TWISTING BALL DISPLAYS INCORPORATING SEGMENTED POLYCHROMAL BALLS

摘要

A spheroidal ball comprising a plurality of segments arrayed substantially parallel to one another, each segment being adjacent to at least one other segment and to no more than two other segments, adjacent segments being adjoined to one another at substantially planar interfaces, the plurality of segments including a first segment having a first thickness and a first optical modulation characteristic, a second segment having a second thickness and a second optical modulation characteristic, and a third segment having a thickness different from at least one of the first and second thicknesses and an optical modulation characteristic different from at least one of the first and second optical modulation characteristics, the ball having an anisotropy for providing an electrical dipole moment, the electrical dipole moment rendering the ball electrically responsive such that when the ball is rotatably disposed in a nonoscillating electric field while the electrical dipole moment of the ball is provided, the ball tends to rotate to an orientation in which the electrical dipole moment aligns with the field.