(Credit:
Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory at the University of Tokyo)
If you've seen the film "Avatar," you may have noticed one of the characters plucking a display panel from a desktop and continuing to use it as a standalone control screen. While we probably won't witness epic wars between human colonists and sapient humanoids in the near future, the technology depicted in the science fiction film is available in our current time, albeit in unrefined form.
At the recent computer graphics event Siggraph Asia 2009, a pair of researchers from the University of Tokyo's Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory demonstrated their Volume Slicing Display, a screen prototype developed for medical use. With it, radiologists would be able to view 3D imagery from a flat X-ray plate via a calibrated projector.
The technology essentially lets users experience 3D virtual objects in a physical environment. This could mean doctors visualizing cross sections of a brain in real time while walking around an operating theater, for example.
The setup apparently comprises only plexiglass or paper, one or more projectors, and ARTookit markers that can be made with off-the-shelf hardware. While this doesn't sound as exciting as what's shown in the film, at least we know we may get there in the future. 2148, perhaps?
(Source: Crave Asia)
Fashionable and effective? We'll see.
(Credit: LG Display)The two main issues I had with the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, a pair of 3D glasses that give games the illusion of depth, was its steep $200 price and its adverse effect on the playability of games. LG Display plans to address at least one of those problems with its upcoming 3D display.
On Wednesday, LG announced that it had taken the technology that would normally be embedded in a pair of 3D glasses and installed it in a Full HD 23-inch 3D LCD panel. That's the Cliff Notes version of what the company did. It would take a scientist to explain how exactly they did this, and I'm still waiting to be certified. And for LG to explain it to me.
With conventional 3D LCDs, like the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ, when wearing the 3D glasses, each eye sees the same image from a different perspective.
The 3D glasses shut off one lens and then alternate shutting off lenses consistently, very quickly. It's like holding your finger between your eyes and alternately blinking each eye. This gives the illusion that you are seeing a third image that's an amalgamation of each eye's individual image.
With the new LG display, "3D" glasses will still be required, but according to the company, the glasses won't be as expensive as the $200 Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, since much of the technology required is in the panel, instead of the glasses. It's expected that this setup will deliver a similar 3D effect. ... Read more
Sony's prototype 0.3-millimeter OLED display.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--Sony has an entire wall of its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs set up here at Ceatec 2008, but in contrast with past gadget shows, it's not the only company showing off OLED prototypes.
Panasonic may have said earlier this week that OLED is still far from becoming a mass-produced mainstream technology for use in big-screen TVs, but other electronics makers are plowing ahead with their own research on the organic, thin film technology: NEC, Sony, and KDDI showed off what they've been doing with OLED in their research labs.
Sony, of course, continues to press ahead its OLED research and development, showing a flexible OLED display as thin as a playing card, as well an OLED TV that's even thinner than its current XEL-1. The prototype measures just 0.3 millimeter thick.
KDDI is going in a slightly different direction, looking to take OLED smaller and mobile. The mobile phone company showed an OLED display measuring 3.1 inches and meant for mobile devices. It's just a prototype for now.
Another theme here at Ceatec is 3D displays. Sure, Panasonic is showing its 3D high-definition home theater using a giant TV, but you still need 3D glasses to get the stereoscopic effect. NEC is showing a 9-inch LCD display a 3D image without the need for those silly plastic frames. KDDI also had its own 3D LCD display measuring 3.1 inches and for use by mobile devices. Also no need for 3D glasses.
Of course, while these are really cool concepts, they're still in the thick of development and it will be years before we see mass production of any of them.
Click here for more stories on Ceatec 2008.
KDDI prototype 3.1-inch OLED for mobile devices.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
NEC's 3D LCD display. No plastic glasses required.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
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