It seems that half of the comments are from people who has not read the article!
And it would appear you are no exception..
from the article: "uses mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch..." the key word here being *masts*. Thus invalidating all of your problems with the idea.
Dangit, if I buy the hardware and want to modify it, I payed for it--it's mine--why shouldn't I be able to?
What if it's a new car, and you modify it so that it fails to comply with emission regulations? Modding a car is not the best example - a modded car can be illegal to drive.. or worse, kill people. A modded x-box isn't likely to have such an extreme effect (unless, maybe, you play for 86 hours straight..?)
Err, I meant "Sanyo", not "Sony" in my previous post. While i'm excusing myself, here is a link with some additional information about the current scene for autostereoscopic LCD displays:
Three years ago we purchased a similar display system from Sanyo. Their product never took off, so I don't think that a "big company" is the only requirement for it to take off.
The problem with the Sanyo display was that, a) it had a very small "sweet-spot" in which you could actually view the stereo image; b) the technque of using a "paralax barrier" means that you halve the vertical resolution as each alternate column goes to only one eye; and c) you get slight visual artifacts as a combination of both of the first two points. Oh, and it is definately not cheap.
Actually.. Sharp's press release is a fairly accurate description of the system Sony was producing back in '99. Good luck to them!
Those women and men, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, just trying to mind their own business and go to work did not deserve to die a fiery death that day.
Come off it. We sit on our fat backsides every day of our life, eating whatever we feel like, doing whatever we feel like, never sparing a thought for the other 90% of the worlds population. Do we stop to consider what our government is doing elsewhere in the world? Not really. As long as America is defending democracy and everyones right to do what they want, who cares if we aren't going to let non americans be communists or have different opinions to us? Who cares if we launch a war against a country just because we think they might want to attack us sometime in the future (ignoring the fact that the really don't have anywhere near the same military budget)?
These people died because the American government maintains foreign policies that are outrageous, while they all sat on their backsides getting rich and selfishly enjoying the benefits of the american way of life.
I'm getting sick and tired of "mourn the dead".. what about "perhaps we really aren't the nice guys after all"?
And watch me get modded down just because i'm not conforming.
Actually, I know they did: The Wedge. A much more immersive version of it too. Granted, the wedge uses the expensive Crystal Eyes glasses for stereo instead of polarised glasses/projectors, but the basic principle of cheap VR is the same. Why don't people who set out to make a cheaper better solution start by doing a bit of web surfing!?
I mean really.. just because they are a commercial entity.
And for everyone saying that it will fail just because they introduce per-seat licensing.. isn't it really going to depend on what else they offer to go with it? If per seat licensing gives them enough revenue to offer businesses features and services that no competitor can match.. surely *that* will dictate if they succeed or not.
Take a look at this screenshot and tell me that hobbyists can't make games with as much quality and well-done graphics as the pros.
I think the problem is bigger and more widespread than just this screenshot. I have never seen an open-source style game that didn't look like a pile of crap. And i'm not referring to technological quality of the graphics - open source artists are not as good as professional artists. It seems that if an artist is good enough, then they won't work for free or in their spare time - unlike programmers.
Or is it just that the whole open-source concept breaks down when applied to things like art? Can you have 10 artists collaborating over the internet to produce a high-quality/professional looking product?
I'd also question the ability of user interface design to succeed - not only are the graphics awkward in products like this, but they seldom have the "slick interface" present in commercial games.
Maybe i'm shallow, but I require a minimum level of quality in the art/interface of a computer game for me to feel happy playing it. I'll be avoiding this one:)
As some people have tried to discuss already - there is a large percentage of the population that can't actually see stereo (I could be wrong, but I think it is somewhere up around 15%) for one reason or another. For some people, the brain just hasn't learnt how to spacialise the stereo images produced by the eyes.. for others, even minor damage to one eye can cause problems with stereo.
But anyway, that is besides the point - I think technology like this is limited (with the exception of entertainment) unless you can get your hands into the 3D image and use it as if it were truly virtual reality. It is one thing to look at a 3D image of a brain tumour, but if you still have to use a 3D-mouse to manipulate it, then there is still an intuitive leap to be made when using applications written for the display - just like the intuitive leap between the 2D mouse and the 2D display. What this needs is to be combined with technology like Reachin [troll warning] where you can actually see the data in the same space where you hands are working on it. Much more appropriate:)
I'm still hoping that someone will get the MMORPG right in the not so distant future
I just recently found a small but well built MMORPG that is slowly gaining popularity. The game engine itself is constantly evolving to fix bugs and add new features - but is incredibly robust and stable. They have solved most of the MM issues in fairly interesting ways. Check it out! Astonia v3 (of course, like most sites, a little slash-dotting would probably kill it;).
