Mova Globes

[wmenorr67]

https://visuo.com/about_movaglobes

Anyone seen these?  Just had a retirement party for the guy I've replaced in the office and the company got him one of these as a gift.

I want a few.

[KD5NRH]

https://visuo.com/about_movaglobes

A magnetic element inside the globe reacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, much as a common compass does, to provide torque to drive the globe.

Hmm...

I think we need to get one of those space shuttles that isn't being used anymore and do some experiments with these things.

[AJ Dual]

I'm not clear if it's sitting inside a clear lucite sphere and an inner layer is what spins, or if the whole thing spins overcoming the friction of whatever it's sitting on?

At $150 for the smallest ones... It'll be awhile before I have one.

[KD5NRH]

I'm not clear if it's sitting inside a clear lucite sphere and an inner layer is what spins, or if the whole thing spins overcoming the friction of whatever it's sitting on?

Apparently, something like a ball compass, but with a motor turning the ball relative to the compass itself.  In one of the videos, it's being held in a hand, and you can see some rocking motion to the spin just like a jostled ball compass.

[dogmush]

I'm not clear if it's sitting inside a clear lucite sphere and an inner layer is what spins, or if the whole thing spins overcoming the friction of whatever it's sitting on?

From Website:

The MOVA Globe has an inner globe that rotates and is contained within an outer shell, which does not rotate, made of clear acrylic. The thin space between the inner globe and outer shell is filled with a safe, perfectly clear fluid.

It's pretty cool, but the price is a tic steep.

[Pb]

Looks cool!

When are the Chinese going to rip this off and start selling them for $20 though??? That's what I'm waiting for.

[BobR]

Look at the bright side, you meet the threshold for free shipping fairly easy. :)

bob

[230RN]

Fascinating !  I wonder what future spinoffs of this technique will be like.

For myself, though, it would seem a bit distracting for the first week or so.  Moving objects make my predatory catlike eyes move thataway.  Or whicheveraway.

(A newspaper tossed on the roof of the building next to me was a constant "what's that?"  for about a week.  Every time the breeze flapped it around in my peripheral vision I had to turn and look at it.)

Do they provide updates every time a country changes its name or boundaries?

But fun to have and speculate on.

[robear]

Ran into this about the Mova globe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joI1Bs49fVo

Pretty neat looking.     The quality of the printed portion of the globe, however, leaves much to be desired, especially for the price of this thing.    A lot of the rivers and edges of continents don't even line up!

[AJ Dual]

An addressable sphere made of OLEDs will probably obsolete this soon enough,  and can display anything.

[freakazoid]

Cooooool.