LED Pulse Turns Suspended Light Strings Into Low-Rez Three-Dimensional Motion Display

April 19, 2021 by Dave Haynes

Hat Tip – Sound and Video Contractor

A Hong Kong company has started showing a display system that uses suspended LED strings – with each light emitter mapped and addressable – to create motion visuals that have volume and dimension.

The system from LED Pulse is called Dragon O. It can be scaled up to fill a room or stage.

Part of the secret sauce with this is using light pixels that are three-dimensional, instead of flat, 2D light emitters in packages – which is how conventional LED modules are made. If this set-up used normal LED, walking to the rear might show no light, but with this a viewer can get a 360 view.

The company markets its solution in cubes of roughly three cubic meters in dimension, with 24,000 light pixels. The cubes can be joined to make a larger version and LED Pulse has done one with six cubes, adding up to 144,000 light emitters.

This is not a hologram, but it is certainly closer to the idea of a display that has volume to it. The Dragon O would be even more interesting with more pixel density, going from silhouettes to more tangible, visible objects and messages. But it is a start.

LED light strings are certainly not new, nor is mapping content to single pixels. But I’ve not seen something like this that hasn’t, fundamentally, been a flat surface.

I don’t see this having much role in places like retail and public facilities because this thing is going to look a lot more compelling with the lights down. But I could see a role in museums and attractions, as well as in the bars/restaurants/hotels sector.