Skip to: main navigation | main content | sitemap | accessibility page

 

Could Revolutionary New 3D Display Technology change Production?

Scientists from The University Of Sussex and the Tokyo University of Science build a sonic tractor beam, and use it for 3D display.

R2D2 3D Graphic display. video via GIPHY

In an Article in Nature this week, scientists have demonstrated new technology that makes 3D display a reality.  Not like the 3D we see in cinemas, designed to trick the viewers eye, but actual 3 dimensional display that can simultaneously deliver visual, auditory and tactile content.

Read the research article in Nature here.

It works by elevating a particle or bead and controlling its position with sound waves.  Researchers can move the particle at speeds of up to 8.75 metres per second and 3.75 metres per second in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. By doing this, then illuminating the bead with red, green and blue LEDs at high frequencies, the display can be built in real space. 

While this technology offers the possibility of a new way to display and interact with our robots like the Sci-Fi droid from the 70s classic, this looks set to be the beginning of one of those innovations which branches in to many areas and continues to evolve, impacting industry and every day life alike. 

Could the next collaborative manipulators be less like robot arms and more like a 70s ghetto blaster?