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Mid-Air Plasma Displays: The future of 3D?

561 views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  BlackShark 
#1 ·
Has anyone seen or heard about this?

http://www.engadget.com/tag/Japan/w...03/floating-plasma-display-femtosecond-laser/

Apparently some researchers at various universities in Japan have come up with a 'safe' way of creating touchable 3D holograms by using femtosecond laser pulses.

This is how I'm envisioning 3D TVs of the future will work. Rather than a flat display with the illusion of 3D, it will actually be in 3D!
 
#2 ·
Has anyone seen or heard about this?

http://www.engadget.com/tag/Japan/w...03/floating-plasma-display-femtosecond-laser/

Apparently some researchers at various universities in Japan have come up with a 'safe' way of creating touchable 3D holograms by using femtosecond laser pulses.

This is how I'm envisioning 3D TVs of the future will work. Rather than a flat display with the illusion of 3D, it will actually be in 3D!



Hmmm...all made possible with a Spatial Light Modulator (like the DMD chip in a DLP TV) mentioned at time stamp 1:12 in the video.


 
#3 ·
It's a nice tech, but it isn't a hologram and it isn't the future of TVs.

A TV or 3DTV is like window it shows you large things that would be behind it (and for 3DTVs they can allow some pop-out as long as it fits the frame), the tech shown here takes physical 3D space in your living room, you can walk around it and see the image from any angle but there's nothing behind it, it's like a virtual statue.
The two technologies have very different uses.

The tech shown here is based on turning the air into a plasma with super short laser pulses : it can do transparent or bright : it cannot do black (it can't block light).
It won't replace a TV, it's too different and too limited.
There are other application for this kind of tech, like advertizing or decoration with digital statues.
 
#4 · (Edited)
...There are other application for this kind of tech, like advertizing or decoration with digital statues.

or virtual 3D computer screens ala Iron Man...






 
#5 · (Edited)
Hollywood likes to show off with crazy and flashy computer interfaces just because it looks cool. It makes the character's action look bold.
But what if you actually tried to use it as a primary computer interface ?

The thing needs a big dark room in order to see the picture,
there is no haptic feedback (think moving your hands in the air with Kinect),
Input precision is awful, think about how bad tablets are and make it ten times worse because you're working in mid-air instead of your lap,
you're working with your arms extended and make large movements it gets tiring really fast,
you are so close to the screen and the screen is so big that you have to turn your head constantly to search for the information or the controls you need.

Use it 2 minutes for the wow effect, throw it away and switch back to desk based interface.
 
#6 ·
Hollywood like to show off with crazy ans flashy computer interfaces just because it looks cool. It makes the character's action look bold.
But what if you actually tried to use it as a primary computer interface ?

The thing needs a big dark room in order to see the picture,
there is no haptic feedback (think moving your hands in the air with Kinect),
Input precision is awful, think about how bad tablets are and make it ten times worse because you're working in mid-air instead of your lap,
you're working with your arms extended and make large movements it gets tiring really fast,
you are so close to the screen and the screen is so big that you have to turn your head constantly to search for the information or the controls you need.

Use it 2 minutes for the wow effect, throw it away and switch back to desk based interface.

People scoffed at the Wright brothers too.
 
#9 ·
The issue is not whether or not this thing can happen.
The issue is : how much will it be used ?

And when you claim this is the future of 3DTVs, it means the current 3DTV tech will disappear and be replaced with this, which is a ridiculous claim given how different and limited a mid-air plasma display is.
If you tried to emulate a 2D display with this tech, you'll get horrible results. There's no way people would drop their conventional displays.

About you example of broadcasting a sitcom over such a technology, it would be technically possible but you wouldn't gain much. In fact you'd have everything to loose by usinge this inferior display for a sitcom. Such a show is much better suited for a conventional 2DTV.
If would be equivalent to using stereoscopic3D for a stock market broadcast or the news.

You could think of a few clever uses for it by applying this technology for things that require the user to walk around in the picture and look at it from many different angles. You could even make some funny mini-games with it.
But as the future of 3DTV ? No way ! You'll need a different technology for that.
 
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