Slashdot Mirror
A 3D Display You Can Touch
mikejuk writes "Are we getting closer to really effective volumetric 3D display technology? A new display, designed in Russia, uses cold fog and a laser projector to create a volumetric 3D image that you can touch. A tracking device (no, it's not a Kinect) is used to detect the user's hand and moves the virtual objects in response. There have been cold fog 3D displays before, but this one has a reasonable resolution and looks near to being a finished product that could be on sale soon. Estimated price? Between $4000 and $30,000."
At last: a realistic estimate!
http://michaelsmith.id.au
The only issue is stopping your dog tongue flapping sticking it's head in your monitor.
What advantage does this offer that could justify the upper bound on pricing? Is there anything that could justify a 4K price? or is this just a novel idea thing?
Eat sleep die
If it cost between 3,000 and 30,000 or between 4,000 and 40,000 I'd buy it but between 4,000 and 30,000 just sounds wrong...
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
That's a funny definition of "Touch" - yes it responds to your finger, but there isn't anything physical there to push against, so it's no more a touch interface than Kinect is.
Help me! I'm turning into a grapefruit!
It's like the image resulting from a texture mapping of a 3D world from the vantage point of a 2D organism. It only works, and only barely so, when standing directly in front. Start moving to the side and you lose your 3D.
I can imagine the new porn that will come out... literally!
You could buy a whole VR toolkit for that.
"Touch me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only bloke."
Sticking my fingers into a cold fog all day seems highly unappealing.
It's just another piece of vaporware!
Bad slashdot reporting as usual.
The big deal here is the "mid-air" aspect, i.e. no actual surface.
However the display is 2D and the article makes no claim for it being 3D. It's not volumetric, it's not 3D. It's a projector.
It's very cool, and Slashdot has just completely misrepresented it. Well done.
It only seems that every other week there's a new concept or at least some advances/new implementations of old concepts for 3D displays.
It's clear that people wanna move forward but we're still laughing at those that bought 3D glasses + 3D TVs, so slow down a bit, please.
All glory to Arstotzka!
Reading the title I was excited because I thought someone solved the problem with projecting 3D into fog - but that is not the case. Seems like the media in general want everything to be 3D these days. And if it is not a flat monitor is must be 3D right ? - Interesting display concept but still only 2D as many people already pointed out.
While the video looks impressive at first, since this is an unusual way of displaying video and tracking user input, I didn't see them doing anything that you couldn't do with a touchscreen.
The video shows a lot of sliding and manipulating images (rotating, zooming, pinching, etc) but I noticed that they were only controlling the X and Y axes. I kept hoping that they would rotate something in the Z axis or perhaps place a 3D object behind another, but it was just one of the typical "sort through a bunch of photos" demos that we've seen many times before.
I know that this isn't the final version, but I don't see how something like this would be useful until it can actually track and utilize that third dimension. Right now it looks flashy and may lead to a true 3D display, but this seems to be a 2D screen suspended in mist with motion tracking. It certainly isn't going to be portable like a tablet, and the wavering display isn't going to be as good as a proper screen. The 200ms of input lag is rather unimpressive as well.
I would absolutely love to have a good 3D display with true 3D motion tracking, even if it led to me having gorilla arms. We've come a long way, but we've still got a long way to go as well.
This is not new technology, There was this Heliodisplay which demonstrated FAR higher quality (and larger size) than this very crude demonstration, and that was some 6 years ago. And yet this technology has yet to gain any foothold, which is probably because it's inherently unfeasible and people rather buy traditional screens or wall projectors, now that they have become so cheap (not to mention, they have far higher display quality than any of these fog or whatever projection screens).
Past about 6in and the resolution/consistency of image is shocking.... Notice how he has to keep dragging the image down to be close to the air outlet? Doesn't really look ready for prime time. (and come to think about it I can't imagine how they will solve keeping the air flows regular over large distances....)
tom-george.comBecause geeks rate higher t
Hi,
It is really amazed me I want it but toooooo expansive..
psd to xhtml
3D volumentic/holographic displays are kinda neat in a "look isn't this cool" kind of way, but they all suffer from the same problem 2D multitouch has... that there is nothing physically there to touch so there is no tactile feedback. I don't see this being resolved either.
The closest we can get to a tactile system are ones where they are manipulated by 3D magnetic material, which has it's own issues. Non-closed loop systems inevitably mean that there is a wear problem.
The 3D system featured might be useful in a Seaquest DSV kind of way, eg where we need a concept of depth, like a 3D softbody in medical applications. But until we have replicators and holodeck-like holograms, I think these systems couldn't trick a dog or cat that there is a real "object"
Cold fog stories.
This stuff is crap technology that is going no where. Mostly because no one wants a huge wall of cold fog distorting a projected image. It's cute for a kid's science experiment, but it's unrealistic technology that is going exactly no where.
At this point I think it would be easier to invent some kind of optic implant to fool your brain into thinking you're looking at a 3d display, rather than actually trying to find some way to reflect photons in mid air.
This would have the added bonus of privacy unless you opt to "share" your display with others nearby. Anyone you're not sharing the display with would just see you waving your hands around like a lunatic.
I have to break it to you guys, but this has been done in Finland 5 years ago. http://vimeo.com/26984900 And boy have they patented it :)
I don't think that can be useful at all if you have to have your arms in the air, they will get tired very soon*.
We can write hours in our computers today because our arms rest over a table and our fingers over the keys themselves (action/reaction/force/etc).
*Unless you're Chuck Norris, of course.
you can't
Sure, it's implemented on a 3D surface, but the demo didn't show any real 3D features. It looked like a 2D screen floating in space.
This is entirely 2D, not 3D.
The eu.techcrunch.com article makes no mention of 3D. It's the i-programmer.info dopes that mislabeled this as 3D. The slashdot submitter and editor also get blame for perpetuating the error.
The technology uses a base unit that blows a basically 2D "sheet" of fog upwards as a display surface. Behind that there is a 2D laser projector aimed at the fog display screen.
Some people mentioned the keyboard in the demo as 3D, but no, that was the same as any ordinary 2D windowing system. The 2D keyboard that came up merely replaced the 2D content that was supposedly 'behind' it.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Hi guys... sorry to bring that to you... there already exists a company that is selling products based on this technology and it has been around for years. It's called io2technlogoy and you can buy so called heliodisplays from them for a huuge amounts of money :-).
The Adult Entertainment Industry will be investing millions of dollars into this technology.. Just you wait..
Not sure why this wasn't posted, but here is a true 3d display: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndNwMBEiVU