360-Degree 3D Imaging 133
CompSurfer writes "Yesterday, 3Dsolar released information about a new 3D imaging system, it works by somehow projecting onto a rotating screen. According to the story the "Prototype debuts at NVIDIA Oct. 25 in Santa Clara, California and [at] Innovact in Reims, France, October 5-7" I wonder where they are hiding the force field emitter..."
In depth technical analysis (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
Found their website:
3dsolar.com [3dsolar.com]
But good luck in finding technical details there
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:3, Informative)
Q.
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:1)
I read an article on this developing technology, and several others, in Popular Science a few months back. Heliodisplay works by agitating the air above the unit and projecting the 2-D image onto it-- 3Dsolar uses an actual holoprojector (see their image), the technical details of which I am not aware of or privy to.
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.xinua.com/xinua/xinuaus/index.htm
Apparently xinua and 3dsolar are all part of the same UK-based "AI" company:
http://www.audiotrack.org/xinua/audiotrack/inde
Strange mix of products & names to say the least!
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:3, Interesting)
How would an image project on to a rotating screen work? I just can't see it happaning, it would have to be spinning pretty fast. My poor monitor...
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:3, Insightful)
According to what little the "article" said, there is no screen, objects just float in midair up to eight inches away from the projector. But more to the point, how do you fool human stereoscopic vision into perceiving depth? Visual cuing works to an extent (even with only one eye) but only in cases where the brain is already familiar with the classes of objects
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:2)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:2)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.inition.co.uk/inition/product_stereovi
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0224/hita
But in neither of those case can you interact with the image with your hands, because either the image is enclose in a glass sphere or it would be pretty dangerous to try to "interact" with an screen spinning fast enough to create the illusion. And in both of those cases, it's clearly based on multiple images, which 3DSolar claims they don't need.
Persistance of vison (Score:2)
In this case you rotate a translucent screen on a vertical axis at high speed (the screen is spinning so fast that it's not visible) then project a different image onto the screen depending on the angle of the screen... something along those lines I imagine.
Re:Persistance of vison (Score:1)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:3, Interesting)
What you do is mount a screen on a spinning doohickey. As the screen rotates, different images flash on the screen. Make the pixels flash at the right time, and the speck of light will appear to float in space. Use enough dots, and you can make an image.
I've actually seen this work at the 01 Siggraph show. It's not the greatest display ever (think vec
Patent Pending... (Score:3, Informative)
In their PDF Press Kit [3dsolar.com] there is a mention of a patent:
PCT/FR 04/02082
Is this useful to anyone?
only 180 Degrees of view (Score:1)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:1)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:2)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:1)
Re:In depth technical analysis (Score:2)
A spinning spiral in an evacuated chamber? (Score:3, Interesting)
So by modulating when you illuminate it (and what color, and how bright) you should be able to create a very nice representation of multiple objects; since the illumination only plays at the appropriate location in space, no glasses or other viewer-end tricks would need to be employed. It wouldn't look 3d, it would be 3d.
There would
Without glasses, and true 3D? (Score:5, Insightful)
R2D2 (Score:5, Funny)
omg, I'm going to stop now before this post gets any nerdier.
as seen on Slashdot, years ago (Score:2)
found it (Score:2)
Posted by michael on Friday May 24, @02:44PM
Re:Without glasses, and true 3D? (Score:1)
Smoke and mirrors? (Score:5, Funny)
If this uses a fog screen, will it therefore be vaporware.
Re:Smoke and mirrors? (Score:1)
Re:Smoke and mirrors? (Score:2, Interesting)
The only way to do true holography is with (realtime [geek.com]) holograms. With everything else, you have to make some sacrifices.
Re:Smoke and mirrors? (Score:2)
I am sceptic (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I am sceptic (Score:1, Interesting)
On a monitor you'll see an object popping out initially. But if your brain notices the edge of the screen, you'll suddenly see it less 3D because it
Quick! (Score:3, Funny)
Porn (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Porn (Score:2)
Not Really (Score:3, Funny)
No I don't think so. The porn industry has had access to really detailed CG for some time and they still insist on shooting in some gas station attendant's parents' house. Budgets for porn films go something like:
1. Pay the fluffers : $10
2. Pay the light guy : $10
3. Pay the editing costs : $10
4. Pay the director : $20
5. Pay the stars : $2000 each
6. Pay the drug dealer : $20000
7. Pay the bartender : $5000
And that's how you make
Re:Not Really (Score:1)
Pornomation (Score:1)
Pornomation [pornotopia.com]
Screens don't show 3D, people do (Score:5, Informative)
3D displays using 2D devices rely on getting each eye to see something just a little different. With the old 3D glasses, for instance, one eye sees no blue, the other no red, with each image being slightly different, and the brain gets the blue from one and the red from the other. The brain converts that into a result it can handle. Don't ask me how.
