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A project published by mitxela on Sept. 24 describes a completed fluid simulation displayed on electromechanical flipdot panels at EMF2026. The maker says the installation grew from an interest in pairing fluid motion with the sound of the dots, and required salvaged panels and custom drive hardware. The supplied report excerpt does not include the full technical account or details about the installation’s operation at the event.
Maker and project author mitxela has completed a FLIP fluid simulation on an electromechanical flipdot display, built as an installation for EMF2026. The project brings a computational fluid model to panels whose physical dots flip between states, combining moving imagery with the mechanical noise of the display.
In a report dated Sept. 24, 2026, mitxela says the work uses a FLIP simulation, short for Fluid Implicit Particle. The author says the idea began with a technical question: whether fluid simulations could be paired with the sound made by an electromechanical display. The name also supplied a pun, which the author says helped settle the choice of display.
The panels came from a collection of older flipdot displays held by Sam, known as Look Mum No Computer, whose museum of obsolete technology had received a large quantity of them. Mitxela says Sam lent several panels on the condition that the project find a workable way to drive them. The report describes one panel with a 13-by-28-dot resolution and a 2007 date code; the excerpt does not establish that every panel used in the installation had the same dimensions or condition.
Driving the panels presented practical constraints. Their existing circuitry reportedly took about one second to update a panel, and the board layout prevented seamless tiling in one direction. Mitxela’s account also says a dot takes roughly 60 milliseconds to flip, while a much shorter electrical pulse can polarise the cores that set its state. The author began designing new electronics to make a larger, faster display possible, but the supplied excerpt ends before describing the completed hardware in detail.
A Mechanical Soundtrack for Fluid Motion
The installation makes the display’s physical operation part of the work. Each dot is an electromechanical component that changes state, so the image can produce audible movement as well as visual motion. That addresses a gap the author identified in earlier fluid simulations, which used LED displays and were, in the author’s words, “utterly silent.”
The project also shows how an existing collection of obsolete equipment can support a new public-facing installation. The panels were not described as ready-to-use components: their age, condition, wiring and update speed created engineering work before they could show a simulation. The report documents one maker’s completed installation, but provides no evidence that it changes the availability or cost of flipdot displays more broadly.
From Salvaged Panels to EMF2026
Mitxela says they had built several fluid simulations in preceding years, including a volumetric display and a fluid pendant, while other projects remained unpublished. The flipdot idea followed from wondering whether a display could supply the missing sound. According to the report, flipdot panels were difficult to obtain: the author described the market as having few suppliers and said artistic studios had exclusive arrangements with a manufacturer. Those market details are the author’s account, not an independently verified survey.
Rather than use a large display owned by a former contract client, which the author says declined the request, mitxela pursued older panels through conversations at hacker camps. A possible collective order for newly manufactured panels came up, but the author says making them is complex because each dot contains multiple materials and magnetic components. The project then moved forward with the donated collection from Sam. The panels’ prior use is uncertain: the author says they may have come from buses or may have been new old stock.
Earlier work by other flipdot enthusiasts helped inform the build. The report names Sam’s experiments with the original drive circuits and a video by Mike of mikeselectricstuff as references. Mitxela says that video explained the dots’ operation and pulse timing. The supplied material outlines the challenge and the project’s motivation, but cuts off during its account of the original matrix driver, leaving the later design and construction steps unavailable here.
““the LED liquid is utterly silent.””
— mitxela, project author
Build Details Still Missing
The supplied account confirms that the project was marked complete and built for EMF2026, but it does not give the event’s dates, describe the installation’s footprint, or say how visitors responded. It also does not identify the final display’s total resolution, update rate, sound level or operating reliability.
The source excerpt ends partway through a technical explanation of the original drive circuit. It therefore does not confirm which specific circuit changes, voltage levels or pulse timings were used in the finished installation. The panels’ original source and condition also remain partly uncertain, according to the author.
Further Technical Account Awaited
The project page is marked complete and points readers to a video showing an overview and demonstration. Mitxela’s written account is structured to cover the panels, circuit boards, power supply, controls and event, but the supplied text does not include those later sections. Those details would clarify how the finished display was assembled and performed.
No future release, additional installation or commercial production is announced in the available material. The next verifiable step for readers is to consult the complete project account and demonstration for information beyond the excerpt.
Key Questions
What does FLIP mean in the project?
It stands for Fluid Implicit Particle, the simulation method named by mitxela. The name also plays on the flipdot display.
Where was the installation made for?
The project report says it was built as an installation for EMF2026. The supplied excerpt does not give event dates or visitor figures.
Where did the flipdot panels come from?
Mitxela says several panels were lent by Sam, known as Look Mum No Computer, from a large collection held by his museum of obsolete technology. Their original source is unclear.
What made the panels difficult to use?
The report says the existing circuitry was slow, taking about one second to update a panel, and the circuit boards prevented seamless tiling in one direction. The project required a way to drive the panels for the installation.
Source: hn
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