Scientists Develop 'Magical' Image Printed From Inkjet Printer

Have you ever played with cards with a 3-dimensional hologram picture when changing card position changed? If yes, when researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) will present you with an optical illusion nostalgia on the cards, with a touch of 'upgrade' of the 21st century, of course.

Quoted from Digital Trends, Monday (12/28/2015), the researchers used a technique to inject 2-dimensional printing, which displays an image, when the material is held upright and shows another picture when the material is rotated.

Technology center of the 'exploit' inkjet printing, which uses a set of small dots of different colored inks to create tonal images. In engineering EPFL, along the lines of ink printed on a metallic sheet which displays a different color, depending on how the metal was held.

When light crosses the line of printing inks, some color appears as "strong color", while the other colors are seen as "weak color." When the sheet metal is rotated, the shadow causing color changes appear weak to strong and strong colors become weaker.

Differences in color pattern allowed the researchers in EPFL to print two images on one piece of metal. The team developed an algorithm that predicts the pattern of colors will appear at different angles.

The algorithm serves as the core for the printing software that allows researchers to print on a sheet of metal using a standard inkjet printer. This technique then produces an image visible and hidden images on a sheet of paper.

This printing method only works on metal, which can create shadows when the light hits the surface. The same technique can not be used on paper, which scatter light in different directions, making it impossible to have a shadow. The researchers believe the technology could be used as an additional form of security in the passport or banknote.

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