Touchable POV Display Blooms In Mid Air
A new touch-sensitive display called BloomBeacon has been developed by a team from the University of Chicago. This innovative device uses persistence-of-vision techniques and features spinning arms to create a mid-air display that is safe to interact with. Users can touch the display directly, as it is designed to prevent injury even when the arms are in motion.
- ▪BloomBeacon uses spinning arms to create a stable round display in mid-air.
- ▪One arm is covered in LEDs while the other has capacitive pads for touch sensing.
- ▪The device is designed to be safe for physical interaction, even with the spinning components.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Touchable POV Display Blooms In Mid Air No comments by: Zoe Skyforest May 23, 2026 Title: Copy Short Link: Copy Typically, when we think of touch screens, we think of LCDs or OLEDs with a resistive or capacitive sensing layer laid over the top. However, a team from the University of Chicago has developed an entirely different type of touch-sensitive display that uses persistence-of-vision techniques. The project is called BloomBeacon. It consists of a pair of spinning arms to create a stable round display in mid-air. One arm is covered in LEDs, while the other is covered with capacitive pads for touch sensing purposes. The trick behind this device is evident in the name—the device uses soft, flexible arms which are hinged and “bloom” upwards as the device spins up to speed.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hackaday.
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