Flyfire: Flying Pixels Put You Inside a 3D Monitor

What do you get when you mix tiny remote-controlled helicopters, LEDs, and MIT Researchers?

Introducing Flyfire, an awesome project that aims to produce fully immersive and interactive environment. It's sort of like being in a 3D monitor with the pixels actually flying around you:

In its first implementation, the Flyfire project sets out to explore the capabilities of this display system by using a large number of self-organizing micro helicopters. Each helicopter contains small LEDs and acts as a smart pixel. Through precisely controlled movements, the helicopters perform elaborate and synchronized motions and form an elastic display surface for any desired scenario.

With the self-stabilizing and precise controlling technology from the ARES Lab, the motion of the pixels is adaptable in real time. The Flyfire canvas can transform itself from one shape to another or morph a two-dimensional photographic image into an articulated shape. The pixels are physically engaged in transitioning images from one state to another, which allows the Flyfire canvas to demonstrate a spatially animated viewing experience.

Link | BuzzFeed has the video clip


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Looks like a fun idea, but after the first few shots of the two mini copters, it looks like the rest is completely CGI. Anticlimactic for sure. If they really want to make some buzz they should debut it at something like TED live on stage.
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will not work....anyone here have a micro coaxial helicopter? what does the rotor downwash do when it hits a wall....consider the combined downwashes from hundreds of these, each interfering with the other....CHAOS!
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