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HoloVizio 3D, Holodeck 1.0 to Some, Makes Its Debut

TaeKwonDood writes to tell us that another step towards Star Trek's Holodeck technology has been taken with the advent of HoloVizio 3D. Allowing users to see and manipulate objects in 3D without the assistance of goggles, this distributed system shows a lot of promise. "The HoloVizio is a 3-D screen that will allow designers to visualize true 3-D models of cars, engines or components. Better yet, gesture recognition means that observers can manipulate the models by waving their hands in front of the screen. The function offers enormous scope for collaboration across the globe."

127 comments

  1. models! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The HoloVizio is a 3-D screen that will allow designers to visualize true 3-D models

    I'd like to order up one Cindy Crawford, one of the brunette woman from the Mercury ads, and one of that hot chick in Accounting.

    of cars, engines or components.

    Oh.

    1. Re:models! by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

      ne of the brunette woman from the Mercury ads,
      Sounds like Mercury is on your list as well...
    2. Re:models! by Red+Alastor · · Score: 4, Funny

      I always thought that holodecks probably weren't used to talk to historical figures and characters from novels written in the 20th century. Cleaning the holodeck must be the suckiest job on the Enterprise.

      --
      Slashdot anagrams to "Sad Sloth"
    3. Re:models! by Trashman · · Score: 1


      one of the brunette woman from the Mercury ads, and one of that hot chick in Accounting.

      Ah, Jill Wagner ...not bad. I'll take 1 of her and a Jackie Guerrido.
      --
      Do not read this .sig
    4. Re:models! by Dice · · Score: 4, Funny

      Damnit, Barclay!! Again?!

    5. Re:models! by mattbode · · Score: 1

      Comic Book Guy: "And I would like an hour on the holodeck with Seven of Nine."

    6. Re:models! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha. You're right. People would use this for defecation I'm sure. They might even start calling it the poopdeck.

    7. Re:models! by theskipper · · Score: 1

      You're referring to Jill. Her name is mentioned in one of the commercials.

      Feel free to embarrass me appropriately for knowing that factoid.

    8. Re:models! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ohhhh! Make it so!

    9. Re:models! by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 1

      It's been said that the holodeck technology shares a lot in common with transporter/replicator tech, and as a result can produce real food and dispose of "waste" itself.

  2. Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Well, this looks interesting, but isn't it just a multitouch 3D flat panel? .. sure, you don't touch the screen directly, but it doesn't seem to be projecting anything.

    Also, it sounds kinda lame...

    CRS4 also developed rendering and visualisation software that may reveal the artistic secrets of the great masters, like Michelangelo. A scan of his famous David revealed that the eyes diverge. You can see the same effects if you look at a picture taken from the right angle. It isn't revolutionary, it sounds an awful lot like an awful lot of hype!
    1. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by mikael · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Depends upon the way the system is working. Does it track the position of a single person and adjusts the view accordingly? Or are there multiple GPU's rendering the scene from different angles and having these different views projected in different directions using vertically aligned lenses? In the latter case, projecting a view "outwards" should be possible. It certainly looks the case in the gears video

      I wonder if this technology would scale into a laptop display?

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    2. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, it looks like it's just head tracking. Johnny Chung Lee already did that with the Wii. (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/) Sure, I bet it looks pretty good compared to fixed-perspective displays, but there's no holo-anything involved at all.

    3. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Well, this looks interesting, but isn't it just a multitouch 3D flat panel?

      Yep, pretty much. It takes a lot of cojones to refer to something like this as a "holodeck" technology.

      Yo! Dumbasses, the holodeck was immersive!

    4. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ...realistic animated 3-D images simultaneously to an unlimited number of freely moving viewers. I stand corrected. TFA is light on technical details, and the "more info" link seems to be the same text.
    5. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This basically is being done already - http://edusim3d.com

    6. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From what I saw from the video. No, it's not. It's a high-tech device to make Rubik's cubes look really heavy, with lots of momentum and really hard to handle!

    7. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by tambo · · Score: 1

      Well, this looks interesting, but isn't it just a multitouch 3D flat panel? .. sure, you don't touch the screen directly, but it doesn't seem to be projecting anything.

      There's that, yes.

      There's also the fact that this is still just a monitor, which projects images. The Holodeck, on the other hand, didn't generate images of any kind - it created fully materialized objects - including people! - and also created light sources, blah blah blah.

      Holodeck, my ass. This is just another stupid monitor. C'mon, people, at least try to be accurate with the pop-culture references, mmmkay?

      - David Stein

      --
      Computer over. Virus = very yes.
    8. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Minigun_Fiend · · Score: 4, Informative

      It says on the product website that it can track people individually and simultaneously, and that it doesn't use any kind of motion/head tracking. "# No positioning or head tracking applied # Spatial points are addressed individually" (http://www.holografika.com/)

    9. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by syousef · · Score: 1

      Well, this looks interesting, but isn't it just a multitouch 3D flat panel?

