Gushed Light Field:
Design Method for Aerosol-based Fog Display
Ippei Suzuki1∗

Shuntarou Yoshimitsu2†
Keisuke Kawahara1
Akira Ishii1
Takatoshi Yoshida3
1(a)University of Tsukuba

2

Waseda University(b)3Nobutaka Ito3
Yoichi Ochiai1

Atsushi Shinoda1

The University of Tokyo

(c)

(d)

(e)

Figure 1: Application examples of Gushed Light Field. (a) Showing SIGGRAPH logo. (b) Showing a dolphin. (c) “Gas Ghost” - installationin the lobby of the music club. When a person came close to the projection point, the system renders an aerial image of a skull. (d) Multiviewpoint aerosol-based fog display. (e) A vision of our wearable system (showing “OK” above man’s head).

Abstract
We present a new method to render aerial images by aerosol-based
fog screens. Conventional fog screens are easily affected by the
air flow and their generator occupy large areas. In this study, we
propose to add new tradeoffs between limited display time andpayloads. We employ aerosol distribution from off-the-shelf spray
as a fog screen that can resist the wind, and has high portability.
We present some application example; wearable application, multiviewpoint display, display embedded in the environment, and aerial
imaging with drone or radio-controlled model car. This study willcontribute to the exploration of new application areas for fog displays and expand expressions of entertainments and interactivity.
Keywords: Display, fog screen, projection, aerosol, design.
Concepts: •Hardware → Displays and imagers;

1Introduction

The fog screen [Rakkolainen et al. 2005] has been used as main
diffusers of passive aerial display. In this kind of display system,
the fog is generated by the fog generator, and the projector projects
images onto the fog. These systems aimed to realize fixed, large,
and long display time. However, there are some problems withthese systems. The first relates to the size of the system; the fog
generator is large and heavy. The second problem is the low wind∗ 1heisuzuki@gmail.com† gogoyoshimy@gmail.com

This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here for your personaluse. Not for redistribution. c 2016
SA ’16, December 05-08, 2016, , Macao
ISBN: 978-1-4503-4539-2/16/12
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2988240.2988244

tolerance. This system cannot project the image in a windy placeor cannot be used with moving objects, because conventional fog
screen is easily affected by the air flow. Both of these problems
are related to mobile situations. In addition, a fog generator cannot
generate fog in a short time, and the fog cannot rapidly disappear.
Therefore, we cannot move this system as a wearable display orcannot project an image instantly.
In this paper, we propose to add new tradeoffs between limited
display time and payloads. We employ aerosol distribution from
off-the-shelf sprays as a diffuser (Figure 1 (a)(b)). By introducing
aerosol sprays, we can solve problems inherent with the conventional fog screen in some cases. Using aerosol spray has two merits.
First, because of its high refresh rate, the system and projected image can be moved, and it has high wind-tolerance. Second, because
the ingredients of the spray evaporate immediately, we can project
an image instantaneously. We also enable the whole system to belightweight and compact.
We present applications that utilize the benefits of our aerosol-based
display: high refresh rate, small size and lightweight, high tolerance
for wind, and selective narrow viewing angle.

2System overview

Figure 2 (a) shows the system overview of our basic setup. This
setup includes an aerosol spray, servomotors for operating thespray, microcontrollers, a mirror controlled by a servomotor, thelaser portable projector, a battery, and frames. The minimum
weight of this is around 600 g (when we use balsa wood for frames).
Assembled basic system with acrylic plates is shown in Figure 2 (b).
Aerosol spray: An off-the-shelf cooling spray which aims at cooling human bodies was used as a projection medium (Figure 2 (c)left). Because these are high-volatility ingredients, they do not remain on surfaces of objects like floors or walls. Figure 2 (c) rightis fragrance-free air freshener that has wide nozzles, however, it is
too large and heavy. We use this spray on some applications when
we have not to consider weight or size.

