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MIT Team Developing Eye-Catching, Super Realistic 6-D Imaging Device
Posted by Jack Loftus at 12:00 AM on August 11, 2008
3-D images? Peshaw. Those are so 2007. What humanity needs now is what MIT researchers hope to provide very soon: super realistic "passive 6-D reflectance field displays" that not only look great, but also respond to stimuli, like lighting conditions. And, not only will these uber images do all that and a bag of chips, they'll be able to change over time as lighting conditions change, with "no electronics or active control" from we mere humans. Oh, and the displays will respond the changes in viewpoint, meaning these visual wonders will have a creepy degree of interactivity to them too (read: legitimate holograms).
The 6-D project is headed by Ramesh Raskar, who together with his MIT colleagues created the display using nothing but a series of lenses and screens. The prototype is due out at this week's annual SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques) conference, but here's a few teaser details to tide you over until the unveiling on August 11:
By using an array of tiny square lenses instead of the linear ones, [those inexpensive postcard 3-D images] can also be made to change as you change the viewing angle up or down - making a "4-D" image. This reveals different views with horizontal as well as vertical movement of the viewer. The new "lighting aware" [6-D] system adds additional layers of lenses and screens to add two more dimensions of change. The image that is seen is then not only based on the position of the viewer, but also on the direction of the illumination.
Now the good news is this device will be on display in a raw, low resolution form next week. The bad news? A working, high res model, with all its interactive, true hologram goodness, is some 10 years away. My Princess Leia rescue fantasies will have to wait another decade, it would seem. [MIT]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
IphtashuFitz
Posted 12:40 AM 11/8/08
What the hell is supposed to be the 5th & 6th dimension?
A line is one dimension (length)
A square is two dimensions (length & width)
A cube is three dimensions (length, width, height)
In the physical universe, according to the theory of relativity, time is considered the fourth dimension.
(and supposedly Buckaroo Banzai traveled to the 5th dimension, wherever that is, so what's the 6th???)
IphtashuFitz
Pope John Peeps II
Posted 12:37 AM 11/8/08
6 D? That's sort of dumb. Well, I guess if we can just call things whatever we want, using all sorts of vaguely exciting but innacurrate terminology, then I'm going to the kitchen to make myself some Quantum Interactive Boson Neutral Temporal Displacement Toast.
Pope John Peeps II
Franknbeans
Posted 12:19 AM 11/8/08
Actually the Aliens from the 5th dimension are good guys, so really it is all good even if they do invade. You know it is sad, we have been expecting holograms forever, and we still do not have good ones yet. Shape up folks!
Franknbeans
newdeepdan
Posted 12:10 AM 11/8/08
well so long as it doesn't bend the laws of time and space, create a blackhole or let aliens from the 5th dimension invade.... its all good.
newdeepdan
Gann
Posted 1:08 AM 11/8/08
So its a 2 dimensional display, with a 2 dimensional array of square lenses for the holographic effect, and a 2 dimensional sensor array to provide the dynamic lighting. I guess 3 2d arrays added together is 6 dimensions of information, but the image is still just 3 dimensional (6-d just sounds cooler).
Gann
Ariel_Wollinger
Posted 1:03 AM 11/8/08
@IphtashuFitz:
[www.imdb.com]
Ariel_Wollinger
Ariel_Wollinger
Posted 1:02 AM 11/8/08
@IphtashuFitz: Wasn't it the 8th dimension?
Ariel_Wollinger
Ariel_Wollinger
Posted 1:02 AM 11/8/08
@Pope John Peeps II: agreed.
IT IS FUCKING 3D!!, Well, maybe 4D if you include time...
Ariel_Wollinger
SnakeFarm
Posted 1:21 AM 11/8/08
4th = Time
5th = Date
6th = Temperature
SnakeFarm
DisposableInterloper
Posted 1:44 AM 11/8/08
Sweet. Toss in haptic feedback and we'll have Minority Report UIs sometime in the next few decades.
DisposableInterloper
jkr I take the internet seriously
Posted 2:46 AM 11/8/08
@IphtashuFitz:
I've been to the 6th dimension, but I didn't understand it, so I came back.
+ Watch video
jkr I take the internet seriously
josecardozo
Posted 2:40 AM 11/8/08
@SnakeFarm: isn't time and date more or less the same thing? wouldn't it be like 1st dimension being yards and 2nd dimension being miles? don't want to sound like a jerk i'm just curious.
josecardozo
StopTheLHC
Posted 2:33 AM 11/8/08
10 years assuming the LHC doesn't kill us first
StopTheLHC
genterara
Posted 3:10 AM 11/8/08
@IphtashuFitz: I recommend you reading FLATLAND, from Edwin Abbot Abbot
genterara
lldsandsll
Posted 3:30 AM 11/8/08
Giz, i saw this on digg yesterday, pishaw! Plus, they had a video of the technology in action. It was actually SIIIICK
lldsandsll
Macdelaney
Posted 6:13 AM 11/8/08
@lldsandsll: Link to that video?
Macdelaney
SnakeFarm
Posted 8:06 AM 11/8/08
@josecardozo:
No, hey you'r right. My bad.
5th dimension is "aroma".
I think the "zeroth" dimension is where those sparkly things you see when you press on your eyeballs comes from.
SnakeFarm
meirelle
Posted 8:17 AM 11/8/08
Whoa! Holy scientific breatkthrough, Batman! Scientists have discovered the fifth and sixth dimensi-- oh. Wait. Nevermind.
meirelle
chewwtoy
Posted 12:06 PM 11/8/08
Here are all 9 dimensions explained!
[video.google.com]
chewwtoy
Bitstuff
Posted 8:14 PM 11/8/08
Meh, no big deal:
They still have five dimensions to go according to string theory. So this is really like considering a point to be a good shape for a display in our 4D world.
Bitstuff