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Researchers Envision 3-D Hologram Phone 102

Posted by michael from the please-deposit-twelve-dollars-for-the-next-two-minutes dept.
Chad Gray copies and pastes "It's an idea that was popularized by Princess Leia's plea for help in Star Wars: sending a 3-D hologram. Now, two Japanese scientists have developed technology they hope will one day turn the humble telephone booth into a high-tech chamber for beaming holographic images."
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Researchers Envision 3-D Hologram Phone More

Researchers Envision 3-D Hologram Phone

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  • Fordet Leia; give me Amadala! (Score:4, Funny)

    by sithkhan ( 536425 ) <sithkhan@gmail.com> on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:12AM (#10929843)
    Just imagine; I am on the phone, a call comes in, and it's Natalie Portman!!!!! Now, if they could just develop a way to teleport hot grits into my pants during this ...

  • You've Got Holo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by aurifex ( 830870 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:18AM (#10929855) Homepage
    I guess there will be a whole new phone sex business for this sort of technology, right?

    I mean, what's better than a depressed, down on life phone sex operator giving fake moans for $1.50/hr? Why, a holographic depressed, down on life phone sex operator giving fake moans for $1.50/hr!

    • Re:You've Got Holo! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by John_Booty ( 149925 ) <johnbooty@noSpAm.bootyproject.org> on Saturday November 27, 2004 @06:48AM (#10930206) Homepage
      I guess there will be a whole new phone sex business for this sort of technology, right?

      Your post is very funny, but I think it's really insightful, too.

      Never underestimate the power of pr0n when it comes to pushing new technologies. The VCR, cable TV, high-speed internet access, etc... there were a lot of factors contributing to their success, but I think the availability of pr0n was a primary factor in all of them! The power of pr0n will probably make or break this holophone technology if it becomes commercially available at some point in the future.
      • In this week's column, Regina Lynn is making exactly that point.
        Part of the article
        If it's going to spend money in this arena at all, I'd rather Congress fund studies about the effects of pornography in general, including its effect on the economy, on technological innovation, on sexual function and dysfunction, and so on.

        Read the complete article here http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65831,00 . html?tw=wn_tophead_4 [wired.com]

      • Go even more backwards in time. Think that all old Gutemberg printing presses ran was bibles?

        I once readed an article which stated that porn was a major driving force for a lot of technologies that changed our world during the years. And it made a lot of sense. Like you said: books, photography, television, movies, internet, video, you name it. Rest assured, porn will find a niche in 3d holographic images given the chance.

        And i'd buy it :D
      • According to a friend on the industry at the time (i.e. this is an unconfirmed rumor), in the mid-90s sex-related businesses were responsible for 1/3rd of Internet-related revenue. Much of this was plowed back into infrastructure and technology.

        In other words, if it weren't for the sex drive, we might be a few years behind were we are in internet tech, due to lack of funding.

        Of course, this is just a rumor.....
    • "It's also pricey. One cylinder costs 10 million yen ($97,100) although Tachi and Endo expect that to fall if the gadget is ever mass-produced."

      Like the parent says, the sex industry will see this one works. When those lot get hold of this, it won't cost 10 million yen for long....
    • Just because a woman has a sexy voice it doesn't mean that there body matches the voice. Right now on the other side of the phone it could be a 1000lbs immobile woman answering the telephone. Because it is one of the fiew jobs she can do. No with Holographic phones she would be our of business. Plus all the extra expences of makup hair etc.
    • Not really,

      what's more bothering is that you'll have to wait at home for two things now. Your turn for bathroom use and now wait in line before personal home phonebooth to make your phone sex call.

      p.s. If phonebooth won't be equiped with shaded glass, then those bastards in line will be watching phone sex for free (it will be like a collect call, now people will just stand in line and won't make a call).
  • gr8 invention , but just imagining what changes it could bring , if this becomes popular.... 1.We need to dress up to talk on phone 2.Cant be partying and call the boss pretending to be sick.. Can nyone think of funnier changes it could bring abt :-)

