We’ve seen those spinning LED displays before: basically a bunch of LEDs mounted on a propeller that spins very fast, giving a pleasant persistence-of-vision effect, animating 2D images in midair. Often, you’ll find them simulating 3D by animating their graphics, but you can’t walk around them and see the other side of the object being rendered.


Doing It 3D Style

But, about real 3D? Well, we’ve seen an acoustically trapped particle doing it at Elektor Labs, but Tom’s Hardware contributor Ash Hill has surfaced James Brown’s display using RGB LED panels. Called a “volumetric” display because it operates in three dimensions rather than just two (but I’ve never heard my TV referred to as an “areametric” display).
 
doom characters in battle
DOOM characters seen in 3D from above — something you never could do in the original game. Source: @ancientjames


Brown is still prototyping and improving the design incrementally, but what he’s already showing off looks amazing.

Even the original DOOM sprites were 2D simulations of 3D characters, but these look pretty impressive!
 
volumetric display as crystal ball
The crystal ball of the future — the volumetric display. Source: @ancientjames

These look more incredible in videos, and you’ll find many great examples on Brown’s Mastodon profile, from lunar lander to 3D test pattern, from dinosaur to Death Star. The display panels now spin at up to 600 RPM, which is a third the speed of a CAV LaserDisc, which, even though much lighter than LED panels, spun pretty violently, with some hefty centrifugal force, as I recall. Be careful, James!

Keep following @ancientjames’s updates on Mastodon to see where his crystal ball takes us.