Click to enlarge

The eCloud is a digital sculpture designed by UeBersee as a permanent installation for the Norman Y. Mineta International Airport in San José, California. The thousands of small square panels of electrically switchable laminated plexiglass act as pixels which imitate the behavior, as well as the volume, of an idealized cloud. The plexiglass (or Smart Glass) has the ability to graduate opacity with the transmission of an electrical charge. The panels are opaque in their neutral state and can become transparent with the charge.

108ft long and 16ft wide, the panels are arranged to simulate a cloud suspended from the ceiling from a tensile structure. The animations that move through the eCloud are based on actual weather data via a live feed of conditions for all airports in the U.S. (see bottom photo.) You can see a video of the eCloud in action below.

(indirectly) via LovelyPackage
Photos: Spencer Lowell