Cool and lame at the same time.

Tell us it is controlled via completely mechanical means would be awesome.... if they showed the mechanics!

The aquirium of the pacific in Long Beach has one of these by Reuben Margolin on diplay. It is very cool.

Uh ok, looks like a blanket your throwing on your bed. (applause now).

Look up his web site, you can get more information there. If you consider a turning machine a computer, then it is computer controled. It might not be a PC running a bunch of electronic controlers but it DOES work like a logic engine.

"The Wave took seven months to build and is made of five components: two camshafts orientated at right angle to each other on ten-foot tall platforms, two matrixes, one long and narrow, the other big and square, fixed fourteen feet above the ground, and the wave itself, suspended by 81 cables. One camshaft pushes levers that manipulate north/south waves, while the other drives east/west waves. On each camshaft are nine plywood circles sequentially offset 45 degrees. The first and last circle are in the same position ensuring that the rotation of the camshaft generates a segment of a wave exactly one wave length long. The motors rotating the camshafts can be varied in speed giving the generated wave a period between 100 and 10 seconds in either direction. Each camshaft can be controlled independently, and furthermore each can change amplitude on the fly. Amplitude changes are caused by forcing all nine circles to be more or less centered on the shaft. When they are completely centered the amplitude is zero, and at the other extreme they create an amplitude of over two feet." It gives a further description at his web site.

A picture can be seen here: http://www.reubenmargolin.com/wave.htm

dude! this is sooo awsome its alomst hypnotic and in a world were every thing is run by computers it makes it so much more amazing