Pong under a microscope

A real-life implementation of the evergreen arcade game Pong was obtained by optically trapping 7 glass microspheres (1 μm diameter) in a 25 μm x 20 μm sized field under a microscope. Their positions are then steered with a computer.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• game
• arcade
• optical
• tweezers
• AOD
• laser
• trapping
• tetris
• microtetris
• pong
• microscope

[Clairymoo]

I saw this machine today! I played with yeast cells with a homemade multi user interface thing!

[jmameren]

Hmm, makes me wonder -- where did you see it? The machine as such does not exist anymore. :-)

But there are many similar machines out there. Ever seen the micro-tetris version?

[musicianhayd]

so were you actually controlling this at the time or was it a program? also, at about 2 mins somethin seems to b movin in the bakground..

[jmameren]

for this one, it was a program controlling the pads. check out my other video with tetris; that one was actually played in real time.

[zakawer]

LOL ON A MICROSCOPE IT SOUNDS AWESOME

[shalroth]

I love the idea that we've developed the technology to manipulate nanoscale particles using nothing more than light... and we use it to play video games!

When do we get to see Quantum Pac-Man?

[Clairymoo]

Bristol university physics department, in the basement. They have made an interface like a microsoft surface that works with the program, hence the playing with yeast cells.

And they're developing a glove as well, I think. So you can 'feel' cells.

[musicianhayd]

hehe it's cool when it resets

[jsb42]

6-3. The right one was owned.

[SpeakerPolice]

Awesome demonstration. Five stars!