  • I want to be heard, not seen. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Doomsdaisy ( 90430 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:25AM (#10929869)
    I still think that this is doomed to failure as the average person doesn't want to be seen in their natural state. I just know that I'd be getting all kinds of unwanted calls from guys who stare at my source code rather than attempt communication.
    • I do agree with this, but for the 3d design community [for movies and otherwise], this would be a great way to show models being worked on to an art director on the road without sending him/her a 3d model and requiring him/her to render, or sending a batch of renders.
      • "I do agree with this, but for the 3d design community [for movies and otherwise], this would be a great way to show models being worked on to an art director on the road without sending him/her a 3d model and requiring him/her to render, or sending a batch of renders."

        Heck, it'd be great for those of us who make 3D models for a living! As it is, I rotate my models a LOT in order to work out that things are correct proportionally. The more detail, the slower this goes. If there was some way to 'bake' it
        • Wouldn't the next best thing be a plugin for lightwave/maya/3dsmax/whatever that put the 3dviewport into "shutterglasses" mode? I've tried it for games at one point, and the sense of depth and perspective you get from the fake stereoview is very good... if you can handle the headaches from refreshes not being fast enough.

          --

    • Yeah, I get that all the time.
    • The trend seems to be going in the other direction: more and more people are using text messages, a far less personal mode of communication.

    • Re:I want to be heard, not seen. (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      These are breasts; this is source code.
      Why do you have a problem with those two things belonging to one person?

      We all believe in free open source here, so....
    • The viewing cylinder is about ten inches high with an eight inch circumference. That works out to roughly 2.5 inches in diameter.

      Okay, so this works out fine for people that are, let's say (the height is arbitrary, not taken from article), up to 6'2" inches tall, and are a little more than 1.5 feet wide, or 4.8 feet (about 58 inches) in circumference, but any more than that and you will have some cropping taking effect.

      In fact, would the image simply be stretched across the cylinder, or would it appea
      • My guess would be that if a person was that tall or that overweight, they would not be able to fit inside of the "Phone Booth" in the first place. My understanding is that the "Phone Booth" would look like a larger version of the viewing cylinder, so the image in the viewing cylinder would be directly proportional to the size and shape of the person in the booth.

    • Re:I want to be heard, not seen. (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I still think that this is doomed to failure as the average person doesn't want to be seen in their natural state.
      • Cigarette companies are doomed to failure bacause the average person doesn't want a cigarette.
      • Macs are doomed to failure because the average person prefer Windows.
      • PDAs are doomed to failure because the average person doesn't want to mess with it.

      Etc. etc... Um, have you ever lived abroad and found out that you haven't seen your friends and families for months? You know how many lazy famil

    • "Help me debug your source code, Doomsdaisy, you're my only hope!"
    • This technology will never work in the U.S. It has to be installed in a phone booth, and (Verizon|SBC|BellSouth|Qwest) got rid of all the phone booths!
      • Besides, I can see it now.... Disaster! UnderDog and Superman waiting in line to use the phone booth to transform/dress up, whatever, and some dude in the booth doing the Holographic3D PhonePron Sex calls while the city gets rampaged!

  • ONE BIG PROBLEM (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nykon ( 304003 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:27AM (#10929874) Homepage
    The biggest problem with video phones, and why they have never taken off in any form, in the last 10, 20 + years...

    Most people do not want you to see what they look when they talk to you. How many times have you answered the phone and just woke up? Maybe you are a girl or guy and just met someone new and do not look the way you would want to be seen in front of them? The list goes on.

    Basically, more times then not, people would turn the video option off when used in a personal setting.

    Now the only arena any type of video phone service has taken off is in business when visual interaction may help get the idea across. Though the most popular version of this concept is Video Conferencing.

    I strongly believe video phones will not take off in a non-business environment for the above stated reasons.

