'Touchable holography' stars Wiimote
The ultrasound is radiated from above and the user feels as if one of the pictured rain drops hits his palm. The technology could prove useful for video games, 3D CADs, and the like.
(Credit: University of Tokyo)Remember those uber-cool 3D projections in flicks like "Star Wars?" The University of Tokyo has turned this movie fantasy into a reality with its latest holographic projector prototype.
For added realism, it utilizes a pair of Nintendo Wiimotes for hand movement tracking and a technology known as (ready for it...) Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display. This essentially adds tactile feedback to the hovering image via ultrasonic waves (the projected images float about 12 inches away from the display surface).
But enough of the tech speak, check out the following video to see the "touchable holography" system (PDF) in action. This sure makes Microsoft's Project Natal and the Wii Motion Plus look like child's play!
(Source: Crave Asia via Ubergizmo)


First of all, holograms made with concave mirrors isn't exactly a new technology - it's been around for decades. There was even an arcade game made in the early 90s called "Time Traveler" that used holograms made with a concave mirror. It didn't revolutionize video games back then partly because holograms just aren't practical. What would they expect us to do, install giant mirrors by our TVs?
Second, while the "Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display" does seem super-cool, it isn't very practical either. How would this work in the real world? The ultrasound waves have to come from an emitter and it seems as though that emitter has to be relatively close to it's target. Would you have to play the game with your hands in a box to simulate 360 degree tactile sensation?
This does seem really cool and I'd love to try this kind of thing out, it just doesn't seem like there's really any way that any of this could work for video games. I'm guessing that Microsoft's Project Natal and the Wii were mentioned just to get more hits for this article.
In all honesty, I see this technology most likely being used as a toy in a children's science museum, and not much else.
In the meantime ... hey, it's cool!
- by DragonJoeSmith August 12, 2009 8:25 AM PDT
- Let's take a look back at entertainment media:
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(5 Comments)VCR/Beta Max: Initially expensive. It was convenient, but most people's attitude at the time was akin to"Why pay for something I can get free? I can just wait for the movie on the Wonderful World of Disney." Then the Porn industry said: You can have it in your home and no will see you going to the Theatre.
Internet: Kind of neat for geeks, but the average person did not get involved until message boards had content they wanted. Content that they now didn't even need to leave the house or get in brown wrap through the mail.
Tactile Feed-back holograms: No I just can't see that industry using that ;-)