      Only if by 3D panel you mean slashvertisement.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    10. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      From TFA:

      The researchers based the display component on innovative holographic techniques that can present, at natural human interaction scale, realistic animated 3-D images simultaneously to an unlimited number of freely moving viewers.

      The upshot is that users do not need goggles, and the 3-D image is maintained as they move about - both in contrast with early attempts at holographic displays. But the real star of the Coherent project is not simply the display. The researchers made exciting advances in enabling applications that show the system's real potential.

    11. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Well, this looks interesting, but isn't it just a multitouch 3D flat panel? You say that as if you build these all the time. If you watch the video then in no way does it seem 'lame'.. it's highly impressive. Obviously you'd need an even more impressive GPU to render everything from all the different angles though (I'm assuming that has to be done at least, I didn't see any useful info on the actual display tech in TFA). If that is the case, 3D pre-rendered movies could be done, but real-time 3D games would need a monster system..
      --
      which is totally what she said
    12. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by somersault · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's quite weird how unenthusiastic people here are. I mean 10 years ago this would have made proper geeks cream their pants in excitement, but these days it's all about the criticism!? It's one step on the ladder to a holodeck, what's the deal with complaining all the time? You really expect us to generate the appropriate deflector and teleporter tech to do a 'real' holodeck with no intermediate steps between our current pure-2D displays? I didn't even think that we'd be able to make the type of display that is in TFA anytime soon, I'm well impressed.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    13. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is that this isn't new tech dude.

    14. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by theaceoffire · · Score: 1

      We have a plasma machine that can create a dot of plasma in 3d shapes in mid air.

      We have a screen that projects on vapor.

      We have altered a game console to track your head and create a 3d illusion. Both the Wii and the PS3 (one with IR detector, other with camera).

      We have multi-input touch screens.

      We have two different types of omni directional treadmills.


      We have everything we need for full 3d screen and this doesn't seem useful or a step forward at all honestly. It seems done before, and better in my opinion.

      --
      I steal signatures. This one used to be yours.
    15. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Prune · · Score: 1

      It is very different from the standard autostereoscopic 3D monitors. One look at their website would have made that obvious: http://holografika.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=63

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    16. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by Prune · · Score: 1

      It's not headtracking. One look at their website would have made that obvious: http://holografika.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=63

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    17. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by somersault · · Score: 1

      It's a novel method of using current tech though, which amounts to the same kind of thing. It's like a breakthrough in software instead of hardware, someone has discovered an awesome way to do things. Search this page for .pdf and you'll find a document that discusses their method. Just because it uses projectors and mirrors doesn't automatically mean it isn't impressive, it makes it more exciting that we could be seeing more of this type of thing very soon.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    18. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Do you have a link to the plasma thing?

      Again, have you even looked at how this thing is working? It's not 'done before', and is a step in the right direction. It's not always going to be practical to have a 3D plasma holo-projector, sometimes you'll just want to have a fake window or 3D picture frame without having to use a headset, and this is a way to accomplish that, and is probably a lot closer to being marketable than any other 3D tech, since it simply uses current projector technology, but in a novel form.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    19. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by mfnickster · · Score: 1

      > Do you have a link to the plasma thing?

      Here ya go: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/07/aist-improves-3d-projector/

      --
      "Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
    20. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Pretty clever.. thanks!

      --
      which is totally what she said
    21. Re:Isn't it just a multitouch flat panel? by mikael · · Score: 1

      Thanks for that piece of information. Some more pieces from gizmodo:

      * 3DConverter - Create 3D images and videos from 2D image sequences - computer generated or camera images.

      This software reads your image sequences, camera setup, and the geometry specification of the HoloVizio device to be used, and outputs an AVI file that can be played on the HoloVizio in real-time using HoloPlayer. To use this method, you need an image / video sequence that shows your object from at least 60 different directions (more views result in better 3D quality).

      * HoloVizio OpenGL Wrapper - Use your existing OpenGL-based applications on the HoloVizio without modification.

      The HoloVizio OpenGL Wrapper creates a layer between your OpenGL-based application and the original OpenGL library. It seamlessly intercepts OpenGL calls made by the application, and (depending on the HoloVizio system used) renders and sends images to the display, or sends the OpenGL stream to the rendering cluster.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  3. Oblig. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Allowing users to see and manipulate objects in 3D without the assistance of goggles...

    You mean these 3D goggles I bought for HoloVizio - they do nothing?

    1. Re:Oblig. by Daas · · Score: 1

      It's like realizing you bought a 1st gen iPhone 2 weeks ago.

  4. Show off that gesture recognition by CogDissident · · Score: 0

    Cause, you know, the guy didn't just stand there with his finger on one stationary point, while the camera did a slow pan to the left and right.

    Also, already been done, by the guy who used cheap Wii sensor bars to do the same effect.

