The QuickTime Movie linked to below is of a quick mock-up I did last night. It consists of a clip-on lamp shade (painted white) used as the base, and some ball-joint components I had (spray painted silver) which was then mated to a foam core "screen" with a glossy output screen shot of Mac OS X. The rods are coming straight out the top.
The length of the silver arm is not as long as the new iMacsÕ but I think you get the picture of what can be done via direct rod control. These were just some silly moves I thought up, including some very ÒLuxo Jr.Ó gags. You can easily see a guy doing a lot of them with his head. Give me someone to copy, and weÕll get some pretty good ÒcopyingÓ moves.
There are actually a few extra axes, (aka points of movement or degrees of freedom) that this has, and which the iMac does not. They allow it to have more character. ItÕs a question of limiting it to what the iMac can actually doÉbut then again, it canÕt actually move on its own, can it! ItÕs a question of artistic licenseÉ
IÕm even thinking that, using this method, thereÕs a possibility of using a real screen and having a real-time display on it. However, that output might not be film-exposure friendly. If it is, is there some sort of animation that plays on the desktop?
imacrodtest.mov info:
1.9 mb 240 x
180 00:1:34:25
