"NTT creates two-dimensional pictures that can move"

From Japan Today, 2/23/15:

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) recently announced that they’ve developed a way to make normal, printed-out two-dimensional pictures look like they’re moving through a bit of magic of their own.

The way NTT accomplishes this is by using a projector to shine a moving light onto a picture.

NTT calls the process “Hengento” (Deformation Lamps): a lamp (the projector) is deforming (magic-ifying) a picture.

All NTT has done is trick our brains with an optical illusion. Whenever we watch a movie or TV, our brain puts together the “color,” “form,” and “motion” we see to make a moving image. NTT has simply split up the process: the “color” and “form” part are given by the two-dimensional picture, and the “motion” is given by the projector shining a moving grayscale version of the picture over the original. Our brain still puts it all together just the same, resulting in what looks like a moving image.

NTT has also developed a way of using “Hengento” on three-dimensional objects too. By using the same kind of projector, they can make it look like a three-dimensional object is moving, either with the object standing alone, or behind a transparent screen that the projector would shine on.

NTT plans on using “hentengo” for advertising (imagine giant moving billboards), interior design (turn your boring old floor into an aquarium, or project a cozy fire onto the wall), and art/entertainment.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/ntt-creates-two-dimensional-pictures-that-can-move