It was invented in the mid-1960s at the California Institute of Technology by Prof Nehr and Leighton. It was first presented by them ( in the form of an air trough) at a meeting of the American Physical Society in NYC in 1965(?) where it was viewed by Prof John Stull, Alfred University, and Frank Ferguson, the Ealing Corporation. The original track was about 1 meter long with tiny air orifices and highly compressed air. Stull returned to Alfred University, where he developed a simple version using standard square aluminum tubing with large air orifices and air from the vent of a shop vacuum cleaner. With Ferguson's help at Ealing, Stull designed a custom aluminum track that Ealing offered commercially in various lengths up to 10 meters. T. Walley Williams III at Ealing extended the concept to the 2-dimensional air table in 1969.