Japanese team invents video paint

April 1 2009 – Tokyo: A team from one of Tokyo’s leading technology institutes has announced a completely new form of digital display technology that looks set to revolutionise the way information is displayed electronically.

Professor Kenjiro Shigatsubaka and his team from the Kichijoji Institute of Digital Ultrachromatics (KIDU) presented the new technology at a small private gathering of academics at an undisclosed venue in West Tokyo. Professor Shigatsubaka’s new technique employs a revolutionary liquid polymer that is excited by an electric charge to alter its appearance.  Molecules within the compound can present either a transparent aspect or a semi-opaque one depending on the electrical charge applied to it. By creating versions of the polymer using cyan, magenta and yellow pigments, a substrate capable of displaying a full spectrum of colours can be built-up in layers by applying several coats of the “paint”. The substrate is excited by a electric charges in the X and Y axes, which interact with each other to create complex interference patterns. By controlling these interference patterns, Professor Shigatsubaka is able to create a moving image using the polymer substrate. The effectiveness of the technique was demonstrated to an astonished audience by a junior member of the team donning white overalls and painting a moving picture onto what appeared to be just a plain white wall.

“We still have some way to go to perfect the technology,” conceded Professor Shigatsubaka. “Inertia within molecules limits the bandwidth we are able to achieve t present and results in some artefacts in fast-moving images. However the technique is already good enough for most applications and we are confident of being able to improve performance dramatically in the future.”

Professor Shigatsubaka is convinced that his invention will transform the built environment in the 21st century. “For the first time everybody will have complete freedom to change the environment they live in with the touch of a button. If you want to watch TV on the ceiling, relax in a forest grove or even in outer space, you can do so as easily as changing channel on TV,” he said. “From now on, the chore of decorating will be a thing of the past,” he continued, adding that hitherto menfolk will be free to enjoy restful and guilt-free Bank Holidays and Sundays.

The markets have been quick to react to the news: Leisure groups such as golf clubs saw big gains, as did paint manufacturers. DIY stores however were hit hard as the implications of a world freed from the curse of the “quick makeover” became widely recognised.

Laurence Llewellyn Bowen was unavailable for comment last night.