    1. Re:Show off that gesture recognition by strength_of_10_men · · Score: 2, Informative

      according to their site the 3D effect works for multiple views. whether or not each viewer sees a different perspective is unclear, but wasn't the Wii hack for a single view?

    2. Re:Show off that gesture recognition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      congrats for attempting to rtfa, but you still failed, the second video farther down on the post showed a few examples of the (still clunky looking) gesture interface

    3. Re:Show off that gesture recognition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As cool as Jonny Lee's work is, it will not appear 3D if you keep your head still. This, I believe, should. Just like a slightly low res hologram. But that can move. Very different. And prety cool too. But you can't see that effect from your standard screen

  5. Scoping Gestures. by camperdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The function offers enormous scope for collaboration across the globe.

    It looks like they need enormous scopes to just display the images, let alone collaberate. As for that guy "manipulating" the Rubic's cube... well, let's just say the gesture recognition needs a lot of work. It looked a lot like he was just following the movements of the cube, rather than the other way around.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Scoping Gestures. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      *lol*
      That guy is making waaaaay too many moves with that cube.
      23 would have sufficed...

  6. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    3d INTERACTIVE porn

  7. 2D presentation of 3D screen by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 3, Funny
    The video presentation was hilarious. It's like the cooking shows on TV where they are talking about how good the food smells. Relevant information is lost in the presentation.

    Look - a 3D screen! Doesn't it look amazing?

    It looks exactly like everything else in the 2D medium that it is being presented in.
    1. Re:2D presentation of 3D screen by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Or ads for HD TVs that get broadcast in SD.

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      Your ad here. Ask me how!
  8. This looks so fake by kiehlster · · Score: 1

    I don't know about you, but this looks like a spruced up version of Johnny Chung Lee's head tracking experiment with a guy pretending to motion-sync with the object moving on the screen. I don't think it can truly be validated without a lot of first-hand witnesses.

    1. Re:This looks so fake by somersault · · Score: 1

      He just sucks at moving it. He'd probably be crap with an eyeToy as well.. would help if he either kept his hands to the edges and didn't try to move so quick.. looked a bit like it was detecting directional movement over the black lines.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:This looks so fake by ATMD · · Score: 1

      I'll second that.

      Especially when the only details given for how it works are "advanced holographic techniques" or whatever the quote was. I smell bullshit.

      --
      Nobody else has this sig.
  9. Holodeck or "Minority Report" by mykepredko · · Score: 2, Informative

    Looking at the demo video (comment below) and reading TFA, it looked more like a gesture response on a 2D screen than anything approaching a holodeck. More like Tom Cruise's display selection used in "Minority Report"

    In any case, the guy in the video looked like he was following the movement of the Rubic's cube, not guiding it. If you were a VC, I would suggest investigating this a lot more - it seems to be more vapourware than something that's ready for prime time.

    myke

    1. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by Ai+Olor-Wile · · Score: 1

      Touching and gestures shouldn't be focused on so much--that technology is already perfect in the hands of Apple, Microsoft, and the university research that preceded them. I think what's really important is that we now have a video screen that is capable of displaying 3D images without any glasses used, like those old museum displays that had to be etched with lasers in obscure materials. (I think I saw a beaver once that accomplished this same effect.) Bugs or even vapourware in touch stuff are totally acceptable because that's not what's cool about the invention.

    2. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by JustinOpinion · · Score: 1

      If you were a VC, I would suggest investigating this a lot more - it seems to be more vapourware than something that's ready for prime time. That may be putting it lightly. Their site makes rather grandiose claims, that the screen generates a high-quality, full-color image with full depth-information, viewable from any angle by an unlimited number of viewers (i.e.: it's not just using motion tracking to simulate 3D for the one viewer). If true, this would be hugely significant!

      However, their "explanation" of the technology is rather... vague. Once you strip out all the trite market-speak and "trying to sounds scientific" techno-babble, you're only left with a single useful sentence:

      The pixels, or rather voxels of the holographic screen emit light beams of different intensity and colour to the various directions.
      It is indeed true that if you could make a screen where each pixel can not only control color output, but also directional emission, then you could create a true 3D-screen. However they don't explain (nor even hint) at how they accomplish this massive feat.

      Considering that holography is fairly mature field, and that people have been trying to create technology like this for some time... I will remain decidedly unconvinced until they present some real evidence that they have working technology. It would also be nice to have some kind of explanation of how they claim it works. I understand the notion of keeping new technology secret, but just saying "holography" is pointlessly vague. It's not like someone is going to be able to reproduce their technology if they just explain the basics of how it works.

      On their site they say:

      Seeing is believing. Computer animations explaining 3D technologies can often be found. The movies above are real camera shots, this is what you would see live on the HoloVizio displays.
      (Emphasis in original.) Yes, seeing is believing. However, a recording of a 3D display isn't exactly convincing: it's trivial for the computer to just be motion-tracking the camera.

