based on pin art animation, (p)in/out is a bidirectional, extruding display and scanner. In display mode, 80x60 actuated, sliding blocks create a dynamic, 3-dimensional image, while LED's around the outer perimeteter cast shadows on the pins, creating gray levels. In scanning mode, the blocks can be pushed in, forming an imprint of an object. the imprint can then be inverted and displayed on the screen.



some past video work i've done motivates my interest in creating tangible pixels. in the video below, pixel brightness is mapped to height for two, overlayed images, creating a kind of 3-dimensional luma-key:

pin art animation is not a new idea. animators painstakingly manipulated tens of thousands of pins and lighting to create films like this one:

this was my first time using 3d modeling software.
> animated gif (1.3MB)
> sketchup file (926KB)