A New Dimension: 3D You Can FeelThere is nothing retro about this new 3D technology that takes its name from the cinematic technique developed in the 1950s.
A Japanese research team has broken a new type of barrier by developing the world’s first interactive 3D television system, which permits users to utilize their other senses while watching images floating in front of them.
The technology allows, via cameras that sense direction of movement, viewers to touch, pinch or poke three-dimensional images, which respond to touch by changing form.
“It is the first time that you can feel images in the air…This technology could create a virtual museum where visitors, including vision-impaired people, can put their hands on valuable sculptures that are usually untouchable,” said Norio Nakamura, senior scientist with the research team at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
Practical application of this incredible technology has not yet been fully ascertained, but the research team believes that it may be useful in simulating future surgical operations and possibly in video game software, allowing users to play a sport while holding equipment and/or not only kill their opponents but also experience the sensation of holding weapons.
The new technology was actually developed by AIST in 2005 with the introduction of an interface called GyroCubeSensuous. A palm-sized device, the virtual sensations of push, draw and floating are simulated via the use of gyroscopes and rotary force-feedback.
“This system recognizes the user’s behavior and offers tactile feedback and the illusion of using the tactile sense of force,” a spokesman said.
AIST will unveil this new technology later this month at the CEDEC 2010, which is Japan’s biggest conference for game developers.
When it will become a reality is anyone’s guess.
In the meantime, hang onto those old 3D glasses you were saving for some occasion, as they are symbols of the birth of something whose ramifications may be known in our lifetime.