      Unless someone can provide further details, this press release isn't convincing me that a product actually exists.
    3. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. The segment with the Rubik's Cube looked a little suspect, but when they showed the model of the horned monster, I really raised an eyebrow. The animation loop for the monster had it turning its head laterally, and then the guy in front of the monitor extended his hand to "touch" and presumably "manipulate" the monster's head. But the movement was clearly just the animation looping over again; he may have been intended to appear as though he was manipulating the image, even though he was not.

      Raises questions of validity.

    4. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by somersault · · Score: 1

      Well, thinks about it. I'd think that even Top 100 supercomputers would struggle to render at that kind of quality/resolution in real time from all the display angles (although it looks like it might just do left/right rather than up/down as well so that simplifies things a lot and makes it more possible), so I assumed that it was like the monsters in Black&White, which had preset animations according to where you 'touched' them.. except that this has pre-rendered graphics as well as preset animations.

      People do have just reason to be skeptical, but if this thing is real, then I'd say it's most awesome advance in display tech since the tri-colour pixel.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    5. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Everybody here is a trekkie, so of course it's a Holodeck. Never mind that it's not fully immersive, and can't simulate actual physical objects.

    6. Re:Holodeck or "Minority Report" by pontifier · · Score: 1
      --
      -John Fenley
  10. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    3d INTERACTIVE porn
    You just know that was on the inventors' short list of reasons why they decided to create such a device.
  11. I'm all for 3D displays by Wavebreak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But this article is light on the details. How does it work, what will it cost, when will it be available, is it even viable for mass production? 3D displays have been "any day now" for years, gonna need convincing to believe that this one's anything other than just another one of the numerous attempts that are hyped all over the place but never actually amount to anything.

    Hell, I'd be happy with head tracking, I mean come on, it's been demonstrated by some guy using a bloody wii remote, why can't we even get a proper working implementation of that for games and 3d modeling software and whatnot?

    --
    Nobody expects the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.
    1. Re:I'm all for 3D displays by Prune · · Score: 1

      3D displays have been on sale for years already. I have no idea what in the hell you mean "any day now". How do they not "amount to anything"? I've used autostereoscopic 3D displays from different companies at SIGGRAPH years ago, versions of commercial products, and they work just fine. Your rant is very ill-informed.

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
  12. bad video, lame product by globaljustin · · Score: 0

    yeah this company is way behind the curve...the fact that you can get the same (better?) functionality from a modded child's toy says alot.

    Sometimes I wonder what in the hell the venture capitalists who fund these things are thinking. Really. How many millions went into what we read about in TFA? Considering how many things like this I've seen, to me, it explains a small aspect about why the US economy is having trouble.

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
    1. Re:bad video, lame product by somersault · · Score: 1

      Uh.. if you had actually read TFA like you claim, then you'd know that this is nothing like a system that tracks people round the room and changes the view accordingly. It works for multiple viewers, so it obviously is putting out different images for each angle. That's what makes it interesting. Anyone with some accelerometers and small displays can do VR headset type stuff, but this seems to be a 'true' 3D display, albeit on a 2D surface

      --
      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:bad video, lame product by globaljustin · · Score: 1

      this isn't about screen display vs. headset vr...at all (keep your red herrings to yourself)...this IS about using hand motions to manipulate the image

      from TFA:

      The 3-D image is maintained as they move about - both in contrast with early attempts at holographic displays. But the real star of the Coherent project is not simply the display...Better yet, gesture recognition means that observers can manipulate the models by waving their hands in front of the screen. The function offers enormous scope for collaboration across the globe.
      obviously, TFA disagrees with you. as others have posted, the multiple view '3D' on a screen is not new...and (according to TFA...see above), the main thing they are boasting about is the ability to "manipulate models by waving their hands"...which was only demo'd for a short time and was hilarious b/c the demonstrator was clearly not manipulating the Rubix cube, but following it's movements.

      VAPORWARE

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
    3. Re:bad video, lame product by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 1

      For serious! There are like 35 other 3d displays that don't require head tracking and show a true 3d image from multiple angles to multiple people simultaneously. My Fisher Price HoloView 3000 does the exact same thing!

      Watch the video. The fact that the camera was moving and changing angles while someone else was interacting with it from their own perspective is what is interesting about this product. Assuming the video isn't faked, its a pretty cool development and I haven't seen much else like it. If you're going to have people sitting around a conference table manipulating some virtual 3d object (think that scene in Iron Man where he's building the suit), then this is the kind of tech you need. Strapping on glasses or ductaping some crap to your head so everything comes from your perspective is not the way to go.

