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Displays News

Heliodisplay In Production 214

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the toys-i-need-at-home dept.
David writes "News of a 3D display that projects an interactive image into thin air, the Heliodisplay, is not exactly fresh. What is new however, is that this once far-fetched conceptual object is now real, working and being sold. For those of you who have forgotten, the Heliodisplay from company IO2Tech projects into the air (without a need for special screen) images fed to it from a variety of sources. In a way, it's a working version of R2D2s holographic projection system." A similar product, the Pocket Beamer was previously covered on Slashdot.
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Heliodisplay In Production More

Heliodisplay In Production

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  • R2 the pimp (Score:5, Funny)

    by bigwavejas ( 678602 ) * on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:29PM (#13340739) Journal
    "In a way, it's a working version of R2D2s holographic projection system.

    The only difference is R2 didn't have a 22" Free-space multimedia display/projector protruding from his chest.

    ...but if it shot out from his groin, that'd damn sure impress C3PO.

    • ...but if it shot out from his groin, that'd damn sure impress C3PO.

      If you've ever seen the old C3P0 baseball card then you know that he'd be nonplussed.

  • Practicality (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:30PM (#13340744) Homepage Journal
    Possible uses for this product include advertising, entertainment facilities, design prototyping, teleconferencing etc.

    Having been about the radiology dept of the local hospital and having a few visits to the "turn your head and cough" clinic, thanks to a broken clavicle, I can think of a pretty good use. How about those ct-scans? Or is it really just 2D projected in 3D? Seems true 3D would appear muddy as you'd be seeing through translucent objects, unless they've come up with a way to make air opaque.

    Obviously the applications for such a product are endless. Most importantly it may convince my wife to finally allow the purchase of the Brook Burke Swimsuit calendar for testing purposes!

    Yesh! The most obvious! pr0n!

    Dear Santa, I wanna Heliodisplay, a 3D camera, and Natalie Pr0tman for Christmas...

    • Re:Practicality (Score:5, Informative)

      by FLAGGR ( 800770 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:52PM (#13340961)
      Should've RTFA. It's a 2d image projected into the air, and since you don't have the flat surface as a screen to aid in your eyes depth perception, it appears 3D

      • Re:Practicality (Score:2, Insightful)

        by zkn ( 704992 )
        "it appears 3D"
        You mean like QuakeIII does on my regular screen?

        • Re:Practicality (Score:3, Informative)

          by FLAGGR ( 800770 )
          Quake III doesn't appear 3D on your screen. In that same sense a jpg off your digital camera appears 3D. It's just a collection of 3D data transposed onto a 2D surface (and eventually to your moniter) There is no real depth perception in this. That's why people have made steroscopic mods for Quake, where you wear 3D glasses which give the illusion of depth. There was also a QuakeIII mod that would put the image for both your left and right eyes on the screen at once, i.e. side byside, its like rendering the

    • 2D Projected Onto A Mist (Score:4, Informative)

      by BRock97 ( 17460 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:22PM (#13341190) Homepage
      It actually works by shooting a mist into the air and projecting an image onto said mist. Some videos of the display in action are located here [io2technology.com] and here [io2technology.com].

      That said, I am glad that the technology from SeaQuest DSV has finally made it. Now, everyone can have a conversation with a creepy old guy or a deceased relative in the comfort of their own home!

    • Re:Practicality (Score:5, Funny)

      by bcattwoo ( 737354 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:56PM (#13341522)
      Having been about the radiology dept of the local hospital and having a few visits to the "turn your head and cough" clinic, thanks to a broken clavicle, I can think of a pretty good use.

      Hmmm.. If they are making you "turn your head and cough" for a broken clavicle, you may want to go to another clinic!

    • Re:Practicality (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Chuckstar ( 799005 )
      My father is a radiologist. I've asked him this question before. With a few exceptions (colon fly-throughs, for instance) there is no value to a radiologist in having a 3d view. In fact, 3d would hinder their ability to see things because foreground objects would obscure background objects. Radiologists have no problem constructing 3d views in their heads using 2d films.
      • colon fly-throughs

        You bastard! I'm never going to get that image out of my head!

        (Waitaminute, is that what happened to the goatse.cx guy?!?)

  • Slashdot Effect in 3D! (Score:3, Funny)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:30PM (#13340745) Homepage Journal
    I still have to cross my eyes to see it, though.

