Posts tagged as: 3D
The Future of Holographic Projections
Last week, the big story around the net was that Tupac had made his big return at this year’s Coachella event via holographic technology. A lot of people were comparing this performance to the 3D holographic projections we are most familiar with from the Star Wars movies. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this version of Tupac was not a 3D hologram. This image of Tupac was basically a very expensive illusion. Tupac’s “holographic” image was merely a CGI animation being projected onto a reflective surface. 19th Century magicians referred to this as the Pepper’s Ghost technique. Read this Gizmodo article for further insight.
Now if you really want to see what today’s holograms look like, check out Zebra Imaging’s Holographic 3D visualization displays. These are just like the Marvel Universe holographic trading cards that I collected when I was a younger… but pumped up on steroids! I would love to tile a room with these and walk around as if I were Godzilla. Of course cool things like this often come along with a hefty pricetag. According to the Zebra Imaging website, a 12×12 panel will run you $600 in color, a 24×34 panel will run approximately $2800! I wonder if Zebra Imaging will be interested in trading one of their panels for my 1990 Silver Surfer Marvel Universe card? Probably not.
Upon further research, it seems we are many years away from enjoying the likes of the Star Wars’ version of 3D holographic projections. All I want to do is watch 3D holographic television shows and communicate with holographic representations of my friends and family. Is this too much to ask? Although I might not be able to enjoy this luxury in my lifetime, 3D holographic projections are being developed in Japan as we speak! Check out the G4tv’s video with Morgan Webb!
I really hope this technology eventually makes it into my living room… without killing me, of course. I can only imagine what my children and grandchildren will be wasting their free time with. 3D holographic projection will most likely find their way into televisions, mobile phones, maps, textbooks and advertisements. Video games will resemble Star Trek’s Holo-deck or the X-men’s Danger room. The future of holograms is promising!
Projection Mapping, Confusing Name – Cool Tech
Even if the name is unfamiliar you’ve probably seen the technique. As defined by Wikipedia projection mapping is ‘any method of mapping three-dimensional points to a two dimensional plane’, in the real world it means amazing animation and special effects projected onto buildings, physical products and performers to name but a few.
The basics of projection mapping are relatively straightforward. In a standard projection setup the screen is flat and lens and screen are positioned parallel to each other to avoid visual distortions. Projection mapping tools eliminate these restrictions by allowing for real time 3D manipulation of the video source material prior to projection thereby allowing artists, technical wizards and enthusiats to make a screen out of almost anything.
Traditional Building Projection
Ralph Lauren – Virtual Fashion Show
Product Projection
Vodaphone – The Evolution of Mobile
As spectacular as the previous examples are the most interesting work being done with projection mapping involves mapping combined with interactivity, gaming, natural user interface controls, real time projection tracking and environmental response.
Real Time Projection Mapping
Ok, so not quite real time but still a very impressive start. The next version will be much faster and will likely use infrared to do the alignment and thus invisible during alignment.
VR Glove Pong
In this example the team built a custom VR Glove using an Arduino to control the a custom version of Pong built to map into the stairway.
Snake the Planet
I won’t begin to attempt to describe the technical awesomeness here, just watch and enjoy.
While the latter examples are largely proof of concept in nature they do a fantastic job showing the path ahead for these technologies and in particular what’s possible when an interactive screen can be literally anywhere.
Sources and References:
Projection Mapping, How to guide
Projection Mappping with After Effects
More Projection Mapping Examples
