Patent ID: 8137176

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: at least a first support structure mounted to rotate about a first axis of rotation; a first set of display structures including at least two display structures each including a plurality of addressable elements, each of the at least two display structures of the first set of display structures being elongated with a respective longitudinal axis, each of the at least two display structures of the first set of display structures physically coupled to the first support structure to rotate therewith about the first axis; a mechanical wheel that is positioned relatively behind the first set of display structures and that is visible from relatively in front of the first set of display structures as the first set of display structures rotates; a drive mechanism coupled to drivingly rotate the first support structure about the first axis of rotation along with the at least two display structures mounted thereto at a speed sufficiently fast that individual ones of the at least two display structures are not visually discernable during operation of the apparatus; a controller communicatively coupled to control the addressable elements of the at least two display structures of the first set to selectively emit light from the at least two display structures of the first set; a housing having an interior in which the first support structure is received and at least one window that provides visual access from an exterior of the housing to a portion of the interior; and a light transmissive display structure positioned between the first set of display structures and the window through which the light transmissive display structure and the first set of display structures is viewable by a user of the apparatus, wherein the light transmissive display structure passes at least some visually discernable amount of light emitted by the first set of display structures.