Laser Advertising

3D Laser Advertising in Mid-air!
This is another great invent by Japan. Burton of Kawasaki, Japan has developed a laser system which allows images to be created in the air. The laser pulse is focused onto a point in the air, causing the air to ionise. The resulting glowing plasma appears as a point of light ("flash point") suspended in mid-air.
When hundreds of laser pulses per second are fired, an illusion is created of many constant points of light. By increasing the firing rate to a thousand flash points per second, 3D images have been created which can actually appear to move.
Within a few years, advertising boards may be replaced by empty spaces on the sides of the roads in which moving figures and messages made from various colored lasers may appear, as if by magic, out of thin air! Other applications could include 3D TV and light displays that appear like fireworks.
The discovery can have defense applications. The Pentagon is developing a military application (Plasma Acoustic Shield System, Pass) which causes the plasma balls to explode violently by use of an additional laser pulse. The idea is to create protective "flash-bang" curtains up to 100 meters away to serve as screens against snipers - a wall of light and sound!