    4. Re:bad video, lame product by somersault · · Score: 1

      Gesture recognition is hardly amazing, have you never played with an eyeToy or software that comes with your webcam? I remember about 8 years ago our webcam had software where you could pop bubbles. The guy trying to manipulate the object did look like an idiot and kept moving wrong so the thing was working as intended, but wasn't doing what *he* wanted it to do as he kept trying to moving his hands into position before trying to move the cube, but then in the process of moving into position the thing recognised his movements anyway.. meh. I've never seen any 3D stuff like this before and I think it's the true achievement here. Recognising movement and collision detection is regarded as quite trivial these days. I don't care what TFA says, it's very light on technical details, and if they think that recognising similar movements or detecting velocities is more complex than designing a holographic display, they're idiots.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    5. Re:bad video, lame product by globaljustin · · Score: 1
      You never really explain this statement:

      I've never seen any 3D stuff like this before and I think it's the true achievement here.
      In light of this statement:

      Gesture recognition is hardly amazing
      And this one:

      Recognising movement and collision detection is regarded as quite trivial these days.

      You seem confused. Do you like this product? Is it revolutionary? If not, then you have been flaming me for nothing. Pick a side...

      I'm not an expert on "3D" viewscreens, but some /. posters are, and most of what I've seen on here say that this is not a noteworthy advance in "3D" display.

      I still say this product means virtually nothing in the grand scheme of display advancement. It doesn't really get us any closer to a true 3D display (there is plenty of people trying to do research on that), it's just a really, really expensive plasma screen that has a small bit of 'wow' factor for a small number of people. The gains for video screen display are approaching a zero sum game...thousands of dollars more in price for very little added value in the product.
      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
    6. Re:bad video, lame product by somersault · · Score: 1

      lol I've lost this post twice now. Great. Even shorter rewrite ahead!

      2D collision detection is easy, and it's all that's needed here. I did 2D collision detection when I was twelve. Line detection is more complicated, but plenty of algorithms and code are available to do it - for example code, you could probably look at neon/emboss type plugins for the GIMP. Just combine the two by detecting if one line moves over an object in your scene and you have 'gesture recognition'. You'd also need to do a bit of 3D stuff when detecting how to apply an acceleration the model on-screen. Perhaps the system here recognises hand shapes as well, but again IMO that's not an insurmountable task and isn't very amazing these days, when you get mobile phones who's cameras do "face recognition".

      Go look at http://www.crs4.it/vic/data/papers/ieeevr2006ws-holo.pdf and you'll see that this is not a plasma screen, it's a clever use of a large array of projectors and box with mirrors in :p All the self styled experts on /. are just slagging it off and saying the Wii guy did a better job. His method is indeed very cool, and great for a single user, especially since it only has to render a scene once, same as any current 2D computer game. The 3D projector thing will work to provide at least partial stereoscopic vision though as the display does appear to change depending on where you are standing, and not just for one person, but for anyone at any angle. It has much more potential for advancing towards true 3D display tech than a head-tracking device, and I for one think it's pretty clever and had never heard of that method before.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    7. Re:bad video, lame product by globaljustin · · Score: 1

      well, thanks for the link...obviously you know more about this tech than I do...you're right, the article was pretty lame on tech details

      after looking over that .pdf, I can see why this IS considered a significant advancement

      I guess you could say that my criticism about the marketability of this doesn't really apply b/c it's more like research (european at that) than a VC funded startup.

      the diagram that shows the different projectors and mirrors got me to thinking about how this could very well result in something like a real 3D holograhic projection, on the order of, say R2D2's little 3-d projector only much bigger and with more mirrors

      take it easy man

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
  13. Holodeck 1.0? by dr_wheel · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...more like Holodeck 0.01.

    When I can spray a truffle-shuffling Chunk with my tommy gun, then we'll start talking about release candidates.

  14. Holodeck Technology by Microsift · · Score: 1

    I think you mean Shi 'Ar Danger Room technology(though I'm sure someone else had this idea before the X-Men)

    --
    My other sig is extremely clever...
  15. We're not even at the goggles stage yet by MrSteveSD · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been waiting some 20 years for home virtual reality and yet I still can't go into a shop and buy an immersive virtual reality games system or even a decent Head Mounted Display that has anything like human field of view. I'd like to be able to walk around games like Oblivion and look up at a huge castle by tilting my head back, giving me a real sense of how small I am in the world. I could buy a HMD now, but the FOV is like tunnel vision and so is hardly immersive. In fact FOV rather than stereo viewing is probably the most important thing for immersion since your binocular vision breaks down quite quickly over distance.

    I wonder how many more years we are going to have to wait. It's really annoying since we have the computer power now (Compared to the Dactyl Nightmare cube graphics days) , but the visual hardware is lagging far behind and there doesn't seem to be much will to bring VR to the masses.

    1. Re:We're not even at the goggles stage yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can pretty much do all this already if you're prepared to fork out a reasonably modest amount of cash. I play games on a 6ft diagonal screen via an Infocus X3 projector ($500 reconditioned from ebay) with E-Dimensional 3D shutterglasses ($70) and a NaturalPoint TrackIR 6DOF headtracker ($180).

