Motion Sensing Ticker Tape Making Virtual Waves

Ticker tape has been around forever. The simple strip of scrolling information is usually found in transit hubs and financial centres, providing a constant stream of updates. This old-fashioned utilitarian display has been infused with a serious dose of play by the digital innovators at Breakfast, the company that came up with Instaprint.

Instead of a boring standard data feed, your motions dictate the ticker tape display. The screen shows a series of random words, which you can smash or send flying with your movements to reveal a secret message. The ticker tape board has been equipped with motion sensors and the little electromagnetic display dots have been rewired to spin 15 times faster, creating a ‘Reactive Super-Speed Electromagnetic Dot Display’.

The ticker tape is currently set up near New York’s Penn Station to promote a new murder-mystery TV show (hence the hidden secret messages). While this particular application may be commercial, it is easy to imagine how this technology could turn commonplace ticker tape into fun, interactive public spaces.