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Video Screen in Thin Air

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the help-me-obi-wan-kenobi dept.

Agent Provocateur writes "CNN has a story about inventions in advanced computer displays -- eliminating the screen altogether."Ever since the movie 'Star Wars' came out and there was a distress call from Princess Leia," -- generated in thin air by the robot R2D2 -- "people all over the world have been wanting one of these." While unlikely to replace the desktop computer monitor, so-called walk-through displays could eventually be put to use in product showrooms and museums."

9 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. on smoke and water by digitalhermit · · Score: 4, Informative

    Years ago I saw a ceremony for a hotel somewhere in Miami. One of the attractions was a fountain that created a virtual screen from mist. The projector then, um, projected the movie onto the mist. From the front and back it looked interesting but it wasn't 3D.

    I've also seen some stuff at Disneyworld that created miniature moving holograms. They were maybe 4-5 inches high but looked pretty detailed.

  2. Link for more info by RIAAwakka_nakka_bakk · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.io2technology.com/

  3. only partly dupe by fireduck · · Score: 5, Informative

    the fog part of the story does seem to be a dupe, but there's the far more interesting part where the guy makes the image appear without fog/smoke/anything visible to bounce the light off of.

    his website is www.io2technology.com

    1. Re:only partly dupe by leonardluen · · Score: 3, Informative

      not only has someone thought of this...but it has already been patentad

      http://www.actuality-systems.com/pressrelease_ne xt .php3

  4. Similar, but not a dupe by cmcguffin · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are two distinct groups developing and commercializing similar technology.

    The previously-posted story was about a walk-thru screen developed at Tampere University of Technology, Finland, demonstrated at SIGGRAPH 2003, which is being commercialized by FogScreen, Inc.

    In the current story, the technology was developed at MIT, demonstrated for the media, and is being commercialized by IO2 Technology".

    Both systems appear to use a particle wall or sheet, onto which video is projected. Neither is anywhere close to "holographic," so I'm afraid those late-night session "learning Vulcan" with Virtual T'Pol are still a few years off.

  5. Thin Air version : Patent #6,478,432 by Animaether · · Score: 3, Informative

    Likely the patent in question

  6. Great in Seattle, by try it in Boulder Colorado... by G4from128k · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is a cool invention, but it will only work in a calm humid environment. In places like Boulder Colorado or Phoenix, the air is far too dry to sustain a fog. You might get to see whats on the edge of the display, but the fog would evaporate before it got to the other edge. And windy environments (Chicago, Boulder again, and displays near doorways or vents) would disrupt the fog sheet too.

    On the otherhand, this display technology would make a nice swamp cooler for hot summer days.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  7. Backprojected mist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can clearly see the mist curtain on the edges of these videos linked from Google cache (esp. on the rotating planet video). You can also make out some distortion that hints at the nature of the oblique projection system. In this prototype, it seems as though the projection might come from the left of the screen. Also see US patent #6478432.

  8. the company and more background by yorkrj · · Score: 3, Informative

    Metafilter posted an article about this in August.
    And since the CNN article doesn't seem to mention a link to the company: Fogscreen

    Maybe it's the shiny new website but it looks like they've significantly improved the "smoothness" of the fog since I last saw the photos.