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View-Dependent Stereoscopic Projection
obiquity writes "The Augmented Reality lab is at it again with an extension of their 'smart
projector' methods. In 'Enabling View-Dependent Stereoscopic Projection in Real Environments'
they demonstrate a method for point-of-view dependent 3-D image projection onto
almost any surface using multiple
projectors for VR/AR applications. There
are still several problems that need to be solved, but how far off is this
technology from a holodeck type implementation?"
None. None too far away. Bring on the holodeck!
you need backprojection to the viewing surface to keep people from casting a shadow by being between the projector and the projection with which they are to interact. Holodeck doesn't work. Not for anything except sitting on your ass and watching the action.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
The objects they project can not be touched and manupulated, you can not walk in a different direction than any other person, and there is not yet a safety protocol which can be turned off so you can kill the borg with holographic bullets.
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Ok, I can see this in malls everywhere, for gaming. Not a holodeck, but I would love to play some DM HalfLife2 with this sucker.
More importantly, I would *pay* to do this. Isn't that how new technology gets cheaper? Someone has to pay the big bucks to use it first, which allows for a return on the investment while the new product gains volume. This is why gaming and porn make technology cheaper in the long run. Really.
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Here we go again with, most likely, another round of Revolution speculations.
Is it just me, or do you hate it when people say "Is it just me..."?
So how long until a horrible computer malfunction causes the holodeck characters to come to life and start taking people hostage?
BTW, I wonder if such malfunctions ever happened on the holographic brothel on DS9? It wouldn't be so bad if all the hot sex-loving women came to life, would it? But no, it's always gangsters or evil dictators or Dr. Moriarty...
-Arthur
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The first thing I thought of when I saw the projection of the stairs on the floor -- I wonder how many people could be tricked into walking into what seems like a real set of stairs or a door with this thing.
Can we get a 3D image of Jerry Ryan please?
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
You're thinking if the porn potential I'm sure. :)
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Not another Holodeck article! those are the worst!
42
What's this have to do with Neo having a 20 gig hard drive in his brain?
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"how far off is this technology from a holodeck type implementation?"
Gosh... I can hardly wait to hop into my fusion-powered flying car and pick me up one of these holodecks.
Or will I be too busy celebrating world peace?
I know this is slightly offtopic and will probably be modded down along with replies so AC replies are welcome.
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Back projection on all 6 surfaces, coupled with an interactive floor. Is that possible? So you can walk but remain in the same location? Would be almost a holodeck but you just couldn't touch the ladies.
You really want to wreck this robot, don't you?
Where were you when the voynix came?
I think you're confusing those with the Holodeck representations of Holodeck articles.
Those are the worst!
Those aren't cartoons. They are actual photos of MJ. I take it that this is the first time you have seen the results of his latest "make me look as unreal as possible" plastic surgery.
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Where were you when the voynix came?
...if this works back-projected, combined with the automated moving floor tiles and some sort of haptic glove device, we'd be a damn sight closer to a holodeck than anything else I've seen lately.
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I was unaware of this development: a projection volume rather than a projection surface .
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
On other note, I always thought holodeck was used in ST when the writers ran out of space related ideas.
I realise that what you see makes for a lot, but when will they come up with a technology that provides a realistic "touch" sense? I'm guessing we'll have to wear some kind of head-mounted device that manipulates our brain into thinking we're touching something. Some type of neural yarmulke?
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If you want to check out view-dependant projections, check out the sidewalk works of Julian Beever. Amazing stuff.
A couple of years ago I came up with a design for a Viewpoint independent Holographic Viewer design. I thought it would work nicely and is actually feasible given current technology:
Picture this:
* a glass sphere, approximately 1 meter in diameter, half-silvered on the inside, set on a base with about 1/3 of the sphere inside the base.
* the sphere is filled with a mostly-transparent phosphorescent gas in a condition where if it is struck by enough laser light, it glows for as much as 100 milliseconds (1/10th of a second);
* The base has at least 1 laser in it (3 lasers, in red/blue/green for color).
* For purposes here, a 3-d volume of space, roughly cubical, within the sphere shall be called a 'voxel' (for 'volumetric pixel')
* The laser is divided into 2 or more beams, each of which is directed at a spinning mirror assembly;
* That assembly spreads and directs the laser light through a voxel within the sphere;
* Any one laser shining through a voxel will be insufficient to cause the volume to glow. However, when multiple beams intersect, the energy intensity there is sufficient to cause the gas there to flouresce.
* The gas need not be flourescent if the number of beams increases; 100 beams would make 100 gradiations of brightness at that point.
* Computational requirements to figure out where the laser paths should go so as to ensure the laser beams do not intersect at any other random points might be significant;
This would create a 3-d viewer which is orientation independent, reasonably safe presuming the lasers were low power or a non-visible wavelength.
I would have patented this but I thought it was an obvious design given the SeaQuest DSV show where they had a fog they played an image onto to create a 3-d effect. Plus, I'm sure someone has already worked out the details better than me. Or, maybe not. I'd like to see one in action!
