Multivox: Volumetric Display • Hacker News Board

I wonder if you could have a vibrating chladni plate with sand on it and you match when the sand should jump with the light that's meant to be at that spot. You get the interruption of light looking like a mid-air pixel and then when it isn't needed it drops back down allowing light to pass through. Kind of like one of those mist-screens except there isn't mist where you don't need it.

Re: Multivox: Volumetric Display

#18

Post by tclancy » Thu, Dec 04, 2025, 8:44 PM UTC

qoez wrote: post #7

Never knew this was possible. I hope some huge company with lots of resources jumps on this and drives up the resolution and price.

>drives up the resolution and price.

Uh, I get the former but why the latter?

Re: Multivox: Volumetric Display

#19

Post by lawlessone » Thu, Dec 04, 2025, 8:48 PM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

In case you miss it, a video of the thing in operation is linked: https://youtu.be/pcAEqbYwixU Reminds me that there are limitations to volumetric displays—namely that, since you have no idea where the viewer is located, there is no backface culling you can perform. So it seems to work best for "cutaway" views. I'd like to see one in person. Might be "magical" — the video only kind of hints at this.

I can see it making a great "radar" peripheral for 3d space games, think Elite Dangerous or No Mans Sky that both have one in their cockpits.

Re: Multivox: Volumetric Display

#20

Post by btbuildem » Thu, Dec 04, 2025, 8:51 PM UTC

Before I watched the video, my brain ran ahead and I imagined it would be one of those led "fans", except also rotating around it's base. It might be harder to sync the two rotations, but you'd have much less mass in motion that way.

The solid state ones are cool! The real mystery there is how the pixel volume was manufactured -- it doesn't seem like something easily DIY'd