With a rotating screen, each eye would see a slightly different image. Depending on how fast the thing rotates, the brain could interpolate the results into 3D.
Just a guess, but it's a brilliant concept if it works.
Holovideo displays (M.I.T. link inside) (Score:2)
Holography stores some kind of interference pattern obtained from hitting an object with normal light and with a laser beam. The "difference" of these light patterns can be stored in 2D surfaces. All you need to display the holograph, is a light source hitting those surfaces, and voila.
Now the *INTERESTING* thing about holographic displays, is that they replace the interference pattern imprinting process, with COMPUTER C
From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is what is says on the 3Dsolar site [3dsolar.com]...
It doesn't sound like a method of displaying images that have depth, with a different perspective for each eye. It sounds like a way of somehow projecting a 2D image that appears to be in mid air. I recall reading about this sort of thing ages ago, using some tricks with light to make images appear to hover in front of store windows using some form of projection. I think it is inaccurate to describe it as a 3D display if it can't give the perception of depth, but it still sounds like great technology.
Re:From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:2)
At first I thought they were talking about a rotating screen [inition.co.uk] that the image is projected onto [impress.co.jp], but from their description, it sounds like something else.
Re:From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:2)
They don't give much more info on how it works, but it appears to blow air upwards from the device and draw 'into' the disturbed air w
Re:From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:1, Interesting)
Pressed for more detail on the nature of the conversion, Mr. Dyner referred to it electronic and as thermodynamic. After air is drawn into the machine, he said, it ''moves through a dozen metal plates and then comes out again.'' No moving parts are involved, he added.
He said the device works by creating a cloud of microscopic particles that make the air ''image-friendly.'' The machine, he asserted, uses no harmful gases or
Re:From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:1)
Basically, they were using standard projectors to project onto a transparent screen. They could do these cool things in storefronts, since they could control the POV (mostly just the one) and keep the ambient light level down (since the store was closed & the other lights off).
I'll be ver
Re:From the 3Dsolar site... (Score:1)
http://www.inition.co.uk/inition/product_stereovs
Unfortunately, It looks extremely cheesy, and a big proelm with it is if it isn't aligned it look terrible.
I hope Solar3D's look a little better but the technology has been around for a while and is not very impressive
Neat idea... (Score:1)
Wasn't there an arcade game that did this? (Score:2)
Re:Wasn't there an arcade game that did this? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wasn't there an arcade game that did this? (Score:1)
I always wondered how it thing worked . . .
I remember that thing! (Score:1)
Re:Wasn't there an arcade game that did this? (Score:1)
Light years beyond (Score:5, Informative)
Light Years Beyond . . . You would think that someone in the optics insdutry would not use the term "Light years" figuratively in a major press release . . .
Re:Light years beyond (Score:1)
They mean Parsecs (Score:2)
possable technology (Score:1)
I get the feeling that this uses simular technology.
I didn't read anything on the site about rotating screens, but I did see th
Won't This Need Tactile feedback? (Score:4, Interesting)
Without tactile feedback when interacting with virtual objects, is this really a practical thing that users would embrace? Or is "interact with virtual objects" just a euphemism for using the mouse and keyboard?
Re:Won't This Need Tactile feedback? (Score:2)
Re:Won't This Need Tactile feedback? (Score:1)
Man, I Love Euphemisms (Score:1)
Old Hat (Score:3, Interesting)
What they do then is project a different image at each angle onto the glass. The images themselves are kinda like slices of a 3d volume (think volumetric textures). It spins just fast enough to fool the human eye into thinking it's seeing something hovering in midair.
I saw a few QuickTime VR demos of one of these a while back... they showed it with some wireframe terrain and a little purple jet thing in midair, as well as showing the sugar molecule.
Also, if I remember rightly, Nintendo had one of these puppies up a few E3s ago, with a model of that Star Fox character in it. Quite cool.
As for manipulating it by hand, I sure hope I'm wrong about the spinning glass bit...
Re:Old Hat (Score:1)
Re:Old Hat (Score:2)
Re:Old Hat (Score:1)
It has nothing to do with a rotating screen (Score:2, Informative)
The company's website: http://www.3dsolar.com/ [3dsolar.com]
The only way I could see this working is like those saucer discs that will show penny floating in mid air. The question is, how do you record the 3d image and project it back? 3d is a heck of a lot more information than 2d.
It sounds like all smoke and mirrors to me. No pun intended.
Here's one way... (Score:1)
So can we modify this a bit by using a spinning glass disk shaped as a variable lens? This eliminates the need for the mirror to oscillate
Am I the only one... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:1)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2)
3D Imaging? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:3D Imaging? (Score:1)
Re:3D Imaging? (Score:1)
Solar, sun .. Helios? (Score:4, Interesting)
At least one blogger [dvorak.org] seems to be equating them.