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Imagine the possibilities if more funding was devoted to Actual Reality research and development. Imagine three-dimensional objects you could touch and feel and manipulate. Imagine crystal clear sound from all directions, even from above. In games, you'd be able to experience the thrill of rocket-propelled grenades exploding all around. I can't begin to imagine what Actual Reality p0rn would be like.
http://cave.ncsa.uiuc.edu/about.html
i've heard of them playing counter-strike and quake on it
Integrating this with haptics could make it possible to interact with the projected objects....Introduce a relative coordinate space, force-feedback hardware (say, in a suit of sorts) and you feel like you are 'touching' the image.
I've played with a haptic pointer that allowed you to 'feel' a malignant mass inside a 3D virtual kidney.
Google haptics or:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic
Computers are useless...They can only give you answers. -Pablo Picasso
really. _THE_ augmented reality lab? you're not the only one. there are many.
holodeck? no way, you haven't come close to the technology needed to implement this. It's a need application of projection display technology, but a complete holodeck experience is way off.
you'll need:
- rear projected (or surface painted OLED array) is need to prevent shadows from screwing up the image
- force feedback that doesn't impede free movement (even a treadmill or Matrix pod could attempt this, but where's yours? granted no one knows how to solve this problem using any of these techniques). we're light years away from true star trek force feedback happening in the air around you.
- generic software for the simulation environment, physics, AI, scenario management, security. we have a lot of this in games, but none of it has been brought together for holodeck purposes. at best we have some very crude specialized programs for engineering and architectural walkthrough. there's games, but they don't handle the display (visual and haptic) devices yet. granted, the software is probably closest.
- market. you need a product that will sell. that mesns it must be inexpensive enough for joe blow. you also need to catch joe blow's attention. that means the setup must be easy to setup, and not so huge that joe blow's wife and friends will ridicule him for filling up the house with gear.
- smart input devices. can you voice big concepts in small sentances to the computer and have it know what you're talking about? ok, step back. what about simple input devices. there's the twiddler, there's eye movement tracking. ok, so we have some viable options for beta 1 of the holodeck. what about reliable (and mass market) movement tracking? that's not available, and people have been trying for years.
flame away...
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heh.
the holodeck on startrek doesn't even work with projectors. it "uses" lots of tiny tracor beams. soooooo. we need to start inventing tractor beams.... maybe also a deflector dish.
On other note, I always thought holodeck was used in ST when the writers ran out of space related ideas.
If that were the case then the holodeck should have shown up around 1968
What these guys seem to be doing is to track the location of the viewpoint and alter the image to take into account for where the viewer is. A very cool trick, but quite an old one --- it's been in use in CAVEs for some time now. But you'll still just see a flat image; you'll only get a 3D effect while your head is moving.
Much cooler is the surface compensation system to allow you to project an arbitrary image onto a coloured, contoured surface and have it look right...
Already are making prototype naked hologram chicks
j pg
http://www.uni-weimar.de/~bimber/gfx/research15_.
If I had a holodeck, I'd lose the door and never come out until I died of exhaustion. It would be hard to convince me I should be anywhere but in the holodeck, getting my oil massage from Cindy Crawford and her simulated twin sister... I'm afraid the holodeck will be society's last invention.
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1920x1200, hdtv spec, dvi/vga/composite/component in, PiP, etc $795. Group buy, in volume. Would make for great core of homebrew projector. Buy 10 of 'em and have a nice cave ;)
Until I read the parent comment, I was thinking that they have found some magic technique to project the image on a surface, that would be seen differently to different viewers (therefore different images to our eyes). I was impressed, and curious to know how they managed to do that.
Now I have seen the video, they just keep track of the observer, and show a different image when the observer moves. Nothing exceptional. I am very disappointed. This is NOT stereoscopic, as the parent says.
There's also the color problem. The color resulting from the flouresence of a gas isn't generally dependent on what color laser strikes it. E.G. he's thinking of the gas *reflecting* the light if he thinks that different colored lasers would make a difference (though it's true that they'd impart different bits of energy through it.
Another issue is that the gas cannot be opaque, yet this gas would have to be translucent. So you could see light from the other side of the image leak through because the light emission wouldn't be directional, which would goof things up. I also don't see how you could have any kind of black level with it--everything would be illuminated by the rest of the projected image.
The Metaverse lab at the University of Kentucky has been doing this kind of stuff for a while... all kinds of cool stuff involving projector arrays, perspective correction, etc.
v ironments/vrc2003.pdf
http://www.metaverselab.org/research/immersive-en
Oh yeah, and you don't need rear-projection to avoid casting shadows. The Metaverse people are using active shadow cancellation... see slide 34 in the above PDF for an example...
Well, impressive though it is, it still sucks compared to the Holodeck, because the holodeck employed hard-light constructs. Things not only looked real, they FELT real. I haven't the slightest idea how they intend to accomplish that, other than interfacing with the brain and convincing it that it did in fact collide with an object that doesn't really exist.