It was called Luciola for the likeness of a firefly. The levator particle weighs 16.2 milligrams, has a diameter of 3.5 millimeters and can emit enough light to make readable text, Reuters writes.
To create this beam of light, the University of Tokyo's scholars took two years.
"Ultimately, my hope is that these small items can be used on smartphones and other situations to make our lives easier," said Makoto Takamiya, a Kawahara Universal Information Network Project specialist, lead to beam creation.
Developers expect Luciola to have applicability in the so-called "Internet of Things", where ordinary objects, such as cars or air conditioners, are connected to networks to send and receive data. Equipped with motion and temperature sensors, Luciola can fly on such objects to send a message or to help moving displays detect people's presence.