    Service Temporarily Unavailable

    The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

    Additionally, a 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
    Apache/2.0.48 (Linux/SuSE) Server at www.io2technology.com Port 80
    • Here's a Mirrordot Link [mirrordot.org]

      • Re:Slashdot Effect in 3D! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Marxist Hacker 42 ( 638312 ) * <seebert42@gmail.com> on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:44PM (#13340886) Homepage Journal
        And still no freakin' price list- who puts up a ecommerce site and fails to tell people how much the damn thing COSTS?
        • I think this is one of those, if you have to ask you can't afford it things.
          • I'm asking because I suspect, that due to far fewer actual parts, it's cheaper than LCD based technology.
          • Not trying to jump all over you for making the statement, but I'm sick of that statement.

            I don't care if I can't afford it, I want to know the price.

            This is the same kind of nonsense that realtors use. They'll list a house, but not the price, in hopes that people will call them. If the house is too expensive for the caller then the realtor can try to find something else.

            Sure, it's a good way to get more contacts but I don't care. I don't want to waste my time calling someone if I can't afford it in the f
        • I think the expression is "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."

          :-)

        • The ideal cost of an object is the maximum each individual customer is willing to pay for it.

          By not publicly setting a price one can "personalize" the price for each individual customer, maximizing profit while not turning away lower paying customers.

          Of course this only works when you can adequately segment your market, and make sure customers don't collude with each other. Sometimes, for big ticket items, contracts even specify that one can't release pricing or performance information. Whether they
          • The ideal cost of an object is the maximum each individual customer is willing to pay for it.

            That was back before the Wal*Mart Effect took over. Now the ideal cost of an object is the maximum ALL individual customers are willing to pay for it- as long as the manufacturing costs are less than 60% of that. You can slide up to 80%, but unless the retailer can make a 20% profit they simply won't carry the item.

            By not publicly setting a price one can "personalize" the price for each individual customer, m

        • Price (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          $18,600

          http://gnr8.typepad.com/gnr8_news/2004/09/heliodis play.html [typepad.com]
        • That's a real difficult question. Regarding costs, I can pretty much guarantee that this thing isn't being mass produced yet... it's just now coming out of the prototype stage, and probably has alot of quality control issues that the engineers are working to resolve. However, going by competing technologies in this field, you can safely assume from the get go that it's *at least* $40,000 (the cost of a Perspecta monitor). More likely, it's being sold on a contract by contract basis, meaning that each con
          • Why would that be? It's not like this is a huge increase in resolution (it's only HDTV, barely). It's not like it's that big of a new thing- you could simulate the same thing with a lot more equipment with a flat panel monitor and a mirror.
            • precision laser arrays? a coiling mechanism that condences water at a constant rate in a non-closed system? integrated motion sensors? this is a very slick piece of equipment, who's complexity is on par, at the very least, with an ultrasound machine or an xray machine. also, i imagine that this thing's resolution is more accurately measured in voxels, rather than pixels.

              So, if it's 800x600 resolution, then it's actually 800x600x600 resolution; which makes it more like 600 times the resolution of an HDTV
              • precision laser arrays? a coiling mechanism that condences water at a constant rate in a non-closed system? integrated motion sensors? this is a very slick piece of equipment, who's complexity is on par, at the very least, with an ultrasound machine or an xray machine. also, i imagine that this thing's resolution is more accurately measured in voxels, rather than pixels.

                Where did you get that last? This is a 2D display. Period. It does NOT accept 3D information. Precision laser arrays? Try three lase
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Slashdot Effect in 3D! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ShadeARG ( 306487 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:42PM (#13340861)
      I wonder if there is a mod_slashdot around that will serve a 503 if it detects a few Slashdot referrers in a short period of time. That would be a smart way to save bandwidth. It would be nicer if it would automatically coral cache itself and then serve a redirect though.
    • "Help me sys-ad-min, you're my only hope ..."

  • The pocket beamer? (Score:5, Funny)

    by lpangelrob ( 714473 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:31PM (#13340752)
    Is that you, or are you just projecting yourself to be happy to see me?
    • When I first read the title of the article, I read "Hellodisplay", and I imagined a giant statue of goatse.cx man with a plaque under it: "In honor of Hello.jpg. May his sense of openness be with us all."

      And then I read about the pocket beamer... * shudder *

  • Phfft (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Jhan ( 542783 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:33PM (#13340765) Homepage
    Holographic, as in
    Although the HelioDisplay uses lasers, the images are not holographic
    It is, however, an hovering 2D image which is as cool now as the first time I saw it (1986)

    • Re:Phfft (Score:4, Informative)

      by 3-State Bit ( 225583 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:47PM (#13340913)

      Holographic, as in
      Although the HelioDisplay uses lasers, the images are not holographic.
      It is, however, an hovering 2D image which is as cool now as the first time I saw it (1986)


      Do you mean the image had no depth values? (Was a hovering plane?)

