Giz reader Nicholas Buechi created this real liquid display that really doesn't display anything but bubbles. And that's enough, because it is mesmerizing enough as it is. The liquid display is driven by an Arduino processor, and the events are triggered by a water keyboard. Sounds crazy, but in action it looks very pretty and soothing:
Nicholas explains how it works:
It's based on an Arduino processor and a board I did myself. There are 16 valves controlled by transistors. The interface [where you put your fingers to trigger events] uses 3 Q-Prox QT110E chips. With them I measure the voltage in the water. If anyone touches the water, electrons flow to the person, which gives the system feedback.
The whole effect is quite relaxing and cool. I need this as a Mac OS X screensaver. Pronto. [The Liquid Display]