Polanimations

Description:

Polanimation explores how polarizers can be used as a passive display technology. The goal is to develop a design tool and fabrication process that allows users to create animated displays that take advantage of this effect. Can we design displays that are non-intrusive? Advertisements that can be filtered by viewers rather than the owners of the billboards?

Polarizers are optical filters that allow only specific wavelengths of light to pass through. An interesting effect occurs when you place one polarizer in front of another: depending on the relative angles of the two polarizers, the opacity of the overlapping region changes. When the two polarizers are parallel, the overlapping region allows light to pass through and appears transparent. When perpendicular, it blocks light and appears black.

By placing multiple polarizers at different rotational offsets to the viewing polarizer and rotating it, we can create various animation effects.