Called the Wave Torch the device is a replica of the Olympic Torch which uses LED light to pump out a message when a spectator waves the torch back and forth.
Embedded with an accelerometer the messages can be up to a metre long by synching the illumination of the LED's.
According to EE Times Asia the Chinese government originally green-lighted the Waving Torch project, but industry sources are now saying that the chances of the torch being allowed are slim.
Those involved in the Olympic Torch Project, including Memsic who developed the technology for the torch say that trouble is brewing in China over the controversial torch.
The EE Times claim that "the Olympic torch project was cancelled" due to the recent earthquake near where its Chinese partner was assembling the toy torches.
Others, who spoke to EE Times on the condition of anonymity, said the MEMS-based torches may have been assembled after all, and they could still show up during the opening ceremony. The real issue, they said, is not so much the earthquake that interfered with the manufacturing process, but a political eruption.
