main news media outlets in Finland (TV news
broadcasts, newspapers, and cable).
The fog screen has later been presented in Herald Tribune,
CNN, Reuters, Wired etc. (USA),
Spiegel and numerous other international magazines. The first permanent
prototype installation has been running reliably in Vapriikki Museum
Center in Tampere, Finland since January 2003.
We are continuing the development of FogScreen. The next
generation of FogScreen will be interactive and will
behave like touch screens. This property will be utilized especially in
advertising, in malls for presenting shops and products, in art productions
and as interactive exhibits in science and other museums.
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