This is amazing!
How it works
This video was taken at my home where I was showing off my display of a levitating water illusion. I can see that people are interested in how it is done...
The concept of strobing pulsating water to allow one to see drops rise, hover, and fall at different rates, is not new. MIT's legendary Harold "Doc" Edgerton used strobes to illuminate an unseen world of fabulous images (bullet striking an apple, balloon bursting, drop of milk splashing, etc.).
We have taken this principle and applied to a perceptual illusion known as the wagon wheel illusion. When one watches a spoked wheel turn on an old western movie, it appears to rotate in the opposite direction to its true rotation.
Here, we pulse the water extremely fast (you can't see the individual drops), but with a strobe (at the right frequency) they become "visible." Adjusting the frequency and valve rate you can get different effects. You assume that it is the "same" drop going down/up/hovering, etc., but it isn't. Your brain just groups it that way. The water is ALWAYS going down. Not shown on this video is the cool trick of filling a clear glass, while drops "magically" appear to rise out of the glass.
Yes, it is a very cool effect, lots of fun, and we have issued patents on creating this effect.
1 comment:
WOW If you put that at the bar- everyone would be poking it and everyone would prolly be wet too =)
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