The object-oriented toolkits are too easy to use dangerously. So what is the solution?
At least in the world of C++ you do have the STL - hard to use, but hard to use dangerously. I think that templates are a somewhat undervalued addition to OOP - they allow for an extra level of abstraction(?) without the penalty of slower code.
Surely the obvious thing that is missing here is a standard in the CPU instruction set. Can anyone see NVidia opting to clone 3DLabs' chips in order to maintain binary compatability of shading algorithms? And can anyone see a games developer wanting to release source code for their shading algorithms just so that it can be runtime compiled onto different (future) hardware architectures?
-Don't move your head around too much, it gets blurry
Are you sure that you weren't looking at an autostereoscopic display? That is - something that is true 3D, and uses lenticular lenses or similar to achieve the 3D. It is also something that is not very technologically advanced yet - resolution is very poor (typically half of a normal LCD, due to the tricks required to get stereo) and the stereo "sweet spot" is very small.
The product in question, however, is simply two LCD screens, one on top of the other, to give you "actual depth". There is nothing particularly 3D or stereo about it - simply that some objects can be positioned an inch behind other objects. The main use for this would be in the area of public touchscreen booths, etc. It may also be useful in ordinary desktop metaphors where (for example) the active window could be positioned an inch infront of everything else.. And more importantly - it has the advantage that it doesn't require you to hold your head in a certain position / distance.
Joel: Well, most people with encyclopedias only look up 0.01% of the topics in the encyclopedia. But would you rather have the Encyclopedia Britannica or would you rather have a lightweight brochure containing the top 100 topics? (You might answer: on a camping trip, I'd rather have the lightweight brochure. Fine. Get the brochure for your camping trip. But at home, where all that 'bloatware' isn't actually costing you anything, you want the full edition.)
"Bloatware isn't actually costing you anything"!? How about more time to load your application and a significantly higher probability of it crashing as the code becomes more bloated and less maintainable?
There is a gigantic chasm of a difference between "bloatware" of information, and bloatware of software features.
It bothers me that people think they can make assumptions about the Earth's weather patterns based on roughly 100 years (NASA: Surface Temperature Analysis) of temperature data.
Given that we are constantly learning about various cycles in global climate, some of which seem to span over thousands of years ( E.g. NASA: The Sun-Weather connection), you can't possibly claim for certain that any temperature fluctuations over the past 10, 20 or 50 years are due exlusively to our behaviour.
I'm not against cleaning up the earth, I just think that global warming isn't a good argument.
... remember thinking that Lucas could be soft in the head for trying to fool the audience into thinking Palpatine isn't Sidious. I mean we can see that in the credits. What the hell? Right? See that is so like a self-centered audience. To sit there and think they are the center of the universe. The Palpatine-Sidious thing from the first film... The trade dispute...
Of course Palpatine is evil, doesn't anyone remember Return of the Jedi anymore? (whas it *that* bad?) Who's that dude zapping Luke with the magic bolts of lightening at the end of the film? Could it be.. "Emperor Palpatine"!?
The common phrase in a lot of these types of patents is "A method of". As in this case, obviously they aren't patenting the concept, rather a fairly specific method.
The patent actually reads: What is claimed is: 1. A method of synchronizing a server and a client on behalf of a user, comprising the steps of:... - from the patent database
The Australian National University has been working with similar concepts for about 4/5 years now. See their Wedge VR system. Not a CAVE by any means, but it can easily be extended to support more "walls".
Most importantly, it is a display of what can be achieved with off-the-shelf PC level hardware. Even the projector system is a lot cheaper than that used by the CAVE systems. And it uses Linux too!
Re:I must be missing something
on
Review: SliMP3
·
· Score: 2
Firstly: ethernet sends the signal digitally to the unit, so no signal loss at all between your computer and the unit (someone else said that it would be less - but come on, TCP/IP, we are sending MP3 data to the unit, what loss!?). Important on a long run, where RCA cables would degrade seriously after decent distance.
Secondly: we can assume that at the price, the hardware on the device is certainly a little better quality than the soundcard on your PC, and doesn't suffer from the background noise introduced by the PC. Thirdly: what everyone is saying!
