Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'

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Water Window
Adaptive window that refracts incident light producing the effect of water ripples
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A window that can flex across its surface, thereby refracting incoming light to produce the effect of water ripple patterns within a room.

Potential implementation:

A flexible plastic material as the main window surface, containing a matrix of expansion chambers, connected to the window casing by narrow channels. Each channel would be connected to a piston that could be moved to alter the air pressure within the respective expansion chamber. By coordinating the movement of all the pistons a specific pattern of window deformation could be produced, and with a sufficiently fine grid of chambers the desired ripple pattern (or any other pattern) could be produced.


drainfood, Jul 17 2003

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       if you can do it, I'll buy one.

neilp, Dec 20 2004
  

       Those projected patterns from rippling water are called caustics. I mean, if anyone cares, that is.

bristolz, Dec 20 2004
  
      
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