    • Re:ONE BIG PROBLEM (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:33AM (#10929882)
      Maybe you are a girl or guy

      Maybe?
    • Imagine if your significant other who is away on a trip wants to call you for a little phone sex, puts on the hot lingerie you bought her(/him) for Christmas last year, and dials the wrong number...
    • Couldn't agree more. Who wants to look at a talking head, anyway? (and all the other posts extoling the bonuses of phone sex with this phone aside, I'm betting most of us spend the VAST majority of our time using the phone for more... mundane... activities).

    • I believe you are wrong. Video phones are starting to take off in Denmark trough the 3G network here. People will of course turn it off whenever they prefer, but otherwise it is just the next step after MMS (multimedia messages). Also there are plenty of commercial uses for video phones(news services, porn, gaming, etc). Holograms would just be one further step.

      Though you might be right and the whole thing is just a flop, but so far it doesn't seem so. Most people I've talked to want a 3G phone these day
    • That, and that to actually do it over phone lines would require more bandwidth than phones have. The only place it can actually work is over the internet, and guess what?

      It is starting to take off. It's moving at about the same rate as VOIP. The biggest problem now is the horrible latency you get with some connections.

      I have a group of three very close friends that I've had since high school. One is going to MIT, one is in Washington, and one is in Florida. We were thinking of starting to meet regula

  • Finally a use for a Booth (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Gopal.V ( 532678 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:42AM (#10929904) Homepage Journal
    Since the arrival of the mobile phone (with the worthy hands free) , the telephone booths have been dying out (or at least its time is numbered).... Except for Ransom calls nothing else would use booths if the current trend kept up :)

    Interestingly, I think a "virtual" hologram system which'd use a 3-D head mount with all the 3D movements in software would be easier. Would be like playing an FPS , in the real world where we can walk around a "virtual" image of a real thing.

    I'd love a panorama that I can view by turning my head around (think about the IR camera system in Apache Longbow, but on a still image so to speak).

  • Where is the picture? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by qualico ( 731143 ) <[worldcouchsurfer] [at] [gmail.com]> on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:54AM (#10929919) Journal
    Sure wish they would put a conceptual diagram or rendered picture of said technology.

    I'm too lazy with my imagination. :->
    Just spoon feed me will ya!

    We are so far behind, its too much to ask... I know. :-(

  • This is AWESOME! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by philovivero ( 321158 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @03:56AM (#10929923) Homepage Journal
    Now, two Japanese scientists have developed technology they hope will one day turn the humble telephone booth into a high-tech chamber for beaming holographic images.


    The next logical step is clear: move all motion picture screenings into these telephone booths with holographic images!

    Soon, movie theatres will disappear, giving way to cramped little booths with people watching movies, having to pause halfway through to step out and sit down to take the weight off their feet.

    Or, wait. Is this whole beamed holographic image thing just a big thought experiment? In that case, can't we just replace the stupid phone booth concept entirely? I mean, it isn't like we can't get throw-away cellphones for ten bucks at the corner store. Where's the forward thinking from these so-called smart researcher sorts? Porn. Naked, writhing women.

  • Old concept, new technology. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Stone Rhino ( 532581 ) <mparke@@@gmail...com> on Saturday November 27, 2004 @04:08AM (#10929944) Homepage Journal
    3D viewing through spinning projections is nothing new. Viewers which utilize an upwards-facing projector and rotating screen in the center of a sphere have been around for a while. I can't find a link at the moment, but the concept is not new. It is cool to see LEDs and fiber-optics used, as well as a new real-time scanning method.

    The really cool ones, though, are the hologram techinques that use reflected light to produce an image in space. Here's a short piece from wired [wired.com] and an over view of some other technology. [itweb.co.za]

  • 1 Message Received (Score:4, Funny)

    by Nik Picker ( 40521 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @04:25AM (#10929968) Homepage
    Help me obi 1, yr R my ownly hope!

    and other bad messages heading your way soon....