      Admittedly the FOV is smaller than real life even when sitting fairly close to a 6ft diagonal image, but it still offers an extremely immersive experience, akin to looking through a 6ft window into a fully 3D virtual world (with close-up objects actually appearing to be between me and the screen).

  16. please... by aeskdar · · Score: 0

    Nothing beats my analog holodeck...
    STAR WARS: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy

  17. Re:What does this have to do with the 3G iPhone? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

    Think different. Think better. Think APPLE!

    WORLD DOMINATION BABY!


    Steve Jobs? Is that you?
  18. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by somejeff · · Score: 1

    pr0n is the main driving force for many technologies. It made things popular: - Internet - Movie Theatres - DVDs (especially the multi-angle features) - The VCR.

  19. Home virtual reality is here. by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Close your eyes. Now imagine that you are on the balcony of mountaintop villa in Italy. The scenery is breathtaking-- the snowcapped peaks off in the distance, the hustle of the beautiful, palm-tree-lined streets below. The ocean pounding the cliffs to the west. Standing beside you is Cindy Crawford. She's pulls your head toward her, and kisses you full on the mouth, reminding you that you need to be looking at her and not the village... Now let your imagination carry you away.

    There. Home virtual reality. And it was FREE even.

    1. Re:Home virtual reality is here. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1
      Interesting?

      You guys need to get out more often.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Home virtual reality is here. by jaminJay · · Score: 1

      I have a visually impaired imagination, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Leela: "Is all the work done by children?" Alien: "No, not the whipping."
    3. Re:Home virtual reality is here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *Groan* Don't go Sesame Street/Barney (adult version) on us dude. That's not what the GP was talking about.

  20. unlimited viewers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The linked article clearly said the screen was viewable by "an unlimited number of freely moving viewers".

    The Wii hack is not a hologram, rather it is a flat (2D) image of a 3D "world" that changes as the viewer moves to simulate his/her viewpoint. According to what they say, this is actually a hologram. That means that the viewer will actually "see" three dimensional objects on the 2D screen. Like the hologram on your credit card, the perspective changes as you move from side to side, which is perceived by your two eyes and interpreted by your brain as depth.

  21. pdf on CRS4 design; 64 XGA projectors used! by sanadmin · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:pdf on CRS4 design; 64 XGA projectors used! by somersault · · Score: 1

      TFA should have linked to this to stop people whining about the lack of description of how this works. Most people are accusing it of vapourware just because they can't understand how something like that would even work! I had thought that it was to do with pixels that shone out different colours at different angles, but it's a bit more complicated than that.. I still don't understand it exactly but it's pretty clever, if highly expensive! Would have to cost at least $30-40000 to build something like this?

      --
      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:pdf on CRS4 design; 64 XGA projectors used! by mcmire · · Score: 1

      Oh, so that's how much it costs...

  22. Come! by MrSteveSD · · Score: 2, Funny

    No jokes about Captain Picard saying "Come!". Okay? :)

    1. Re:Come! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No jokes about Captain Picard saying "Come!". Okay? :) At least he knows how to engage a woman...
  23. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by Ozeroc · · Score: 1

    I've heard that that was what they printing after they finished the Gutenberg bible.

    --
    ...
  24. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by gparent · · Score: 1

    It's amazing what a dick can bring to mankind.

  25. It's just eye tracking? by gfody · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It looks like they're doing what this guy did 6 months ago with a Wii
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

    His examples are more impressive than this - and he never called his stuff "holodeck v1.0"

    --

    bite my glorious golden ass.
    1. Re:It's just eye tracking? by somersault · · Score: 1

      His method also only works for one viewer. It is of course much more practical and useful until we have computers that can render complex scenes from all angles at once though. The display in TFA is much more like a real 'holodeck' because it works for multiple viewers, but in the meantime all we need to make better games/simulations is head tracking.

      --
      which is totally what she said
  26. What is wrong with you people? by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 1

    All the holodeck ever did was try to take over the Enterprise, kill everyone on board and, assuming Ensign Barclay must have at some point loaded an anime tentacle porn simulation, mate with the more nubile females in the crew.

    He who does not learn from the future is doomed to repeat it!

    1. Re:What is wrong with you people? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *ahem*... Luitenant Barclay.

      Your geek badge, sir.

  27. I am not seeing it. by Castletech · · Score: 1

    Looks 2D to me.

    1. Re:I am not seeing it. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Looks 2D to me.
      That may be connected to the fact that you're (presumably) watching it on a 2D monitor.
      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  28. Wiimote + Lightsabers! by StCredZero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Heck with all that Star Trek sex rubbish! The true geek-gasm these things should give you is the potential for the Ultimate Star Wars Lightsaber game! Construct something like the Wiimote controller, but with lightsaber designs from the Star Wars movies. Throw in some gesture recognition for some force powers, and you have the ultimate geek game. Imagine it -- immersive 3D effects with physics, you holding a lightsaber, or gesturing to telekinetically deflect objects.

