Bubblegram
Encyclopedia
A bubblegram is a 3D
image composed of points suspended in a medium, typically a plastic block. It can be described as a 3D version of the late 19th century, European, 2D art of pointillism
.
Laser bubblegrams gained wide commercial success in the early 2000s as a fad
in the United States; 3D representations of monuments, corporate symbols, and nature scenes appeared in gift shops. The 3D images are created by intersecting lasers in appropriately-doped plastic, which may induce a chemical reaction
via heat or photonic excitation, resulting in the formation of an air bubble or of plastic with a different index of refraction.
Some subsurface laser etching machines produce bubblegrams using a single conically-focused laser to create 0.1 mm fractures within a glass block.
There also exist companies which will take custom photographs of people, convert them to a heightmap
, and render them as a bubblegram as a memento
.
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
image composed of points suspended in a medium, typically a plastic block. It can be described as a 3D version of the late 19th century, European, 2D art of pointillism
Pointillism
Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works...
.
Laser bubblegrams gained wide commercial success in the early 2000s as a fad
FAD
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. FAD can exist in two different redox states, which it converts between by accepting or donating electrons. The molecule consists of a riboflavin moiety bound to the phosphate...
in the United States; 3D representations of monuments, corporate symbols, and nature scenes appeared in gift shops. The 3D images are created by intersecting lasers in appropriately-doped plastic, which may induce a chemical reaction
Chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
via heat or photonic excitation, resulting in the formation of an air bubble or of plastic with a different index of refraction.
Some subsurface laser etching machines produce bubblegrams using a single conically-focused laser to create 0.1 mm fractures within a glass block.
There also exist companies which will take custom photographs of people, convert them to a heightmap
Heightmap
In computer graphics, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image used to store values, such as surface elevation data, for display in 3D computer graphics...
, and render them as a bubblegram as a memento
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
.
External links
- Laser Crystal Technique How a single conical laser beam makes a bubblegram