Next Generation of Holographic Images

suman28 writes "Imagine being able to view an image from all sides and have it interact with you. Scenes or images pop-out at you and change on the fly and are viewable in full color. Best of all, you don't need head-gear or any wearable device to make this possible. They are generated by a computer with two cameras that track your eye movement and there is a transparent LCD screen between you and the display that makes the pictures come alive. Though it may be a while before this becomes part of our daily lives, it is interesting to see what the kind of research being done on this. "

Comments

not really

[_avs_007]

Even though everything is "behind glass", you are still seeing 3D. Afterall, the glass is transparent, it's not like the glass is "producing" the images...

Besides, driving down the street, you will want some *depth* perception. What's funky are those prescription windshields... Try being a passenger in one those cars. You almost need to be stoned/drunk to survive that without a migrain.

Re:The problem with 3D

[qwertyphobia]

People with only one eye still have depth perception - they just don't posess stereo depth perception.

There are many different cues that contribute to our perception of depth: stereo, perspective, parallax, overlapping objects, shading and shadows and changes in accommodation and convergence of the eyes.

Those with one eye lack stereo (the strongest cue), but still have a decent amount of depth perception for surviving in the real world. It is only when attempting to use devices that rely soley on stereo to generate a pseudo-3D image that they have problems.

See this page for a more detailed discussion.

Re:More than one viewer?

[guidobot]

one limitation that jumps immediately to mind is that the 3d effect is limited to a single viewer

That's only the NYU system and the article says later that they're working on that. The MIT true-holograph system can produce the 3D images for multiple viewers, but is limited by the massive quantities of processing power needed. Meanwhile the NYU system runs on a pc but only gives the effect to one person, though:

"The group is also working on a system that would simultaneously provide 3-D views to multiple observers, such as a team of surgeons debating the best approach to a difficult procedure or a group of video game players competing on a shared monitor"

Note: these aren't technically holograms

[psyconaut]

Sorry to be pedantic, but holograms are created with interference patterns using a laser on specially treated photographic materials.

What's referred to here are not, infact, holograms by definition. It's merely a 3D display technology.

(Holography is a hobby of mine...it's amazing how much fun a guy in his bathroom can have with a laser and some chemicals!).

-psyco