Re:Solar, sun .. Helios? (Score:1)
Heliodisplay and 3Dsolar seem to share the interactive property whereby the user's hand or pointing stick can appear to push objects around - in heliodisplay this works by laser-tracking the user's hand and simulating the results of pushing, apparently.
Re:Solar, sun .. Helios? (Score:2)
Apparently the Heliodisplay [io2technology.com] is not related to the 3DSolar stuff. It looks interesting nonetheless, but all this 3D display stuff so far has kind of a 'flying car' feel to it. Guess I'll have to see some more substantial reports to believe in it.
Re:Solar, sun .. Helios? (Score:2, Insightful)
But why do you say it's not related? They both project "in
Re:Solar, sun .. Helios? (Score:1)
Careful reading will show that 3dsolar is an egregious hype engine and that their display is NOT 3d, but rather a virtual display that floats in midair. As parent says, it seems very similar to the helios display in effect, although the technology may be different. I'm extremely skeptical that this is anything but conceptware.
3D display tech (Score:2)
Re:3D display tech (Score:2)
No way,that its an actual photo.
At siggraph this year, there was similar technology that simply rotated a computer screen very fast. This way, pixels are swept along a circular path, that enables you to do something that resembles 3D projection. It was OK, but not too convincing.
Political Endorsements? Huh? (Score:2)
Just the kind of endorsement that makes me want to rush out and buy one of these . . . if the two French politicians like it, then it must be a great product!
These guys really should hire a marketing firm to clean up publicity program . . . I don't see how a minister of finance's complim
Re:Political Endorsements? Huh? (Score:1)
The greatest thing since Jerry Lewis.
Re:Political Endorsements? Huh? (Score:2)
Check the 3dsolar website; you'll see mention of a tech/innovation prize/firm/whatever which is going to help fund these guys further. Apparently the tech demo was sufficiently impressive to get some funding directly from the say-so of two ministers of a country. Not a small feat to pull off.
Imaging watching Sports! (Score:1)
A few people already metioned porn. I didn't think of that at first, but WOW, great idea! The porn industry is always first to take up technology.*starts looking for porn DVDs*
Seen this before (Score:3, Funny)
Some guys on TV figured out a way to project the image of a pirate ship onto a fog. It was realistic enough that just about everyone believed it.
Then a few meddling kids and their dog showed up and showed how they were doing it. The guys turned out to be criminals in masks and got mad at the kids and the dog.
One of the kids was a stoner type, really liked the dog's snacks, and kept fighting him for them.
Re:Seen this before (Score:2)
I see a bit of need to RTFA (Score:5, Insightful)
For the very first time, computer users will be able to view 3D objects hovering a few inches away from a screen that rotates 360 degrees - without wearing glasses
I think this phrase is confusing people. That refers to seeing it from 360 deg around. Later in the article it says The 3Dsolar device projects the Windows or MAC desktop image into the air whereby users click on icons for manipulation. Nothing about any rotating surface. I still think there's something funny going on here, but we'll have to wait for some real photos to say how it works, not that PR junk on the site.
Re:I see a bit of need to RTFA (Score:2)
"Nothing about any rotating surface."
Yeah, total mystery why people think they're talking about a "rotating surface" when they mention that it uses "a screen that rotates." Where oh where do people get such crazy ideas?
very intersting (Score:2, Insightful)
Besides the babe who is trying to imagine there is a cube...
Texas Intruments had a 3D display ... (Score:1)
A guess (Score:2)
In order to see the image you must be looking at the projection lens, but the image will appear to be floating in midair in front of or behind the lens (can also be a mirror, as in those virtual-penny saucers someone mentioned).
Now if you somehow oscillated or rotated the lens so that each eye sees a different real image, you'd get full-stereo 3D. And
Real 3D Displays (Score:2)
http://vancouver.siggraph.org/12_archive_2004-0
-m
Similarity to another project (Score:1)
I wonder if in this case, the air ionizer spins instead of remaining stationary.
Re:Similarity to another project (Score:2)
IMO, the IO2 technique is far suprior to the rotating glass plate that this story's company uses.
Re:Similarity to another project (Score:1)
Enhanced product image gives it away (Score:3, Interesting)
That looks a lot like the DL-1 digital light projector [highend.com], which is a video projector on a 2-axis tilt mount. "Using the motion control feature, project your imagery anywhere in a 3D space". It's used for nightclubs and stage shows.
It's a cute stage effect, but not a breakthrough.
Re:Enhanced product image gives it away (Score:2)
Still, it's all very vague.
Another conartist doing his job (Score:1)
This is as another one notes much like www.io2technology.com, which also boasts physics defying stunts. For this to work you would have to make the very air light emitting, and on top of that be able to control the color of that light. In the future that might be possible with force fields and all, but for now it is but a ruse for the daft with money. But hey they ar
Obligatory movie quote (Score:1)