# This is a cool fountain. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288 "2011-09-14T14:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/1 "2011-09-14T14:14:52Z")
From the Daily What:[Futuristic Fountain of the Day](http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/09/13/futuristic-fountain-of-the-day/) > [@](#): > > This fountain in Japan’s Osaka City Station “prints” images from a PC using illuminated water droplets. > > It’s also a clock that prints the time every minute, so you know exactly how long you’ve been staring at it in amazement. The video is just over 4 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Inter\_Alia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@Inter\_Alia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inter_Alia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/2 "2011-09-14T16:52:35Z")
I made it about 30 seconds before motion sickness got me (yes, I am a delicate flower), but that is pretty darn cool! I wonder if I could see it in real life and not get nauseated? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/3 "2011-09-14T17:12:32Z")
I will admit that I searched Hammacher Schlemmer for something like that. No luck. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/4 "2011-09-14T17:20:45Z")
Very cool. The images seem a bit “stretched” vertically to me, though. Why does it say “South Gate Building” in English? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/5 "2011-09-14T17:59:23Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Very cool. The images seem a bit “stretched” vertically to me, though. They get longer at the bottom because the drops are accelerating as they fall. If the “print” nozzles launched the drops at terminal velocity, this could be fixed, but it would require that all the the drops be the same size (else the bigger ones would have a higher TV). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-cool-fountain/596288/6 "2011-09-14T20:45:31Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > They get longer at the bottom because the drops are accelerating as they fall. If the “print” nozzles launched the drops at terminal velocity, this could be fixed, but it would require that all the the drops be the same size (else the bigger ones would have a higher TV). I appreciate that, but it seems that the nozzles are producing images of the correct proportions _at the point where the drops emerge_. I think it would look better if the image were slightly “squashed” vertically at the top, then it would be closer to the correct shape, on average, during the freefall. (In other words, a bit too short at the top, just right in the middle, and a bit too long at the bottom, rather than just right at the top, a bit too long in the middle and much too long at the bottom.)