Battling demons and normal guns don't work? Here's help in the form of this mystical gun that channels the arcane powers of the mystic realm before firing off a blast to blow evil away.
Made by Japanese steampunk designer FriskP, the gun delivers an impressive power-up animation that doesn't require the use of post-processing computer generated effects. Instead, it relies on the Phantom, an LED fan made by a tech startup called Life is Style. The fan is capable of projecting high resolution images in the air as the fan spins, and is also programmable.
This has led to other cool effects, such as the hand spells from Marvel's Doctor Strange as seen in the video. If you're thinking of getting one for your next cosplay project, well, you'll have to wait, as pricing for the Phantom has yet to be revealed. Don't expect it to be cheap though.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by crafoo on Tuesday May 29 2018, @09:33PM (5 children)
I didn't see the LED mechanism for the persistence of vision effect. Are they flexible and spin out of the cylinder when they start spinning? that would be cool.
(Score: 4, Informative) by sjames on Tuesday May 29 2018, @09:37PM
That appears to be the case. If you look quite closely, you can occasionally see the spinning blades catch the ambient light.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday May 29 2018, @11:41PM
Famous old German invention, they call it the Nipkow disk. Otherwise known as the VERY FIRST television. Now made in Japan & China!!!!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @12:14AM (1 child)
The LEDs are on a circuit board, it isn't a string of lights. Think of a single propeller with lights on it which can fold back along the plane when in storage and pops out when needed.
This thing is trivial to make. Expect a bunch of DIY tutorials before they're able to start selling their product. The innovative thing they've done is attach it to a hand-held device without a safety grill, something most companies would never think to do due to liability issues. There are plenty of clocks and desktop devices which let you project whatever image you want using the same technique.
I can easily see a smaller version of this turning into a fad. Then just as quickly being banned as cheaper devices fly apart and hit people or kids start sharpening the blades like they did with pog slammers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 30 2018, @09:11AM
I was genuinely yawning at the concept before I saw the vid and saying "bloody hell they've done that well" under my breath when watching it.
I'd love to see what this could do to a table of empty (or full) champagne flutes, and plates of canapes.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday May 30 2018, @04:04AM
It would be nice to see this sort of thing on spinning weapons in BattleBots.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Tuesday May 29 2018, @09:55PM (6 children)
The video has to be watched, because I swear it's close to CGI. I can barely see the LEDs whipping about, and the effect is spot on.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday May 29 2018, @10:01PM (2 children)
These are the vids in question, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw8GOB8wrlo [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJSEGG4KFU [youtube.com]
Could the device cut off some kawaii cosplayer's fingers if used incorrectly?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by arslan on Tuesday May 29 2018, @10:27PM
If it can do that then I'd say it is functioning correctly as a weapon... and folks cutting off their fingers are not holding it right
(Score: 1) by jjr on Wednesday May 30 2018, @01:49PM
Just a couple of weeks ago I saw the same but mimicking Dr. Strange' spells. In this case the fan blades are hidden inside the gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n65ZLL-EFCI [youtube.com]
And yes, doesn't seem very safe to use, but probably the blades are soft enough to not cause any serious injuries.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Tuesday May 29 2018, @10:35PM (2 children)
But does it look as good in real life?
Unless it is spinning crazy fast, there would probably be flicker, although not everyone would notice. They may have even had to futz with the persistence or frame rate on the camera to make the videos look that good.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 30 2018, @01:36AM
Flicker probably isn't the biggest issue -- I don't want to denigrate it, so:
A) The demo is beautiful -- I love it.
B) The demo has been overlaid with load music -- I bet it sounds like a Cessna.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 30 2018, @09:15AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday May 29 2018, @10:44PM
I think it was khallow whose couch I crashed on after attending a funeral in San Diego. He lived in La Jolla at the time; that's where all the rich people go. (Poor people all live in Chula Vista.)
(khallow: was it really you?)
Anyway, before he left the following morning my host programmed an LED fan to say "Wake Up Mike", briefly woke me up so as to demonstrate, then let me go back to sleep.
I figured he wouldn't be down with me sleeping until he got home, so after a couple hours I managed to drag my sorry ass off his couch.
Such LED displays can also be had for bikes and autos.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday May 29 2018, @10:48PM (1 child)
Will a cop claim he saw the muzzle flash of a pistol with a silencer?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 29 2018, @11:01PM
Instead of "Gun! Gun!" it'll be "Firaga! Firaga!"
(Score: 2) by goodie on Wednesday May 30 2018, @12:38AM
I was quite impressed by the video (15 yo me would love to have this, ok current me would too...), but the website itself is nice. It has links to steampunk conventions etc. Thanks for this SN!