      Here is the article text [ohgizmo.com] (with links):



      Interactive 3D Display: Its Here!
      Posted on 08.17.05 @ 7:05 am
        Story by Asim Waqar

      Originally mentioned at Gizmodo [gizmodo.com] as a prototype in 2003, IO2 Technology [io2technology.com] has just completed the production unit and provided the details behind the revolutionary HelioDisplay which produces interactive 3D dsiplays in thin air (via lasers) from common sources.

      The HelioDisplay technology page [io2technology.com] lists some of its remarkable features:

      Inputs from most regular sources: PC,TV, DVD, HDTV, Video game consoles
      Projects a 22 to 42 (depending on model) diagonal image that floats above the device
      It is interactive, like a virtual touch screen: a hand or finger can act as a mouse
      Although the HelioDisplay uses lasers, the images are not holographic
      Possible uses for this product include advertising, entertainment facilities, design prototyping, teleconferencing etc. Obviously the applications for such a product are endless. Most importantly it may convince my wife to finally allow the purchase of the Brook Burke Swimsuit calendar for testing purposes! This of course relies heavily on pricing (TBD) and other more, um, personal matters.

      Apparently the product is ready for release; visit the product page here [io2technology.com] which looks like its being updated right now.

      Visit the IO2TECHNOLOGY company homepage here. [io2technology.com]


      • Re:Phfft (Score:2)

        by Tx ( 96709 )
        It appears to be 2D. While the articles calls it 3D, the product page simply says "Free-space multimedia display/projector", I'd have thought they'd mention 3D capabilities if it had them. Also look at the inputs it accepts, you'd think it would say something about what kind of input was required for a 3D image, it just lists standard 2D video sources.
      • (Was a hovering plane?)

        I think the word you're looking for is "helicopter."

  • Damn that was quick. (Score:5, Informative)

    by MrCopilot ( 871878 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:36PM (#13340797) Homepage Journal
    Karma, its not just for whoring anymore.

    http://mirrordot.org/stories/0e4768d9cefb72835cc26 04c911d6919/index.html [mirrordot.org]

    Nifty Display though. Cost anyone?

    • There ought to be a (+1) Mirror provider point.
      It's like community service for slashdot for people with low karma. :D

    • Applications (Score:3, Informative)

      by Savantissimo ( 893682 ) *
      From Google cache of another page on the manufacturer's site:

      Example Applications/ Industries:

      * Advertising and Promotion, e.g.: trade shows; in-store displays; museum, movie and casino displays; theme parks.
      * Collaborative Decision Making, e.g.: board meetings and presentations; command and control; architectural and engineering design; teleconferencing.
      * Simulation & Training, e.g.: virtual targets; pre-operative pl

    • Approx. cost (Score:3, Informative)

      by soccerace09 ( 908351 )
      According to http://www.overclockersclub.com/ [overclockersclub.com], the Heliodisplay will cost you a hefty $22,500, as right now all of the avaliable models are just prototypes.

  • Back to the Future! (Score:3, Funny)

    by melonriel ( 832441 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:38PM (#13340820)
    So how long before the 3D version of Jaws comes out and the advertisements for it attack you while you're walking down the street?

  • What's this going to do? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:40PM (#13340835)
    I'm not interested until I can have sex with it

  • The perfect (geek) UI! (Score:3, Funny)

    by operagost ( 62405 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:40PM (#13340843) Homepage Journal
    A tiny holographic projection of Darth Vader: "What is thy bidding, my master?"

    Or perhaps Padme instead ...

  • As opposed to a web form that when filled out, leads to a 503 error because this was posted on both Slashdot and Technocrat within the same 5 hour period, leading to signs of stress in their webserver.

  • Star Wars Science (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Ken Hall ( 40554 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:43PM (#13340866)
    Couple months back, I read an article about various aspects of Star Wars Science, and how plausible each was thought to be. Curiously, thin-air holograms were at or near the top of the list as "probably impossible".
  • Possible uses for this product include advertising, entertainment facilities, design prototyping, teleconferencing etc. Strange, they seem to be avoiding mentioning the most obvious application... porn!

  • Gaaah! (Score:2, Funny)

    by dal20402 ( 895630 ) *
    Now I'm having nightmare visions of holographic projections of bosses being used to scare everyone in the workplace.

    'Course, I guess us geeks could create a holographic swarm of spiders in the boss's office too...

    • Yeah, Mother Brain sitting in my cube would give me nightmares for weeks.