    Dave & Busters would make a killing on those! I wonder how many Jedi would show up in costume robes?

    1. Re:Wiimote + Lightsabers! by no1home · · Score: 1

      PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't encourage the masses of Star* geeks. If you do, D&B will be so over crowded, I won't get to play! (No, I do not dress up in costumes... The full kilt may be old fashioned to some, but it's perfectly acceptable clothing for one of Scottish decent or honoring the Scots' fine taste in clothing.)

      --
      I hope this comment is well received... I could have moderated instead!

      Persecutors will be violated!
    2. Re:Wiimote + Lightsabers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lightsabers and leia in the gold bikini, sign me up!

    3. Re:Wiimote + Lightsabers! by Idiomatick · · Score: 1
  29. You think *that's* bad? by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've been waiting 35 years for working X-Ray glasses. :-(

    1. Re:You think *that's* bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are, it's just that you didn't look for them.

  30. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by joeman3429 · · Score: 1

    I don't think it's the men in porn driving the business....

  31. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by pushing-robot · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, it's all the rest of them.

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  32. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary Clinton would be on anyone's short list... wait... ewwwww!!!!

  33. demos on the site are .wmv... by goffster · · Score: 1

    very lame

  34. Nah.. by vecctor · · Score: 1

    I'm sure it featured some sort of automated fluid capture and disposal. It did use forcefields for everything, after all.

    If the first one didn't feature that, you can sure bet version 2.0 did!

    --
    Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
  35. More Details Here by worthb · · Score: 1

    This is a rather old article but it explains the technology behind this type of 3d display compared to others.

    --
    "the universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle" - Stapp's Law
  36. holograms. by IronWilliamCash · · Score: 2

    I think most people here don't see what's actually going on... This is a real 3d, like imax, but without the glasses and since you're all viewing it on a 2d screen, of course you can't see the 3d!!. They are using holograms to achieve real 3D. I know no one reads TFA but still, some of the comments today aren't of slashdot level.

  37. Bah... by ZarathustraDK · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Johnny Lee already made something similar with a Wii-mote

    --
    If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
    1. Re:Bah... by mollymoo · · Score: 1

      You can use a Wiimote to turn a TV into a wide-angle stereoscopic 3D display with unlimited simultaneous viewers (because it doesn't need to track heads) and gesture recognition? Wow, I thought it just did some trivial head tracking.

      --
      Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven' - BBC News
  38. Head tracking or actual 3D? by gregbot9000 · · Score: 1

    I wasn't sure from TFA whether this was actual 3D W/ Parallax or just head tracking.

    If this can actually simulate parallax and depth with a decent refresh rate and color depth, it would be really cool. You could make fake windows that would actually look real, and about a hundred other aesthetic displays. I could make one in the shape of a portal displaying a fake room, and it would look real! so cool!

  39. OK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Make it so baby. Uh yeah. Right there baby. Engage ENGAAAGGGE.

  40. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by dainichi · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Why was this modded redundant? I would think it would have been modded insightful.

    --
    "Oooh. I hate it when a paradigm shifts without a clutch"
  41. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by my_left_nut · · Score: 1

    Hah. And here I'm thinking that all they wanted to rotate were Rubic's Cubes. How naive of me.

  42. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by dainichi · · Score: 1

    That's actually the main reason VHS won over Betamax--Sony wouldn't allow pr0n on its media.

    --
    "Oooh. I hate it when a paradigm shifts without a clutch"
  43. Well, kinda.. by RevWaldo · · Score: 1

    According to the web site this isn't honest-to-goodness holography, but works on similar principles.

    HoloVizio is not a purely holographic system that handles an enormous amount of redundant information. It is rather based on holographic geometrical principles with special focus on reconstructing the key elements of spatial vision. The pixels, or rather voxels of the holographic screen emit light beams of different intensity and colour to the various directions. A light-emitting surface composed of these voxels will act as a digital window or hologram and will be able to show 3D scenes undoubtedly being 3D.

    So, yeah, it is interesting, but still a lot of unanswered questions.

  44. Forget article; check website for technical detail by Prune · · Score: 2, Informative

    This doesn't work like the usual autostereoscopic 3D monitors. A few seconds in Google lead me to their site: http://holografika.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=63 Note the described operation, and also the interesting claim that "There's no contradiction between eye-convergence and focusing"--this is not the case with 3D shutterglasses or normal autostereoscopic monitors.

    --
    "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
  45. Just an auto stereo screen by DrYak · · Score: 1
    This is just another auto stereo screen.
    (similar to those that even Zalman started to mass produce for very cheap).

    It has nothing to do with all the recent development in visualing actual *volumes* in true 3 dimensional space, such as displays based on air plasma (project a monochrome image in space by focussing lasers to locally form small plasma pixels in the air) or displays using a rotating projection screen. Those technologies produce image in space that can actually be viewed from any where around.

