MondoDyne Photonics WobbulatorTM
History of Lumia
Fantastic Lumia video
from X-Laser
Check it out!
It all started with this Guy: Thomas Wilfred.
In the 1920's. He was born in 1889 and died in 1968.
From Wikipedia:
Thomas Wilfred was a musician and inventor. He is best known for his light art, which he named lumia, and his designs for color organs called Clavilux. Wilfred coined the word "Clavilux" from Latin meaning "light played by key". His innovative, kinetic works prefigured the advent of light art in America, and influenced subsequent generations of visual artists.
Wilfred didn't have lasers, of course; he used a variety of materials to create his lumia: crumpled foil, painted glass, and colored spotlights.
Here is a still photo from one of his later pieces:
Lumia Suite Opus-158 (1964):
Note the familiar wispy lumia, minus the purer colors and striations we get from the interference patterns created by lasers.
References:
There is a lot of info about Wilfred on the web; this should get you started:
Wikipedia article
Smithsonian Article
Youtube movie
Note how slow this piece is: ideal lumia speed.
More lore coming soon: Elsa Garmire, Ivan Dryer, and Laserium.