An art exhibition in Japan has a stretched fabric display delivering a real 3D effect using small air cylinders behind the screen. The screen carries a projected video which is also linked to the cylinders. The cylinders behind the screen push and pull air at appropriate points to give the impression of images leaping in and out. The correct volume of air to push or pull the display a certain distance is calculated. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports that the concept, called Gemotion, was created by Yoichiro Kawaguchi at Tokyo University.

Although it’s an artistic prototype at the moment, MediaSoon can envisage a POP display with an animated character that literally leaps out of the screen. Or why not something larger. Given a big enough matrix and big enough pins, the concept could apply to billboards too. In the exhibit, 72 cylinders sit behind a 100 x 60 cm screen.

Professor Kawaguchi tells us:

“Used in games, television or cinema, the screen could give images powerful elements we’ve never seen before. It could lead to a completely new media format.”

The projection appears at the Japanese National Art Centre in Tokyo.