      Oh wait. The WORK sort of boss!
      (strangely, the difference is minor)

  • I hope Six Flags... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Blitzenn ( 554788 ) * on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:44PM (#13340887) Homepage Journal
    I hope places like Six Flags latch onto this stuff. (I did get to see it before the site went down). The projected image looks much more solid than I would have guessed it would be. That's good news. Maybe now Rollercoasters and such can have a whole new level of fear and excitement added to them. Imagine hurtling down that drop at 120mph, right toward what appears to be a solid wall, no coaster tracks veering off to one side to ease your mind. Or perhaps a person standing in front of your car as you careen toward it. Maybe (holographic) people flying out of the car ahead of you as you careen around a bend. Such cool and nasty fearful things we could do to scare the pants of people now.

  • Full mirror (Score:3, Informative)

    by winkydink ( 650484 ) * <sv.dude@gmail.com> on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:45PM (#13340891) Homepage Journal
    here [networkmirror.com] .

  • Google cache (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:45PM (#13340895)
    Google cached page [64.233.161.104] Images [64.233.161.104]

  • So how do they 'modify' the air? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jakedata ( 585566 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:51PM (#13340951)
    They do something to create a scattering effect for the lasers, but they say that they don't add anything to the air.

    So, do they have a little compressor precipitating water which they then mist over the unit? Will it work in heavily air conditioned offices, or do you need to fill it's little water cup?

    The technical description was devoid of useful info, but I bet an ultrasonic humidifier and a video projector could give you an R2D2 effect if you projected into free space.

    • Looking at the video [64.233.161.104], it looks like something similar to what you suggest. Some kind of smoke or something. It doesn't look as good as it sounds.

      I also wonder how much noise it makes.

    • From the FAQ:
      Will the heliodisplay affect the room in which it is operating in?


      *No, the heliodisplay converts the air and does not introduce anything new into the air that does not already exist in the air.


      So the question is...What does it "convert" the air to? Using a mist would add to the air, but it is not adding something that does not already exist...Definitely marketing speak.
      • They might be using a condensor to extract water from the air, then vaporizing that. That would make this statement just the barest, thinnest line from a lie - truly the work of the marketer.
    • The device heats the air to create a "mirage effect," then projects an image onto the plane of the mirage so that the reflected image can be seen from the user's angle of view.
  • Sorry to be sceptical, but if it takes in 2D images from a video card, as it says in the very fine (as in thin small, dilute) article, it's 2D, not 3D.

    And as far as anybody knows, you can't project an image "onto" thin air. There's likely a thin diffuse surface out there acting as a projection screen.

    A looong way from 3D image projection.

    • Re:Sorry to be sceptical... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tx ( 96709 )
      It even confirms that on the IO2 "technology" page:

      The image is display into two-dimensional space (i.e.planar). Heliodisplay images appear 3D when viewed from more than a few feet away because there is no physical depth reference.

  • What's really cool . . . . (Score:5, Interesting)

    by erikharrison ( 633719 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @01:55PM (#13340980)
    I remember seeing the heliodisplay ~9 months ago, when it was still a prototype. They has some videos of the thing in action. It had, at the time, a few problems, the biggest being that the vents that blow the air which the image is projected on can cause ripples in the air flow that affect the image.

    However, the cool feature the Heliodisplay has that I've not seen anyone mention is that it can register someone placing their hand in the image field, and move the objects around.
    • How is it projecting an image onto "air"?

      You have to hit something reflective to make an image visible, unless it's a virtual image, even then you'll likely see the "spoon bowl" needed to produce it.

      Even the laser show at WDW needs a giant cloud of mist over the lagoon for the lasers to hit.
  • So, I can't get to the product pages, so I can't figure out what this thing is doing.

    What is it projecting *against*? Lasers don't just stop in mid-air. Is there a sheet of glass we're not seeing? Is there a fog-screen? Does it do one of those tricks where you look into a parabolic missor and the reflections cause the image to appear in front?

    I want to believe, but I don't have enough info to make a rational guess. I have to assume, though, that it's just smoke and mirrors. It always is.

  • Is it going to be good enough (Score:4, Funny)

    by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:03PM (#13341037)
    to view pr0n with it?

    Finally, a "screen" that doesn't need cleaning.

  • Patent Application (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anm ( 18575 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:18PM (#13341153)
    Here is the related patent application:
        http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=P TO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2F srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=1&s1='20040001182'.PGNR.&OS =DN/20040001182&RS=DN/20040001182 [uspto.gov]

    As I understand it, it condenses moisture in the surrounding air, and atomizes it into a tightly controlled 3D screen for lasers to project onto. Sounds like a next generation fog screen, plus interactivity.

