Slashdot Mirror
Heliodisplay In Production
David writes "News of a 3D display that projects an interactive image into thin air, the Heliodisplay, is not exactly fresh. What is new however, is that this once far-fetched conceptual object is now real, working and being sold. For those of you who have forgotten, the Heliodisplay from company IO2Tech projects into the air (without a need for special screen) images fed to it from a variety of sources. In a way, it's a working version of R2D2s holographic projection system." A similar product, the Pocket Beamer was previously covered on Slashdot.
http://mirrordot.org/stories/0e4768d9cefb72835cc26 04c911d6919/index.html
Nifty Display though. Cost anyone?
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Do you mean the image had no depth values? (Was a hovering plane?)
Here is the article text (with links):
Should've RTFA. It's a 2d image projected into the air, and since you don't have the flat surface as a screen to aid in your eyes depth perception, it appears 3D
From Google cache of another page on the manufacturer's site:
Example Applications/ Industries:
* Advertising and Promotion, e.g.: trade shows; in-store displays; museum, movie and casino displays; theme parks.
* Collaborative Decision Making, e.g.: board meetings and presentations; command and control; architectural and engineering design; teleconferencing.
* Simulation & Training, e.g.: virtual targets; pre-operative planning.
* Consumer, e.g.: video games; home theatre.
Less Obvious Examples:
* Transparent teleprompter.
* Heads-up displays in new fields.
* Build one into a door jamb and have a walk through image or virtual privacy screen.
* An in-store end cap advertising display and demonstration through which the customer can reach and grab shown product.
* Build the Heliodisplay into furniture, e.g. project from desk.
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Considering the FAQ states the "image may be susceptible to cross winds..." suggests just another smoke and lasers setup. With the added proof that the "top must be left uncovered for the device to work properly."
Clearly the system is projecting onto a mist of sorts...
It even confirms that on the IO2 "technology" page:
The image is display into two-dimensional space (i.e.planar). Heliodisplay images appear 3D when viewed from more than a few feet away because there is no physical depth reference.
Oh no... it's the future.
Interesting read.
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In a way, it's a working version of R2D2s holographic projection system.
This is simply 2D projection onto a moving air stream, so "in a way" it's nothing like a hologrpahic projection system.
From their site: Although the HelioDisplay uses lasers, the images are not holographic
It is pretty nifty though.
It actually works by shooting a mist into the air and projecting an image onto said mist. Some videos of the display in action are located here and here.
That said, I am glad that the technology from SeaQuest DSV has finally made it. Now, everyone can have a conversation with a creepy old guy or a deceased relative in the comfort of their own home!
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According to http://www.overclockersclub.com/, the Heliodisplay will cost you a hefty $22,500, as right now all of the avaliable models are just prototypes.
I'd asked how it was going to make an image with nothing to reflect off of - and it doesn't.
It's a fog screen - a really neat one that concentrates condensate out of the ambient air, but a fog screen nontheless. No pot of water, no Disney lagoon.
According to the patent, it relies on cold air condensate blown up in a laminar layer.
Good thing - had it relied on blowing *hot* air, they'd have been denied due to prior art from SCO.
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Oh yeah, and they do leave a puddle of moisture on the floor beneath them as well. It is just a stream of mist falling to the ground.
$18,600
s play.html
http://gnr8.typepad.com/gnr8_news/2004/09/heliodi
Couldn't you use this projection technology to make a REAL (at least looking) light saber??
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precision laser arrays? a coiling mechanism that condences water at a constant rate in a non-closed system? integrated motion sensors? this is a very slick piece of equipment, who's complexity is on par, at the very least, with an ultrasound machine or an xray machine. also, i imagine that this thing's resolution is more accurately measured in voxels, rather than pixels.
So, if it's 800x600 resolution, then it's actually 800x600x600 resolution; which makes it more like 600 times the resolution of an HDTV screen.
I agree that the concept of these displays has been around for some time. Actually implementing them has been much, much harder than initially anticipated. And each method has strengths and drawbacks. And none of them are implemented in the exact same way... Lenticular screens (ala the Synthagram), rotated projection screens (ala the Perspecta), active matrix shutter goggles (ala CrystalEyes + Barco)... for high-res "HDTV" quality stereoscopics, you're investing a tidy sum of change for the optics and control mechanisms.
The real reason that these things are still so costly is that no single solution has 1) been easy enough to use that home consumers could use it, 2) had high enough image quality, 3) had useable, 'real' depth, and 4) been reprogramable so that multiple video channels can be subscribed to. Since no solution has been able to meet all these requirements, the technology hasn't entered mass production. When it does, you can expect the prices to drop an order of magnitude as the laws of economic production and the markets take over. Until then, these are specialty items, reserved for scientific industries (healthcare, air traffic control, computer auotmated design, niche-advertising at amusement parks, etc).
Quake III doesn't appear 3D on your screen. In that same sense a jpg off your digital camera appears 3D. It's just a collection of 3D data transposed onto a 2D surface (and eventually to your moniter) There is no real depth perception in this. That's why people have made steroscopic mods for Quake, where you wear 3D glasses which give the illusion of depth. There was also a QuakeIII mod that would put the image for both your left and right eyes on the screen at once, i.e. side byside, its like rendering the game twice each with a slight perception change, then you cross your eyes (ouch) and the images overlap, tricking you into depth perception. The reason why this projector makes things appear 3D is because its not projecting onto a flat surface like a moniter.
One thing I noticed from the images is that the color black is transparent which makes sense since there is no thing such as black as in #00000 light as in not UV. Such a limitation would make some things, such as doom 3, nearly impossible to play. Of course, you could always use the device in a totally black room, or at least with a black background.
google notice the first image, with the laptop image in the background, you'll notice how black is transparent.