BLOB MOTILITY

BLOB MOTILITY is an attempt of actuated shape display using fluid material. We have developed an environment where we can program the shape of gel geometrically and topologically using our unique magnetic fluid called pBlob. This enables us to experience organic shape changes in real space, like a metaball in the CG world. The control hardware is composed of electromagnets arranged in the honeycomb structure and their control circuits. On/off control and PWM control vary the blob shapes and realize animations. We describe the method of blob creation, details of the mechanism and the language for transformation control, and propose some applications we are developing at present.