    In opposition to auto-stereo screen such as this one which produce either stereo left/right images (like Zalman) or a little bit more (like the one from TFA ? Or do they still only use left/right pairs and rely on head tracking to increase the viewing angle) and simply can be displayed without googles, because they rely on some built-in filter (lenticualar or something).

    Whatever, it's still a screen, and you can only see the 3D by staying in front. If you walk around, all you see it the back of the shiny plastic case of the display. Not the displayed object it self from behind.

    So the comparison with holodeck really sound stupid and sound clumsy at best.
    They should have centered their marketing around the argument "Look, our auto stereo display allows for a wider angle than the concurrence's".

    Also, already been done, by the guy who used cheap Wii sensor bars to do the same effect. The wii guy use the wiimote (which have the actual hardware inside). The sensor bar is a misnomer. it's just a pair of infra leds and can safely be replaced by a pair of candles. (safely : as long as you don't hurl the remote at them and/or as long as your screen isn't flamable).

    Plus his 3D display demo is done on a regular TV set. The displays does indeed follow the viewer (or at least the bearer of the infra red hat). But when you have it in front of you, the display never the less looks flat, as both eyes receive the same pictures (as opposed to having 3D google filtering separate image for each eye or having the lenticular filter of an auto-stereo display sending different image to each eye).

    Don't get me wrong : the wii guy's technology is really cool. But it could be even more cooler when coupled to 3D googles or auto-stereo screen.
    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Just an auto stereo screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a bit more then an autostereoscopic screen. Those screens needs you to stand in a sweet point, otherwise the image gets really-really blurred and your head goes off... This screen does not do that. You just stand in front and watch the 3D image from wherever you want to. (Of course there are viewing angle limitations...) In other words, you can actually use this technology as long as you wish. Did you ever wonder why PhilipsWOW and other autostereoscopic screens are not widespread yet, despite being very cheap? Simply because they cause strain to the user after a few dozens of minutes. Have a look on these videos too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28_gL6GdXuU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdjnit-kiFM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyyvfE9Zm7A Or watch the new videos on http://holografika.com/index.php?option=com_hg&secId=9&Itemid=134

  46. Ironman! by muzicman · · Score: 1

    Judging by the new film Iron man this tech has been round for longer than we think. It is hard to imagine that because of the film this tech has been developed. I am not saying that in the incarnation in the film that that is the current marker or the technology but that is where it is going. I want my armour!!!!

    --
    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flamebait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  47. Re:3d porn! WHOOO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure, choosing quality over length had nothing to do with VHS winning.

  48. Revisionist History by magusxxx · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, but it really bugs me when people refer to Star Trek TNG when refering to a Holodeck. But totally ignore the fact that Ray Bradbury's The Veldt described the very same thing decades earlier. Oh, and the guy that wanted Cindy Crawford⦠DON'T DATE HOLOGRAMS!

    --
    Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
  49. This is realy cool... by pontifier · · Score: 1

    My first impression... another head tracker....

    My second impression... a really nifty way to actually get a screen to shine what you want in any direction.

    Each pixel acts as a projector! this file explains how!
    http://www.coherentproject.org/news_files/136_143.pdf

    My guess is that they flash the lights behind the screen at a high frequency and use a high frequency liquid crystal to block all the rays they don't want...
    This display probably gets very hot, because much of the light would be blocked. BUT... it would truly display a 3D image!! Amazing.

    --
    -John Fenley
  50. Amsterdam by FletcherTM · · Score: 1

    I feel sorry for the people of Amsterdam. At least half of them will be out of jobs.

  51. Yes a stupid monitor, but no by tsjaikdus · · Score: 1

    Yes a stupid monitor, but no. You still need to look at the screen. Which sucks. But it is not so much about rendering different images and offering each eye a single one as it is a device that renders focussed dots of light into the air. It requires quite some power to do that actually. For your info the only display that doesn't require looking onto a screen directly (and which still looks cool) is the heliodisplay from http://www.io2technology.com/ but it is not 3D

  52. "global colaboration" by Joce640k · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure that's what they meant by this: "The function offers enormous scope for collaboration across the globe."

    I mean, what else could they be referring to apart from 'touching' other people?

    Unfortunately it will suffer from the same problems as all the other schemes, i/e. - that '16 year old Candi' from California will really be '350lb Turleen' from Alabama.

    --
    No sig today...
  53. Kinda... by ryanscottjones · · Score: 1

    ... had to be there.

  54. obligatory link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/blue-stripe-life-4.php

  55. Holodeck? by PalmKiller · · Score: 1

    More like holodeck 0.1 alpha, long way to go to become star trek's holodeck

  56. With such a hyped up description by mcmire · · Score: 1

    you'd think they'd have decent demo videos. I mean for the love of the Holodeck, if you're trying to film something that looks 3D, and you want to convince us it looks 3D, maybe move the camera in a three-dimensional motion? Like walk around the TV or something? Sheesh.