Posted on 09/21/2005 9:35:18 PM PDT by LibWhacker
The attendees for your 1 p.m. meeting have begun to arrive. But they're not coming through the door. Instead, solid, 3-D models magically self-assemble around the table, looking, moving and talking like impressionistic interpretations of their long-distant human counterparts.
Professors Seth Goldstein and Todd Mowry, along with Intel Principal Investigator Jason Campbell, are building "claytronic atoms" or "catoms"—centimeter-diameter pellets embedded with electromagnets that will enable them to connect to and move around other catoms. By controlling potentially billions of catoms as a unit, the researchers foresee creating accurate, active models of 3-D objects. For remote conferencing, attendees could be recorded using a combination of video and motion sensors, with the collected data sent over the Internet to a waiting pile of catoms. The researchers even imagine a time when doctors could control catom-based representations of themselves for remote examinations.
In the interim, less sophisticated catom technology might allow engineers to quickly create 3-D replicas of their projects, with on-screen changes in a computer-aided design program instantly appearing in the catom model. Catoms could also be used as an input device. "Imagine that an architect is planning to remodel part of your house," Mowry says. "They could show you a physical model, even though they live in a different city. If you aren't happy with the design, either you or the architect could modify it in real-time. [You] could simply grab the model and move walls, make stairways larger, resize windows [and so on]."
The professors acknowledge that they are many years away from their goal. Their current catom models work only in two dimensions and are approximately 1.75-inch-wide rods, not centimeter-diameter spheres. They also note that designing software to control legions of catoms may be a bigger challenge than engineering the hardware itself. But the researchers believe catoms could dramatically change how we interact with computers. "This technology could potentially make the display-keyboard-mouse interface look as antiquated someday as punch cards look today," Mowry says.
Roland Piquepaille has some additional information and links.
Allright, who let the catoms out of the bag?
Well, I'd put 'em to work mowing the lawn.
I don't care how many D's there are. A boring 3-D teleconference is just as bad as a boring 2-D teleconference.
You should: (R)'s are much preferrable to (D)'s--especially in the Senate!
Lemme just go shoot myself now...
Maybe Photoshop v23.1 will be applicable to this stuff and we'll all be able to send younger versions of ourselves to these meetings? I hope so! If I keep declining at this rate, I'm not gonna be very presentable 40 years from now. I'm barely presentable now. :-(
Well, the most urgent question is what are the potential porn applications for this technology?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.