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

[P3D Larry Berlin <lberlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:11:44 -0500
>From: P3D John W Roberts writes:
>
>>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  ]
>>  [ 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.

**************  The author in the editorial note doesn't have much
imagination. Perhaps even if new methods of presentation (which I can
clearly envision) evolved for this kind of display they would be hard to
describe by today's standard of what is *typical TV*.

>
>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.

**************  There is a system out now that captures a stereo view of an
object from two or three perspectives and is able to seamlessly weld them
together as a computer model that is fully round. It's but a small step from
that to applications such as the viewing system described above.

>
>> 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. :-)

**********  Well said. However, the object of ordinary, non-realistic flat
2D is to take the viewer into their own private virtual reality and that is
the place in which fright or other emotions can be generated. We get similar
feelings from a variety of viewing formats ranging from miniature TV's to
full size wrap-around 3D-IMAX theater screens. Would you rather watch a flat
disembodied talking head or a 3D one? What's the difference other than there
is more visual information in a stereo scene and more yet in a walk-around
scene? I'll go for the 3D version whenever it's available. *Walk around*
might be interesting but I'll bet it would use a button on the remote
control to rotate the display so you can sit in one place but view the scene
from any chosen side. I can see the typical family arguing about which
viewpoint to use... The remote control meets 3D!

>
>>>  ...Seventeen years later, the idea of holographic television has faded
>>>  from sight, but a viable 3-D entertainment system is about to hit the
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 21:40:52 -0600
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>>>  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
>

**********  There are earlier examples of this display technology that must
be over 10 years old by now. Originally the intent was medical imaging and
they hadn't worked out the aspect of laser illumination of the spinning
surface. They were trying to spin actual light sources and it worked but was
difficult to translate into something more practical. His approach of
illumination with lasers is very practical and logical.

Larry Berlin

Email: lberlin@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.sonic.net/~lberlin/
http://3dzine.simplenet.com/


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