  • Scary (Score:3, Funny)

    by Claire-plus-plus ( 786407 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @04:56AM (#10930027) Journal
    This could be used to give new meaning (and new weight) to the term "obscene phone call"! eeeeeeeew
    • Funny yet also very true. I dabbled with web cams a few years back. Although I ended up with some interesting conversations about 80% were just sad men showing their willies. The web cam is now gathering dust on a shelf.

      Sad but true.

      (Why oh why was it never hot ladies showing ample bussoms I will never know.)

  • Overlords! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Agret ( 752467 )
    I for one welcome our high-tech holographic image beaming chamber overlords.
    • I'm begining to wonder if Slashdot should have a little script that, upon a new news item appearing, automatically makes:
      1. a "First Post" post
      2. an "in Soviet Russia, x y's you!" post
      3. an "I for one welcome our x y-ing overlords" post

  • Another reason why this won't take off (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ligur ( 453963 ) <ligur DOT jakin AT gmail DOT com> on Saturday November 27, 2004 @05:31AM (#10930091)
    One cylinder costs 10 million yen ($97,100)
    97,100 dollars? Great Scott! Wouldn't having the persons you want to have a conversation with transported to you with a chartered jet or helicopter be cheaper?
    • Yeah but the price of the phone is fixed and it would only be worth it if you chose not to use the service and planned on seeing your relatives 2 or 3 times. OTOH, I'd gladly buy the phone for the specific reason of NOT being able to physically be in the same room with some relatives.

  • Yet another (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Carlbunn ( 817714 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @05:46AM (#10930105)
    Another technology that's maybe too advanced, too "gadget" or not fashion enough to be profitable. I was just reading how nintendo used network since the NES days, and every following console version had its modem (with no success). a truly sad story about ppl trying to release new tech to a public that goes: Meh...

  • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • now I have to dress up just to make a phone call...
    • now I have to dress up just to make a phone call...
      I won't. This is my house and I'l be damned if somebody who's calling early in the morning will force me to put on some pants. If the caller is aware of this technology, then he should be aware of the consequences and consequences he shall have!
  • It would be great if you had a lot of good looking friends who don't get dressed in the morning, but it would sick if you're like me and all your friends are ugly.
  • ...technology they hope will one day turn the humble telephone booth into a high-tech chamber for beaming...

    Yeah, like any company will actually be stupid enough to pay for this.

    1. It would be too expensive to install this technology in all the phone booths. Currently, public telephones are expensive enough to install without having to put an entire computer, a hologram machine, and video equipment in the booth.
    2. Telephone calls would have to cost too much to justify the technology. The phone company would pe
  • I welcome our holographic overlords? Someone had to say it, I guess...

  • What it looks like - Pic here (Score:3, Informative)

    by thecounterfeit ( 645378 ) on Saturday November 27, 2004 @11:37AM (#10931268)
    Engadget has a photo of what it looks like here: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000837021481/ [engadget.com] You won't exactly be blown away.
  • Han answers the phone before it rings.
  • then why does my VOIP provider charge me extra for 911 service?
  • This thing aint a hologram. Calling this a hologram is like calling a movie a play.

    A hologram utilizes interference patterns to reproduce a highly detailed model (in photons) of the original. In fact, the reproduced model will reveal details down to the microscopic level due to the fine grain nature of the medium. Though I suspect you can get around that it is a hallmark of a hologram.

    This device is essentially nothing more than that clock on thinkgeek that shows the time hovering in midair. He's jus
  • The kind of communication for which one uses a phone booth tends to be more impromptu, brief, impersonal, and un-needful of the extended immersiveness of visual interaction.

    Let me know when I can have this at home and at my office desk.
  • People are investigating putting projection video into handheld devices like phones. The movtive is to obtain a large image in a small form factor. You only need a square centimenter for a scanning projector. The drawbacks are high power and need for a good surface. There were a coupld of papers at SIGGRAPH on warping images from oblique or moving projectors.
  • A true hologram consists of a reconstruction of the wavefront eminating from a scene which is inherently 3d. The system describes a temporal stereoscopic display based on the spinning cylinder systems that have been around for 20 years. It has about as much to do with a viewmaster as a hologram.

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