Re: 3D TV system under development ("WIRED" Dec 1996, Page 72)

[P3D John W Roberts <roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 17:41:38 -0600
>From: P3D Bill Costa - UNH Computing & Information Srvs  <W_COSTA@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: 3D TV system under development ("WIRED" Dec 1996, Page 72)

>  [ Copied from the "scans" section of "WIRED" magazine.  December 1996,    ]
>  [ page 72.  Editorial note: the device being described is what some       ]
>  [ Sci-Fi authors have called a "tank".  That is, the images are contained ]
>  [ within a volume of space and can be viewed much like observing the fish ]
>  [ in a fish tank.  I can see how this will work for the original          ]
>  [ application domain -- a radar display, and it will be wonderful for     ]
>  [ displaying computer graphs, star charts and similar `data'.  But it is  ]
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 10:41:22 -0600
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>  [ hard to imagine how it would be used for anything like typical TV       ]
>  [ programming.  First, how would your "record" arbitrary live objects     ]
>  [ for this format.  

You're right that this display device, like any display device, has its
strong points and weak points for a given application. I've seen the
prototype, but don't have a good feel for how far the technology could be
pushed to adapt it for consumer applications.

It would be useful if you could describe your concerns in more detail.
For instance, you may be thinking "if the scene is photographed using
one conventional format stereo video camera, how can the display show
the far sides of the objects in the scene?". Some of these issues are
relevant to many types of volumetric display.

> And second, if you could do this, wouldn't the effect ]
>  [ of watching actors within the represented volume be like watching a     ]
>  [ puppet show?  (I also question some of the author's description of how  ]
>  [ the device works.)                                                      ]

Most of us have gotten used to a 2-dimensional, disembodied head talking to
us on the evening news program. For regular viewing, it might not take
much more effort to get used to it. (Though it might take longer to learn
to be terrified of a three-inch tall Frankenstein's Monster on the display. :-)

>>  ...Seventeen years later, the idea of holographic television has faded
>>  from sight, but a viable 3-D entertainment system is about to hit the
>>  market.  "This is truly a 21st-century technology," says Parviz Soltan,
>>  a researcher at the US Navy's Command, Control, and Ocean Surveillance
>>  Center outside San Diego and the main developer of the prototype.

I met him at a dinner at a technical workshop earlier this year, and had
a chance to talk with him. He's an amazing guy. I gather that he's worked
on many groundbreaking display-related projects through the years.

The display was also featured on one of the educational technology shows.
I don't remember which one - could have been "Beyond 2000".

John R


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