3D Visualization Moves Forward

Chris writes "Showing for the first time at the Society for Information Display (SID) conference in Boston was a three-dimensional display with 100 million volume pixels or "voxels". The Perspecta is a hardware and software combination that projects 3D images inside a 500 mm transparent spherical dome. Images 250 mm in diameter can be seen from a full 360 degrees without goggles, allowing the viewer to walk around the image. It can be used to visualize protein structures and to plan surgical and radiation treatment by locating the exact position of a tumour on an x-ray or mammogram. It could also be used in air traffic control, prototype designing and security scanning of luggage. Perspecta uses Texas Instruments' digital light processor technology and a spinning projection screen, which sweeps the sphere." We've done some previous stories about this globe from Actuality Systems. The trend seems to be toward simulating 3D with high-resolution flat screens, though.

Comments

Re:Aaaaaand, why bother.

[vrt3]

However, if you were to cover one eye and look at a 3D object, you get a totally different sense of that object

To be honest, I don't. I get exactly the same sense whether I use one eye or both. Reason is that in most circumstances only one eye at a time is focused. My left eye is short sighted, while my right eye is far sighted. Very strange, and as an effect I'm bad at perceiving depth. Good enough for normal life; I have no problems driving a car, but it makes parking more difficult.

I can see stereographic images, but it's very hard to get both of my eyes focused simultaneously (up to 1 m I can see sharp with both eyes, further away only with my right eye; depends on lighting conditions though, on a sunny day it's clearly better). Looking trough a binocular or stereomicroscope gives me full 3D view, since they allow me to adjust the focus separately for each eye.

3D techniques that rely on both eyes getting a different image won't have much effect for me, unless the screen is in the range where both my eyes can adapt and focus enough. Or maybe I should get glasses.