idea for controllable lumia

I'd bet that it would be possible to chose a material and place a fluid between two layers and use one or more sonic transducers to cause a repeatable and controllable lumia effect. Different refractive index materials would produce different rates and depths of effect. Think of the standing wave you see in a glass when a truck goes by. Now do this but control the amplitude and frequencies to make patterns. Could be reflective or transmissive. In this way you can predict the outcome. This same idea could be use to bloom the beam to change the thickness of the scanned line though that would be easier mounting a lens on a linear actuator. I think Bill Benner already did this a long time ago. Just an idea. I have no intention of doing this so have at it free idea.

I had the same though as a way to make a lens a while back. Maybe could use a camera to look at the beam profile and move the pattern to correct the shape in a single complex lens and then freeze it in place. ?UV cured? ?Holographic lens?

There was a thread about something like this a couple of years ago. A transverse standing wave does still oscillate in the transverse axis. This will cause your lumia to oscillate too. It might generate some interesting effects, but I don't think it'll result in an infinitely programable lumia generator since you have to work within the harmonics of the cell. Still you could always try a stack of cells with different harmonics.

With the advent of home brew CNC mills and 3D printers maybe there's cheaper ways to get new lumia effects than standing wave generators.

Sorry I completely missed that you don't have to have the beam on all of the time. So you can pick the time the surface is "right". It speaks to the part of me that wants to build the perfect projector & do the perfect show, but I know that part of me is usually what keeps me from finishing anything.

I didn't say it would be easy but possible with microcontrol of the emitters and precise cavity shape.

And we're back to AOM. >:)
I have a bunch of Surface Acoustic Wave Delay Line crystals and one very weird thing Steve gave me to experiment with.
Too many projects, not enough time.

I have an idea Im going to try tomorrow.