A fluid user interface is presented for applications such as immersive
multimedia. In one embodiment, one or more sprays or jets create an
immersive multimedia environment in which a participant can interact
within the immersive multimedia environment by blocking, partially
blocking, diverting, or otherwise engaging with a fluid, to create
computational input. When the fluid is air, a keyboard can be implemented
on cusions of air coming out of various nozzles or jets. When the fluid
is water, the invention may be used in environments such as showers,
baths, hot tubs, waterplay areas, gardens, and the like to create a fun,
playful, or wet user-interface. In some embodiments, the spraying is
computationally controlled, so that the spray creates a tactile
user-interface for the control of such devices as new musical
instruments. These may be installed in public fountains to result in a
fluid user interface to music by playing in the fountains. The invention
may also be used in a setting like a karaoke bar, in which participants
perform music by playing in a fountain while they sing. Small self
contained embodiments of the invention may exist as pool toys, bath toys,
or decorative fountains that can sit on desk tops, or the like.