Gadgety News

Everyone of a certain age that marvelled at the 3D projected scene in the first screened Star Wars film have longed to see a mini Princess utter those immortal words, “Help me Obi-wan Knobe, You’re my only hope” in real life.

Well, if you have an iPhone it’s about to become a reality (well, kinda).

iHologram has been created for the iPod Touch and iPhone by designer David O’Reilly.

The application apparently gives the viewer the idea that the graphic is a 3D hologram jumping off the screen.

“The application works by assuming a constant viewing angle (35-45 degrees), typical for when the device is placed on a tabletop. The 3d scene’s perspective is warped using anamorphosis, the same technique used in Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors. This application does the exact same but updates dynamically”, says O’Reilly.

Using the iGadget’s acceleromter, the software calculates rotation on the y-axis, so we can look around the environment around by turning the device, there are also controls for manual rotation with a slider on the left-hand side of the screen.

O’Reilly is currently looking for developers to help him further the project - frankly I NEED THIS APP!!!


Sprint to the link - Davidoreilly.com

Nope - this is not taken from StarWars but this is from the really real world!

The ICT Graphics Lab at USC has created a low-cost volumetric 3-D display and it looks fantastic.

Apparently (just getting my science-head on) the process utilises spinning mirrors, high-speed DLP Projections, and ridiculously precise calculations that figure out the correct axial perspective needed for a 360-degree image.

 ~PHWEW!~

The process even takes into account a viewer’s positioning.

When projecting video frames into a rapidly spinning mirror, close to 5,000 individual images are reflected every second within the surface area and come together to create a real-space three-dimensional object.

Because these images jump out “toward multiple viewpoints in space,” the USC team created a formula that renders individual projections at different heights, and traces each projected beam back to the display area to find the correct position of the viewer.

As if that wasn’t enough the system also updates itself in real time (200Hz), adjusting to the height and distance of the viewer, producing an image that will “stay in place” - or rather, that “adjusts its projected perspective”.

This, in plain speak, means that every person in the room will be able to have a correct view of a holographic image as demonstrated with the TIE fighter in the very cool image above - no need for cardboard glasses with coloured plastic lenses!

Could this be the future of video-conferencing?

Charlie recently delivered a pre-recorded speech on the environment as a hologram in a Star Wars stylee to an Abu Dubai audience using only a single camera and projector. 

The techs from British firm Musion were able to employ a century-old trick known as “Pepper’s ghost” to record the Prince of Wales speak at Highgrove last year and then rebroadcast the performance as a way to congratulate the Middle Eastern country on its plans to build a zero carbon city.

Environmentalists note that this method reduces the amount of fuel wasted on transporting celebrities around the world but this does mean that all such venues will have to have this gear before a decent dent is made.