# Helio Display: Images out of Thin Air **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631 "2007-02-03T02:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/1 "2007-02-03T02:36:57Z")
Okay. It’s wholly impractical and, if we can dismiss the “damn that’s cool” factor for a moment, really doesn’t display images very clearly or steadily. Just the same, the $20,000 [Helio Display](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zRmffRIifE), which uses a rear projector to display an image on jets of condensed air, is is still … well, _damn cool!_ ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/2 "2007-02-03T02:40:11Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Okay. It’s wholly impractical and, if we can dismiss the “damn that’s cool” factor for a moment, really doesn’t display images very clearly or steadily. Just the same, the $20,000 [Helio Display](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zRmffRIifE), which uses a rear projector to display an image on jets of condensed air, is is still … well, _damn cool!_ [/QUOTE] Pretty cool. 🙂 I don’t see how they can get rid of the waviness. Any ideas? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/3 "2007-02-03T02:47:58Z")
Maybe a fraction less cool, but still amazing in that it essentially displayed an image without any screen or tube, was the “mirror screw” TV receiver employed in Germany during the Reich’s broadcast experiments in the mid-1930s. The viewer saw only modulated flashes of light projected onto a spiral turntable of long, thin mirrors, which spun around many times a second. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/4 "2007-02-03T03:04:27Z")
That reminds me of the holo display on NBC’s short-lived “seaQuest DSV” series. I believe the device on the show was meant to suggest a manner of operation nearly identical to the Helio. But, I can’t see anyone buying the Helio for any serious use in its current incarnation. The wavering display is just too distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/5 "2007-02-03T03:13:00Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Maybe a fraction less cool, but still amazing in that it essentially displayed an image without any screen or tube, was the “mirror screw” TV receiver employed in Germany during the Reich’s broadcast experiments in the mid-1930s. The viewer saw only modulated flashes of light projected onto a spiral turntable of long, thin mirrors, which spun around many times a second. [/QUOTE] Hmm, if I’m not mistaken, you could use such a technique to transmit three dimensional images! Did they do that? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/6 "2007-02-04T01:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Cleophus] That reminds me of the holo display on NBC’s short-lived “seaQuest DSV” series. I believe the device on the show was meant to suggest a manner of operation nearly identical to the Helio [/QUOTE] Just what I thought of too when I saw the youtube clip. Why on earth did they keep it in the captain’s quaters? Why not some knarly holo communications a la Star Wars for the bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/7 "2007-02-04T03:55:34Z")
Cool as it looks at first blush, I doubt they’ll be able to do anything practical with it. No matter how narrow and/or strong the jets, blowing air is going to produce a shimmering curtain effect. Aerodynamics 101. The only way to stabilize the airflow is to give it a narrow channel to flow through – say, two pieces of plexiglass 1/8" apart. Of course, then you’ve got a solid screen which negates much of the novelty of the display method. You might as well just use a piece of coated transflective glass, then. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/8 "2007-02-04T05:38:18Z")
This tech will make really great Halloween decoratons. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/9 "2007-02-04T08:14:00Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Hmm, if I’m not mistaken, you could use such a technique to transmit three dimensional images! Did they do that? [/QUOTE] No, because even if the mirror screw TV could project 3-D images, they would have needed a mirror screw _camera_ to pick them up. No such thing was ever contemplated. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helio-display-images-out-of-thin-air/390631/10 "2007-02-04T15:13:59Z")
Then there’s writing on water with Amoeba: > **[Device uses waves to “print” on water surface ~ Pink Tentacle](https://pinktentacle.com/2006/07/device-uses-waves-to-print-on-water-surface/)** note: despite the url name, it’s perfectly safe for work. > [@](#): > > Researchers at Akishima Laboratories (Mitsui Zosen), working in conjunction with professor Shigeru Naito of Osaka University, have developed a device that uses waves to draw text and pictures on the surface of water.