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Poor Man's Stereoscopic Projection
Jed Link writes: "This summer I helped built a Geowall
stereoscopic projection (3D) system for the
Southern California Earthquake Center. Although there are no new
concepts involved with this system, what is new is that the system cost a
little over $10K and is comprised of materials that you can buy at any
computer-hardware store. A complete description of the system, as well as
a diary of its assembly is available here. Traditional stereoscopic projection systems like
The Cave which is
used primarily for new product modeling and on a few university campuses cost
anywhere from $150K to $1.5M. They are built into a fixed location, often
requiring significant architectural modifications, so transportability isn't
even an option. The Geowall, on the other hand, can be fixed to a cart
(like we've done) and rolled from room to room. The price-tag makes the
system feasible for undergraduate post-secondary education classrooms and even
high schools. The system is based on a very simple concept, and while its use is currently
primarily educational, I think it's only a matter of time before we see
something like this in the gaming or entertainment industries."
Well, the ones who really need it (car designers, whatever) probably care about the 'minor imperfections' and are willing to spend the additional 140K. As for the others... well... i think i'd rather spend 10k on regular CRT monitors + stereoscopic glasses (the ones making your left/right eye see even/odd frames). I am too lazy to look up the price tags on these, but my guess is i can get a whole monitor + glasses set well under 500$. So, 20 sets that can also be used as regular monitors instead of one projection set seems a good deal to me.
Sure this is cool, but is it useful? 2D screens are old hat, and seem to work well. People play doom and other 3d games on them without problems, so we can fake the 3rd dimention if we try.
I can't be the only person who gets sick watching 3d films. I've only done it a few times, but that is enough that I refuse to considering doing it again. If 3d films become a major part of education, then I'm disabled because I cannot watch them.
Imagine if you will a Science presentation on the Solar System. Watching badly edited documentaries from the 1950's, or slides that are so old and grainy they look like ink-blots.
/* You remember those, 80's 8-bit Nintendo VR controller. */ and actually grabs the different molecules and puts them together and then Rotates them so you can see how they're all combined.
Now imagine if they could pop up an image of the Sun that's 10 Feet x 10 Feet in full 3-D. Viewing the properties of Sun-spots up close or watching a prominence burst forth. Then going to a 2/3 view and showing the different layers of the sun and how they all work. Then zoom into the core and show a representation of the fusion process. Or pull out and watch the death of the Sun and how it swallows up the Earth. Then moving on to the other planets. Driving around the Martian surface, or doing the Voyager 1-2 tour. All of it done in stunning 3-D.
Or the Chemistry class where instead of the teacher drawing the various bonds on a chalk board he/she slips on a modified Power-Glove,
What about the Biology class where instead of talking about DNA or looking at it in a book the teacher could put up a floating 3-D replica of it then manipulate it. They could show a heart beating and isolate the various chambers to show what they do. Then zoom out to show the entire circulatory system. Or phase it out and concentrate on the bone structure or nervous system. It would definitely go a ways into appeasing those who are ambivalent towards the dissection experiments.
You could even use it in Art classes to show different sculptures, landscapes, and monuments from around the world.
Or a History class that depicts various moments in history. Imagine watching D-Day in 3-D. Placing you in the action so that you could begin to have an idea of what it might have been like to be there.
Hell, you could even use it in Sex-Ed. Get rid of those incredibly bad 70's movies with dialogue worse than a Blacksploitation flick. You could actually show an egg leaving the ovaries, roll down the fallopian tubes and into the womb. Or show sperm production from scrotum to ejaculation. All the while rotating, and zooming in and out for effect.
This would be an invaluable tool for Secondary Schools. Most kids don't pay attention as it is because the classes are "boring", lots of facts and figures but no real way of putting it together. You either get it, or you don't. But this way you could actually "show" the kids what you're trying to teach them.
Make it fun, make it exciting, or at the very least interesting, and I think you'll start seeing kids understand and care a little more about learning than they did when I was in school.
For $10,000.00 I can't imagine why any school shouldn't have this type of set up.