Obscura Digital Demos "Minority Report"-Like Display

Barence and other readers sent along word of a demonstration by Obscura Digital of a new technology it's dubbed a multi-touch hologram — reminiscent of the display in Minority Report. The demonstration shows a man interacting with holographic images projected before him, moving them around and resizing them. It's only sort of like the Minority Report display, which used hand movements to control elements on a screen. Earlier, Obscura had demoed another take on the Spielbergian technology, a multi-touch wall.

ok, I want one

now please. That's one of the best displays that I've ever seen in any sci-fi movie. Even if it was just special effects, it had me drooling. That and the electric citroen DS from gattaca.

Re:ok, I want one

And then you'll get sick of having arms that feel like wood. Mouse-elbow would be nothing compared to this thing.

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Yah, but in Minority Report at least, the guy using it didn't sit around all day in front of the display. He waved his arms for a while then he went running out to a helicopter, rappelled out of a helicopter, kicked in doors, and laid implacable hands upon potential murderers. In other words the exercise he did in front of the screen was just an extension of the active lifestyle he already had. In that context, having a more active mode of interaction with a computer makes sense and might even be more ap

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Jim Fixx [wikipedia.org]

Dennis Leary:

Jogged fifteen miles a day. Did a jogging book. Did a jogging video. Dropped out of a heart attack when? When he was fucking jogging, that's when! What do you wanna bet it was two smokers who found the body the next morning and went, "Hey! That's Jim Fixx, isn't it? Wow, what a fucking tragedy."

Cool, but...

Somehow, doesn't seem as efficient as alt-tabbing.

Re:Cool, but...

alt-tabbing

My brain initially interpreted that as "air-tabbing" and I pictured legions of nerds engaged in some kind of fierce air-keyboarding competition.

One step closer to my holographic dream

Someday, when holograms are commonplace, I will drive down the street, and instead of seeing my car, you will see a giant snake breathing fire on everything around me.

I applaud every bit of research and technology advancements that bring me closer to that future.

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Someday, when holograms are commonplace, I will drive down the street, and instead of seeing my car, you will see a giant snake breathing fire on everything around me.

A snake? Pfft, give me my damn holographic shark that bites by-passers. You've got 7 years.

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And then the snake turn into a giant holographic gecko in your passenger seat, will turn to you and will say......
"You're paying too much for car insurance".

Re:One step closer to my holographic dream

But not in our dreams. No sir.

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+1 Futurama Reference

Innovative

Yeah, but can we lay it down on say, a table? [microsoft.com]

Re:Innovative

You're starting to show your age... or just being an ass, the Surface is a good idea with our current technology, and will remain for quite a few years yet even if holographic stuff became popular/accessible because it doesnt interfere (think about schools and offices).

But, this is entirely different from the Surface, and I don't really mean just tech-wise, think about "there is no spoon", its almost a spiritual tool, the (possible) freedom is almost limitless in what you can do, almost as good as having your brain directly linked into the computer.

Having said that and probably some already stopped reading, depending on how (or when) portable it is, this could be a major problem, especially in the beginning with people walking around terrorizing young and/or old people, or causing traffic accidents etc "I swear Officer, there was a car there!".

There could also be problems with subliminal things, although it could be argued that its possible (and in some cases does happen) with current technology, it would be much easier and far less noticeable to embed slight alterations, and hidden messages into the the hologram/projection, I'm thinking about this in the context of later on when there might be people who have it on permanently (think of Strange Days [imdb.com]).

However, as much as I am fond of Trains, Gas Guzlers, CRT's and Physical arts, I for one welcome our new holographic overlords.

This could double

as a form of Geek exercise. Lift that window, scroll that window, spin it, spin it, expand then contract...

A few technical steps away from "Minority Report"

The researchers did state that their tech would need to be scaled up before it could work with straight actors.

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Ok let's get this clear. Being a Scientologist doesn't make you gay, it makes you retarded.

The Problem

The problem with this is that your arm gets tired! The Nintendo Powerglove [youtube.com] from the 80's had this problem. A more natural interface would occasionally let you use your hands for rapid-fire intensive input or precision adjustments, but would follow your eyes and verbal instructions.

Powerglove != Wii

Using the Powerglove is not like using a Wii. Try making a fist and waving it back and forth and up and down in front of you with the back of your hand level. Try this for hours. Eventually, you wind up trying to rest your elbow on something. With the Wii, you usually make specific gestures, after which you are free to go back to a more restful position. It's more like holding a sword/racquet/frying pan. The Powerglove is more like using a giant-sized air-joystick. There is no chance for resting. The Wii is much more "natural."

If the interface in the article allows you to make momentary gestures, then it won't be tiring. If your hands are way out in front of you for hours, it will be a drag.

Meh..

Well first of all, it's shot from one angle, saw another movie like this where some random blogger (also the case here it seems) thinks its "holographic" when it is in fact a projector shooting on clear plastic.

Also it looks to me that he interacts with the system through sensors in each hand, clicking them when he wants to "grab" something - and they are poorly calibrated, quite a lot of the time the system clearly isn't responding the way he wants it to.

photo collection app...

Boring.
Hasn't anyone figured out a more interesting application of this "multi-touch" input form?

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Boring. Hasn't anyone figured out a more interesting application of this "multi-touch" input form?

Multi-touch.. interesting... mmmh.. is it okay if it involves the Olsen twins? :-S

Fake?

From the blog comments [blogspot.com]:

This guy is not controlling anything with his hands. It's a pre-recorded sequence and he is "hand-syncing". Look closely.

Still, I'd like to know what technology they used to create the holograms... *IF* indeed they're real.

ok..

why is it that every single demo of these multi-touch technologies involve moving/rotating/resizing f-ing pictures or photographs? What am I, a private eye looking for f-ing clues? For christ's sake, show me some some practical applications, gawdammit..

Johnny

All this is a lot like what Johnny [cmu.edu] did with the Wii-mote. He effectively turned the Wii (aka OLD technology by this point) into a tracker so he could manipulate items. He even used a screen to make images appear 3-D. In fact, his system is a lot more like Minority Report because, iirc, Cruise was touching a kind of screen, moving pictures and images across it, not hanging in mid-air.

s/mouse/hamster

Minority Report sucked. The sensitivity on that wall-sized display was set to the level where it required a Shatneresque facial tick to get anything to happen at all. Cruise was doing Swan Lake just to accomplish a simple fade. Just what we all need: a 10,000 pixel wide display with a 20dpi gesture camera.