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Topic: "Fog Screen"

John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 09-13-2005 09:48 AM

Just saw this in the current issue of "Entertainment Engineering":

http://entertainmentengineering.com/v2.issue09/ (see pages 8-9)

quote:
FogScreen offers users a seamless projection area,
which can be projected onto from both sides with two
separate images. The screen surface is flat and thin and
allows for high-quality projections. What's cool about
the screen is that a presenter can walk through the
screen or reveal a new product to the audience by passing
it through the screen. This ability is great at trade
shows or sales conferences, and increases the dramatic
affect of a product introduction. The system is easy to
install. Just replace the conventional screen you are now
using with a FogScreen. Nothing else need be done.
The fog used is dry. It is created using ordinary water
with no chemicals. The actual screen feels dry and cool
to the touch. The screen creates a magical effect as if
the images are floating in thin air. There is no frame
around the smooth, airborne projection surface. The
images projected on the screen can be walked through...

quote:
FogScreen Specifications
Dimensions 0.65 (High) x 0.90 (Depth) x 2.31 (Width) meters
(25.6” x 35.4” x 91”) (Custom sizes available by special request).
Weight Unit weight not including trussing is approx 100KG (220 lbs)
Water Tank weight (if used) approx 20KG (44lbs)
Power
Requirements The units operating current is (110 V 20 A) or (220/ 240 V 10 A)
One mains sockets will be required at the control unit this will
provide all necessary power requirements to the fog generator.
(Projector(s) will have own additional power requirements.)
Power
Consumption 2.2kW
Water
Requirements Supply either by fixed install or separate tank, water should be
fresh, clean and be low in Lime.
Water
Consumption Depending on fog output between 5-10 liters (~ 1 -2.5 gallons)
is consumed per hour. Water is regulated by the control unit
pumping mechanism.
Operating
Temperature The unit will operate well at normal room temperatures. The
operating range is between +5 (non freezing) - +40 degrees centigrade.
Control
Options Control is via the control unit and is addressable using DMX protocol.

What won't they think of next?

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Dieter Depypere
Master Film Handler

Posts: 343
From: Deutsch-Wagram, Lower Austria, Austria
Registered: May 2005

posted 09-13-2005 09:59 AM

That makes me think of "Klangwelle Wörthersee".

There the "screen" is established by water. A lot of pumps blow the water from the lake up till the screen has risen up to its dimension of 9m x 12m (don't know exactly). It is used to project slides or complex laser generated images for entertaining purpses (with music).

Er... before I forget - the water blown up falls back into the lake (of course [Wink]

)

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Heath Dutton
Film Handler

Posts: 37
From: Montgomery, Alabama / United States of America
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 09-13-2005 12:52 PM

I first saw something like this in that old underwater sci-fi series where everyone lived in a submarine... Can't recall the name of it now.

It looks like they have perfected the art of making cold fog.

But, the image quality is still not very crisp. And is very streeky. It's pretty good in the pictures they have, but watch the video and you will see that it's only as clear as the background is dark. And if you were to look at it at an off angle it would get more and more fuzzy...

They make the fact that the fog is dry a major selling point, but they also say that it uses nothing but water, and no other chemicals... Hmm, dry water vapor... thats a new one.

I can imagine using this would reek havoc on your air conditioner, having to remove all the humidity from the air, since this would be the worlds larges humidifier.

I gave my wife one of those fog-dishes and it made all of our AC vents drip water down on us. I can only imagine what 5-10 liters of water an hour would do to a house. Not to mention that the device needs to be away from any AC vent, or the air current will push the fog around.

They also list that the projector has to be extremely high lumens for this to work well, which makes sense. But they are talking 8000+ lumens which would be a HUGE expense.

I still want one tho. [Cool]

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 09-13-2005 07:10 PM

This actually isn't very new....we looked into it about three years ago at least. As I recall the director and marketing guy almost choked when they found out what it costs. I wasn't in the room that they came running out of screaming, so I didn't get to hear what it cost, but it is VERY expensive. It also has very limited applications, although as a gee-wiz eye catcher, it sure does what it's supposed to do. It's great at trade shows and probably as lobby displays if you are looking to get people to stop and look. My take on it was that the technology is so unique that people may be enthralled with the wall that they can seemingly wall right through that they will not remember what is being shown on it. Plus it has all the short comings that Heath pointed out, plus, I wonder how fast it recovers when people walk through it....bet it's not all that fast.

It was way out of our league.

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Wolff King Morrow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 490
From: Denton, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 09-13-2005 09:07 PM

Like to see kids throw gummie bears on that!!

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Mike Olpin
Chop Chop!

Posts: 1852
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 09-14-2005 01:54 AM

This is used at Disneyland on the Indiana Jones Adventure. Just after the dark cave and before you go into the arrow room, you pass through a fog screen. The projected image can be different depending on what ride program the computer has selected for your car. It looks very cool in the morning, but after an hour or two, the fog has had so many cars pass through it, that the projection isn't visable anymore.

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