3D laser-etched acrylic zoetrope

From the Design Media Lab at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, this “crystal zoetrope” technology involves spinning a cylinder of acrylic with internally etched 3D designs. The disk is surrounded by an array of LEDs that can flash in time with the rotation, or slightly asynchronously, to make the designs appear to move in space, and, additionally, to gradually rotate around the center of the cylinder in one direction or the other. The direction and speed of rotation can be controlled by gestural movements on the tabletop. [via Dude Craft]