⑥Mirror(b)⑥Mirror③Laser projector
Video signalNozzle Actuator

USB serial
Pin conector⑤Arduino(d)(f)(e)(g)④Raspberry Pi⑦Servo④Raspberry Pi②Servo(c)①SprayPin conector②Servo③Projector⑤Arduino

175mm①Spray⑦111mm(a)

Cooling spray

Air freshener

Figure 2: (a) System overview and data-flow diagram. (b) System appearance (acrylic plate version). These parts were formed with a laser
cutter. (c) Aerosol sprays. Left: instant cooling spray. Right: fragrance-free air freshener. (d)(e)(f)(g) Closeup photos of nozzles. (d) Nozzleof cooling spray. (e) Nozzle of air freshener. (f)(g) Nozzles for graffiti (aerosol art).
(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 3: (a) An floating aerial image (showing a morpho butterfly) under the drone (DJI Phantom 2; DJI Co., Ltd.). (b)(c) A radio-controlledmodel car with our system. (d) Multi-viewpoint aerosol-based fog display. The camera is moved right to left focusing on the same position.

Spray nozzles: We considered combinations of nozzles and aerosol
sprays. Nozzles for graffiti (aerosol paint, street art) is considered
because there are many types of nozzles (e.g., for calligraphic effects (Figure 2 (f)), for fill-ins and large surfaces (Figure 2 (g))).
However, it is not suitable for our system because their distributions are short and not so wide. We employ nozzles for air freshener(Figure 2 (e)) instead of nozzles for cooling spray (Figure 2 (d)).

3Applications

Floating or fast moving midair display: We fabricated a prototype of the application installed on a drone (Figure 3 (a)). The system can be installed on a small drone easily because our system isaround 600 g at the smallest including all components. We also caninstall our system on a radio-controlled model car (Figure 3 (b)(c)).
We can show an aerial image by using the instantaneous feature ofthe system. This will attract the attention of the viewers.
Wearable use: We present wearable uses of our system as a proof
of concept on the advantages of the movability and lightweight. If
we use a conventional fog screen, users cannot move swiftly, as it
causes air movement which can distort the fog screen. We can use
our system as a wearable display in performances and a situation ofcommunication. People can project aerial images over their heads
or their back and communicate with others (Figure 1 (e)).
Multi-viewpoint aerosol based fog display: We implemented
multi-viewpoint aerosol display, which brings motion parallax toobservers like [Yagi et al. 2011]. A prototype of this applicationis shown in Figure 1(d). We used a DLP projector and 6 mirrors
to project images from various angles. Aerosol distribution shows
forward scattering, and its form likes a cylinder. This techniqueenables users to create multi-view aerial image instantly.
Display embedded in the environment: We developed another application in which an aerial image suddenly appears and disappears.
We suggest “Gas Ghost” as a specific example. We practically incorporated it into the decoration of a live music club’s lobby (Figure1 (c)). When a person came close to the projection point, the system emitted aerosol and projected an aerial skull image. Audiences
could see it appear suddenly. Some of the audience was screamingand escaping. We can also combine embedded and multi-viewpoint

display. Our system can show different information to each side asshown in Figure 3 (d).

4Discussion

Risk: The aerosol may get into a persons eye or mouth directly
depending on the style of use. In addition, the environmental impact of aerosol sprays should be considered. Even if there are few
negative effects of cooling spray for humans, the spray has an ingredient that may be connected with environmental destruction orhas toxicity. Another problem regarding safety is that the spray isflammable. If our system is used in a fire scene, the spray could
ignite or cause an explosion. Moreover, careful attention should betaken when using the system with real fire of stage effects.
Spray performance: A problem of the spray performance is pressure of gas. It causes three problems. The first problem is stabilityof the image. Our display shows the image flickering. Therefore,
we cannot see the whole image on only one frame. However, we
can see it in continuous scene because of residual image effects.
The second problem is that the angle of aerosol distribution is narrow. An area of the screen is small. The last problem relates to thewind-tolerance. Our system has high wind-tolerance, however there
is a limit (approx. 10m/s). If we increase the gas pressure, a screenof our system would always maintain its form and these problems
might be solved. However, we also have tradeoffs between increasing pressure and reducing the volume of the spray. Sprays should
be used for different purposes in accordance with the use.

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