    Still wish I could see the video. And if they were this close to launch, and already patented, why wasn't it at SIGGraph?

    Anm

  • Not 3D, 2D (Score:5, Informative)

    by saddino ( 183491 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:19PM (#13341167)
    In a way, it's a working version of R2D2s holographic projection system.

    This is simply 2D projection onto a moving air stream, so "in a way" it's nothing like a hologrpahic projection system.

    From their site: Although the HelioDisplay uses lasers, the images are not holographic

    It is pretty nifty though.

    • From the patent:
      The multiple projection source of this invention has the capacity to produce multi-imaging; were discrete images projected from various sources can each be viewed from different locations. This allows a separate image to be generated and viewed independently from the front and rear of the display, for use as example in video-gaming scenarios, where opposing players observe their separate "points of view" while still being able to observe their opponent through the image

  • Arcades (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Jodka ( 520060 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @02:46PM (#13341440)
    I predict that the initial "killer app" for these things will be arcade gaming. I figure:

    1. It is an insanely great, irresistable technology for gaming.
    2. It is still too expensive for home gaming.
    3. People who can not afford to buy their own will still pay to play one in an arcade.

    Computers and game consoles replaced the pay-to-play arcade games which boomed in the 80's. That's because the price of computing fell so low that owning your own game machine became a better bargain than travelling to an arcade and paying a fee to use one. The same conditions which supported arcades in the past, awsome gaming hardware unafordable in the home market, may have returned here.

    • What is this "arcade" you speak of? Is that the dark, dirty, smelly place I walk by in the mall, with the 10 video games from 1999, the original pole position with busted gear shifter, and one mall employee playing DDR while on break from folding sweaters?

      Seriously, the arcade is dead. Now you have either the scene mentioned above, or the huge, overpriced games, cover charge, nobody under age 17 allowed without parental supervision, social scene.

      sigh

      • But places like Jillian's and Dave & Busters are always busy. They're giant arcades with a bar and restaurant inside for anyone without one nearby.

        There's also arcades at all the summer vacation places: theme parks, boardwalks, etc.

  • Once again.. slashdot as antiserver weapon. (Score:3, Funny)

    by plasmacutter ( 901737 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:02PM (#13341567)
    The second link in this article is now completely gone.. the server is now denying permission (i presume to avoid actually having to COPE with the bandwidth issues)

    HAHA.. i would totally abuse this power if i were allowed to post stories.

  • Talk about unspun reporting (Score:3, Insightful)

    by oskard ( 715652 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:05PM (#13341596)
    Filed under: General and Unusual

    So those two aren't mutually exclusive? Does that mean its generally unusual?
  • Finally! We're only a few decades away from the projection technology used in the old Scooby Doo cartoons.

  • Never mind... (Score:5, Informative)

    by jpellino ( 202698 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:24PM (#13341762)
    I'd asked how it was going to make an image with nothing to reflect off of - and it doesn't.
    It's a fog screen - a really neat one that concentrates condensate out of the ambient air, but a fog screen nontheless. No pot of water, no Disney lagoon.
    According to the patent, it relies on cold air condensate blown up in a laminar layer.
    Good thing - had it relied on blowing *hot* air, they'd have been denied due to prior art from SCO.

  • Yes I'm at my desk (Score:3, Interesting)

    by planckscale ( 579258 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:29PM (#13341816) Journal
    I plan on creating a holographic image of myself sitting in front of my PC, so when the boss looks in his spycam or walks by, I will be sitting there working diligently.

  • I've seen them in action... (Score:3, Informative)

    by PeterChenoweth ( 603694 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:51PM (#13342030)
    And they are neat. But only if the air is still. If there's enough air movement in a room that you can feel it, it will be enough to disrupt the mist and seriously distort/ruin whatever image you're trying to see. Maybe ok for a giant Coca-Cola sign, but not so good if you're trying to read numbers off of a spreadsheet.

    Oh yeah, and they do leave a puddle of moisture on the floor beneath them as well. It is just a stream of mist falling to the ground.

  • Forget R2 (Score:3, Informative)

    by LS ( 57954 ) on Wednesday August 17, 2005 @03:59PM (#13342113) Homepage
    Couldn't you use this projection technology to make a REAL (at least looking) light saber??

    • Re:Forget R2 (Score:2, Informative)

      by peetola ( 700206 )
      Couldn't you use this projection technology to make a REAL (at least looking) light saber??

      As long as you don't want to move the lightsaber, then yes.

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