This video shows air flow visualization using a laser pointer and mirror to see vibrations on a rubber membrane enclosing a Bluetooth speaker. A bluetooth speaker was placed in a plastic container and a large balloon was stretched over the opening of the container. A small mirror was then glued to the top of the balloon. A laser pointer was pointed at the mirror at an angle, which resulted in seeing the laser’s reflection on the wall. Using a function generator on my phone, I played different frequencies through the speaker and recorded the laser’s motion. The laser represents what is happening on a small cross section of the balloon. For the video, I used a Nikon D3100 filming at 1920×1080 and 24 frames per second.
Report: First Team Report John Monahan
31 Comments. Leave new
I love how this ended! Could of even added more color! I would be interested to see the set up
Cool video, I really like the frequency sweeps and the song. The transitions between the frequencies was really interesting to see. The setup was done well and the vibrations of the air was highlighted well. It is an abstract visualization of flow and the artistry of it was thought through well, good work.
Amazing!!!! SO cool, I love how you’ve abstracted and captured sound as 3d vibrations.
The music and sweep portions we’re great, though the wave packets in the music make it a little hard to see some.of the low-end effects. Overall a cool system to capture.
great technique for filming the shot. Cool and creative setup. Love the color and the music that is paired with the video
The video overall is really well done. The idea for filming was interesting! The visualization technique was well thought out and executed wonderfully.
It might be helpful to show a picture or video of the setup. The flow phenomenon is unique and captivating.
Really interesting concept and nicely executed. My favorite part of the video was the music visualization, the discrete frequencies were interesting but maybe not as artistically cohesive as the sweeping parts.
What an interesting and unique visualization of sound interacting with the fluid of air! I think the purple laser was a good color choice. I would like to see more of a gradual sweep between frequencies. Was that last visualization of the music?
Great concept – super unique. Love the purple. I think you should leave out the initial frequencies at the beginning, and just showcase the like, progression, or whatever, of the frequencies. Great music choice. Really nice work.
Interesting demonstration, good focus and exposure. I would consider cutting the static frequencies at the beginning of the video in favor of the frequency sweep, as that conveys the same information but is more dynamic. This places more emphasis on light and vibration physics than fluid visualization.
This is a really interesting way to visualize the air flow. The song at the end makes for a very cool display. The setup seems difficult to understand.
Very creative and mesmerizing. I’m curious as to what flow is present/intended to be seen.
Really interesting experiment. I like the sweep from the low frequency to the high frequency because it captures the change in shape as the frequency is modified. Great job on isolating the laser light and having a non distracting background.
That was really nice. You had a vision and you made it happen. It’s sooo cool seeing the fluid-structure interaction from this angle.
Sounds like a complex setup but the result looks awesome. I think the higher frequency ranges could be cropped out from the continuous range part. I like the glare from the song section.
I remember when I first saw this technique it blew my mind. I love that you tackled this. Nice job. The sweep was really neat. If you could somehow magnify the song visuals it’d really add to the piece.
This is a really unique idea. I am really curious as to what flow phenomenon this is demonstrating. I really like the sweep of frequencies that you did. I think the laser with the actual music is wonderful to watch. I really like the music choice.
Maybe crop the video a little closer into the moving laser?
Really unique idea, I want one, its awesome
Interesting idea. I like the colors, and the focus seems good. I feel like the sweeps add much more to the flow than the previous constant frequencies. That last clip with music could probably be your entire submission.
Very intriguing idea. I like the way the fluid changes in behavior the greater the frequency gets. Maybe add music while the beginning setup was happening. Amazing lighting!
I’m not quite sure I understand the setup but I like the shapes made by the light. I’m not sure all of the demonstrations are necessary…the sweep is really cool and so is the part with the music. Maybe just use those two segments? Also did you consider using different colors? Or changing the color in editing? I think that could add a cool dynamic effect.
This is a really cool visual of the varying different frequencies. I think the beginning portion of the video with the discrete frequencies didn’t really add much to the video.
Beautiful video, I love the color of the laser pointer, the flow is very interesting. I love your music selection.
This is a really cool video, I’m not sure how necessary the intro frequencies were, but the video itself is really cool and the song at the end really makes it all come together and makes it very appealing!
Very interesting setup, I wasn’t sure what was occurring at first until you explained it. Overall, great demonstration and the video could be trimmed a bit in the beginning.
I like this idea! I would maybe focus on just the song at the very end or the sweep of different frequencies rather than showing all of the different frequencies individually.
This is really interesting video. It got more interested with your great explanation.
really interesting concept, I like the patterns created. Overall great video. I might add a bit more to the video, other colors, other points maybe.
What an interesting concept. This is really beautiful. I would like to see how exactly this is set up!
Interesting demonstration. Could be a little more dynamic as a video.