We have had this story before
on
Review: SliMP3
·
· Score: 2
this article looks kind of familiar. Is there something new now? Are they slightly closer to a finished product?
Consolidated already has secured a land swap deal with the WA Government to free up property north of Kununurra for the reserve.
What do you reckon is on this land then..? I think the hippos are just something to hide behind.. the lions are to keep people from snooping. He's building a secret shuttle launching facility? Nuclear weapons experiments? There are opals there? Perhaps it *is* Jurrasic Park?
but flashing the BIOS of the XBox seems to be a pointless exercise.
Not that it is entirely legal, but since the XBox is pentium based, emulation should be a lot easier than for the PS2 and GameCube. And, of course, the BIOS would be somewhat essential for a project like that.
However, the console wars are not going to be won based purely on technology.
They might be lost though. If it turns out to be really easy to modify an X-Box enough to run Linux and play your MP3's, DIV-X movies, do
email, etc, then people might buy an X-Box and never spend a penny on an X-Box game.
Since Microsoft, as with most console companies, are selling the console at a loss, and making up for it with game sales, this can't be a good thing for them. Their choice of almost-standard components might cost them in the long run.
I'm curious - suppose this is a great bit of technology, and it can produce cleaner, sharper images on a much larger "screen" than conventional methods, then surely it would give us the highest quality televisions seen so far,
and flatter. It should, quite simply, put all other types of televisions to rest.
Given this, will they really sell it at close to what it costs to make, or are they going charge twice the price of a plasma TV? Are TV prices based more on how much they cost to make, or on the quality of their image reproduction?
Slashdot Mirror
And it would appear you are no exception.. from the article: "uses mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch..." the key word here being *masts*. Thus invalidating all of your problems with the idea.
What if it's a new car, and you modify it so that it fails to comply with emission regulations? Modding a car is not the best example - a modded car can be illegal to drive.. or worse, kill people. A modded x-box isn't likely to have such an extreme effect (unless, maybe, you play for 86 hours straight..?)
www.3dcgi.com
The problem with the Sanyo display was that, a) it had a very small "sweet-spot" in which you could actually view the stereo image; b) the technque of using a "paralax barrier" means that you halve the vertical resolution as each alternate column goes to only one eye; and c) you get slight visual artifacts as a combination of both of the first two points. Oh, and it is definately not cheap.
Actually.. Sharp's press release is a fairly accurate description of the system Sony was producing back in '99. Good luck to them!
Come off it. We sit on our fat backsides every day of our life, eating whatever we feel like, doing whatever we feel like, never sparing a thought for the other 90% of the worlds population. Do we stop to consider what our government is doing elsewhere in the world? Not really. As long as America is defending democracy and everyones right to do what they want, who cares if we aren't going to let non americans be communists or have different opinions to us? Who cares if we launch a war against a country just because we think they might want to attack us sometime in the future (ignoring the fact that the really don't have anywhere near the same military budget)?
These people died because the American government maintains foreign policies that are outrageous, while they all sat on their backsides getting rich and selfishly enjoying the benefits of the american way of life. I'm getting sick and tired of "mourn the dead".. what about "perhaps we really aren't the nice guys after all"?
And watch me get modded down just because i'm not conforming.
Actually, I know they did: The Wedge. A much more immersive version of it too. Granted, the wedge uses the expensive Crystal Eyes glasses for stereo instead of polarised glasses/projectors, but the basic principle of cheap VR is the same. Why don't people who set out to make a cheaper better solution start by doing a bit of web surfing!?
And for everyone saying that it will fail just because they introduce per-seat licensing.. isn't it really going to depend on what else they offer to go with it? If per seat licensing gives them enough revenue to offer businesses features and services that no competitor can match.. surely *that* will dictate if they succeed or not.
I think the problem is bigger and more widespread than just this screenshot. I have never seen an open-source style game that didn't look like a pile of crap. And i'm not referring to technological quality of the graphics - open source artists are not as good as professional artists. It seems that if an artist is good enough, then they won't work for free or in their spare time - unlike programmers.
Or is it just that the whole open-source concept breaks down when applied to things like art? Can you have 10 artists collaborating over the internet to produce a high-quality/professional looking product?
I'd also question the ability of user interface design to succeed - not only are the graphics awkward in products like this, but they seldom have the "slick interface" present in commercial games.
