John Anderton

Foggy screen points the way, from Nature

Inventors have fashioned an interactive computer display from a curtain of fog.

The FogScreen uses ceiling-mounted air jets to create a vertical, turbulence-free slice of air a few centimetres thick, into which a fine mist of water is pumped. An ordinary projector can be used to display images on the resulting wall of fog.

…with the help of a laser-scanning system, the FogScreen also allows users to click on the watery screen itself.

Poke a finger at the screen, and the laser beams scanning the surface of the fog are interrupted, allowing the system to detect where you have ‘clicked’.

And here’s the company itself, Fogscreen Inc.