Japanese company creates laser bat-signal

A Japanese company projected, this Monday, an image in the air made of laser beams. Technology may make it possible, in the future, to project signals into the sky just like the Batman, superhero of DC Comics.

Like the bat signal, which warned of problems in Gotham City, Japanese inventors hope this system can be used to alert people to natural hazards and catastrophes, such as the arrival of a tsunami.

The technology company Burton Inc. managed to show andspirals, butterflies and a Apple, floating a few meters from the projection system. Unlike other methods, images can be projected day and night, without the need for screens.

To create the images, the device focuses an intense light laser on a small point in the air, causing it to emit a light, similar to a bright LED. “The main feature of our technology is that we can focus light at a point and re-emit light wherever we want,” said Akira Asano, researcher and director of the burton inc.

The technology, presented in a science museum in Tokyo, can currently show images five meters above the projection device, although the company's aim is to double that height.

From AFP - ppgad@pucrs.br