Posted on 05/31/2014 9:21:41 AM PDT by null and void
System uses Microsoft’s Kinect sensors, off-the-shelf hardware to achieve cutting edge technology
The Human Media Lab has come up with a unique way to create a 3D holographic videoconferencing system.
They refer to the technology as “TeleHuman”: it allows two people to stand in front of their own separate pods and talk to 3D hologram images of one other.
How’d they do it?
The group was able to accomplish this trick using six Kinect sensors mounted at the top of both displays. The sensors are responsible for capturing and tracking 3D video of the individual and converting it into a life-size image on the opposite end of the call.
The 3D image that gets displayed is 360 around the pod. This means that the person on the other line can walk around the entire pod and see the caller’s side and back.
“Why Skype when you can talk to a life-size 3D holographic image of another person?” asks Professor Roel Vertegaal, director of the Human Media Lab.
Hardware
The TeleHuman system was constructed with existing hardware. There are the aforementioned Kinect sensors, but to actually project the image, the team positioned a 3D projector at the base of a 5-ft 9-in. (1.8 m) translucent acrylic cylinder, complete with convex mirror.
Other uses
The team also used the pod in another application of their project called “BodiPod”. It’s similar to TeleHuman in that it projects a 3D image of a human body, but what this system does instead is it offers the user the ability to interact with a 3D anatomical model of the human body; that is, through a series of gestures and speech control, the human body can be peeled away, layer by layer, and explored 360 degrees.
Doing this is remarkably simple: The user just approaches the pod and waves a hand, or otherwise gives the system an auditory command, to peel away layers of human tissue.
BodiPod’s labeling app.
BodiPod’s layer peeling app.
BodiPod’s deep layer peeling app.
Why this is noteworthy
3D holographic video is certainly not a new technology: Cisco and Musion systems created an on-stage holographic video conference over 5 years ago, and there is, of course, last month’s much-hyped holographic performance of deceased rapper 2Pac at the Coachella music festival.
Rapper Snoop Dogg performs alongside 3D hologram of deceased rapper 2Pac at Coachella.
What’s unique about the TeleHuman system is how easily accessible it is: It was created using a video game system and some off-the-shelf hardware. Check out the team’s video on the project:
[video at source]
Want to learn more?
Dr. Vertegaal will unveil the TeleHuman and BodiPod systems at CHI 2012, an international conference on human-computer interaction in Austin, TX, May 5 to 10.
Download the team’s papers for free below.
[link buttons at source]
Thanks Null and Void. Great report.
Here is a link to the video talking about the technology.
The pr0n industry is popping champagne corks...
I heard that VHS tapes won over Beta because that was the standard the porn industry choose.
With that in mind, this will only take off if the porn industry can adapt it to their industry.
I’m really slipping. I didn’t even think of pr0n.
This is a step beyond the 3D video that is offered by that “Oculus Rift” gear that has been mentioned in a few threads lately. Do a web search for the “Lucid Dreams V2” software for that system ( not safe for work). Yeah, the porn industry will definitely be using this technology.
There are bands in Japan that use some really cool tech to accomplish the same kind of thing. They’ll have 3-d anime figures on stage singing and doing other stuff. It’s kinda weird.
“...help me Obiwan...”
out
When webcams were just starting I tried to talk a gal friend into putting one in her living room. NO porn...just her sitting around...going about her life. Maybe spend an hour or so a day getting back to people who sent her messages.
This was way before Jennifer or whoever did the same kinda thing in NYC and made a fortune.
Rightfully my friend said no. The pr0n thing never occurred to me. This was back shortly after we could log onto college dorms and watch coffee being brewed or check the temps in a soft drink machine.
The net was sooo much cooler then...
“I’m really slipping. I didn’t even think of pr0n.”
Me, too. That was the third or fourth thing.
I remember all that stuff. Push the button and make the coke machine @ MIT emit an annoying noise! The web was a lot more innocent and fun to explore back in the mid-90’s... Ah, well, at least we got to be there!
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