Check out these cool LED bicycle wheel displays

Hokey Spokes

They say these displays can display test and images.

I understand the images and text remain stationary in the wheel's spokes as the wheel is spinning. This is acheived through the use of "Persistance of Vision." From what I understand Persistance of Vision is the tendency of the human brain to blur light as it moves across our vision. So the entire text in the above picture is acheived using only a string of 7 LED'S. The LED used to create the top-most "blip" in the first leg of the letter H is the same LED that creates the top-most blip in every letter in the text. The same goes for the rest of the LED's in the string.

Click on the link above the image to go to their website and get a better idea.

(Typed with very wide eyes) COOL

With the explosion of LED technology over the last five years, I've been wondering when crowds would start taking on a "Blade Runner" look... I bet that LED illuminated stuff will become the "antenna balls" of this decade.

What are we calling this decade, anyway, the 0's?

The web site looks a little incomplete.

I downloaded the 'datasheet' which the web site says is a 1MB PDF. Well, it's 2.3MB but it's just a one page advertising flyer with no *data*. It is a sheet, so they got it partially right.

The 'datasheet' mentions software for a PalmPilot which can program the design and says that it's available from the web site. Anyone see a link for it? I'd like to try it and see what these can be made to do. I'm guessing they have an IR interface which they use for programming and synchronization--IMHO a very clever feature.

I'm curious how they sense wheel position. Do they use a magnet and a hall effect sensor like most bike computers do?

Similar topic: This may have originated here, I don't remember, but has anyone seen "propeller clock" pictures on the net? These things are awesome! Some are of the hokey spoke design, where you look at the "wheel spokes", and the other design is where you look at the "wheel" from the top/narrow end (if that makes sense). I would love to build my own, because I bet people who saw it in person would be mezmerized. I've seen a similar idea to the hokey spoke, in stores, but it just makes funky patterns and not messages or time display.

Here are a couple of sites with instructions for a clock...

Propeller Clock
Blick Propeller Clock

For more info just do a Google search.
Hope this helps

The most popular one here in the US is a Fantazein:

Fantazein Programmable Clock

Theres spacewriter, fan, ball and strip type units as well:

http://www.spacewriter.com

Beleive strip type units were used in Tokyo underground at one point as an advertsing item.

Adam

There's also the Skyliner, a thing that looks like a New Year's Eve noisemaker that you whirl around. I have not seen any of these other devices, so this is the only one on my website.

www.ledmuseum.org/skyline.htm