Maybe i'm shallow, but I require a minimum level of quality in the art/interface of a computer game for me to feel happy playing it. I'll be avoiding this one :)
But anyway, that is besides the point - I think technology like this is limited (with the exception of entertainment) unless you can get your hands into the 3D image and use it as if it were truly virtual reality. It is one thing to look at a 3D image of a brain tumour, but if you still have to use a 3D-mouse to manipulate it, then there is still an intuitive leap to be made when using applications written for the display - just like the intuitive leap between the 2D mouse and the 2D display. What this needs is to be combined with technology like Reachin [troll warning] where you can actually see the data in the same space where you hands are working on it. Much more appropriate :)
nuff said.
I just recently found a small but well built MMORPG that is slowly gaining popularity. The game engine itself is constantly evolving to fix bugs and add new features - but is incredibly robust and stable. They have solved most of the MM issues in fairly interesting ways. Check it out! Astonia v3 (of course, like most sites, a little slash-dotting would probably kill it ;).
At least in the world of C++ you do have the STL - hard to use, but hard to use dangerously. I think that templates are a somewhat undervalued addition to OOP - they allow for an extra level of abstraction(?) without the penalty of slower code.
Surely the obvious thing that is missing here is a standard in the CPU instruction set. Can anyone see NVidia opting to clone 3DLabs' chips in order to maintain binary compatability of shading algorithms? And can anyone see a games developer wanting to release source code for their shading algorithms just so that it can be runtime compiled onto different (future) hardware architectures?
Are you sure that you weren't looking at an autostereoscopic display? That is - something that is true 3D, and uses lenticular lenses or similar to achieve the 3D. It is also something that is not very technologically advanced yet - resolution is very poor (typically half of a normal LCD, due to the tricks required to get stereo) and the stereo "sweet spot" is very small.
The product in question, however, is simply two LCD screens, one on top of the other, to give you "actual depth". There is nothing particularly 3D or stereo about it - simply that some objects can be positioned an inch behind other objects. The main use for this would be in the area of public touchscreen booths, etc. It may also be useful in ordinary desktop metaphors where (for example) the active window could be positioned an inch infront of everything else.. And more importantly - it has the advantage that it doesn't require you to hold your head in a certain position / distance.
"Bloatware isn't actually costing you anything"!? How about more time to load your application and a significantly higher probability of it crashing as the code becomes more bloated and less maintainable?
There is a gigantic chasm of a difference between "bloatware" of information, and bloatware of software features.
Given that we are constantly learning about various cycles in global climate, some of which seem to span over thousands of years ( E.g. NASA: The Sun-Weather connection), you can't possibly claim for certain that any temperature fluctuations over the past 10, 20 or 50 years are due exlusively to our behaviour.
I'm not against cleaning up the earth, I just think that global warming isn't a good argument.
Of course Palpatine is evil, doesn't anyone remember Return of the Jedi anymore? (whas it *that* bad?) Who's that dude zapping Luke with the magic bolts of lightening at the end of the film? Could it be.. "Emperor Palpatine"!?
The patent actually reads: What is claimed is: 1. A method of synchronizing a server and a client on behalf of a user, comprising the steps of:... - from the patent database
Most importantly, it is a display of what can be achieved with off-the-shelf PC level hardware. Even the projector system is a lot cheaper than that used by the CAVE systems. And it uses Linux too!
Secondly: we can assume that at the price, the hardware on the device is certainly a little better quality than the soundcard on your PC, and doesn't suffer from the background noise introduced by the PC. Thirdly: what everyone is saying!
this article looks kind of familiar. Is there something new now? Are they slightly closer to a finished product?
Consolidated already has secured a land swap deal with the WA Government to free up property north of Kununurra for the reserve.
What do you reckon is on this land then..? I think the hippos are just something to hide behind.. the lions are to keep people from snooping. He's building a secret shuttle launching facility? Nuclear weapons experiments? There are opals there? Perhaps it *is* Jurrasic Park?
Not that it is entirely legal, but since the XBox is pentium based, emulation should be a lot easier than for the PS2 and GameCube. And, of course, the BIOS would be somewhat essential for a project like that.
They might be lost though. If it turns out to be really easy to modify an X-Box enough to run Linux and play your MP3's, DIV-X movies, do email, etc, then people might buy an X-Box and never spend a penny on an X-Box game.
Since Microsoft, as with most console companies, are selling the console at a loss, and making up for it with game sales, this can't be a good thing for them. Their choice of almost-standard components might cost them in the long run.
Given this, will they really sell it at close to what it costs to make, or are they going charge twice the price of a plasma TV? Are TV prices based more on how much they cost to make, or on the quality of their image reproduction?