3-D Images Float On Air
Source: The Korea
Herald
October 18, 2000
Looking like an ordinary TV, a display screen shows a recent news
clip in which a North Korean military leader shakes hands with U.S. officials.
With a simple push of a button, the characters suddenly leap out, forming a
three-dimensional image 50 cm from the screen. Unless you touch it, it's hard to
tell it is just an image, it almost looks like the real thing.
A hybrid of computer graphics and optical image processing, the
new technology has brought to reality what has only been seen so far in
futuristic sci-fi flicks.
"Everything on the screen from beverage cans to new cars, from
geology guides to animated characters can be converted to 3-D images," said Kim
Yong-min, 29, chief executive of XOrbis Co. Ltd. at a demonstration for the
press yesterday.
To see it, viewers need not use the headsets or special glasses
that often make people nauseous and disoriented. Neither do they have to be
connected to the computer with wires that make virtual reality an awkward
experience.
"Virtual images come more natural with this, a thing you can
experience with unaided eyes," he added.
At the heart of the gimmick lies technology called "volumatrix,"
which, simply put, makes the image projector recognize a point somewhere outside
the screen as a monitor, he said.
A high-precision optical technology was harnessed to modify the
focus of the image to make it come out of the frame. The whole picture is
divided into foreground and background images, which are then synchronized as a
coherent 3-D image floating on the air.
The core technology has been provided by Optical Products
Development (OPD), a Silicon-based optical display manufacturer.
Kim and his colleagues have combined their computer graphics
technology with the optical solution in a two-year joint project, and the
efforts resulted in the world's first 3-D image projector that doesn't require
any viewing aids.
3-D visualization solution has been around for years. Holography
forms image with electron beams and is currently limited to representing simple
movements. Stereoscopic systems need additional devices like a head-mounted
viewer, and can be used by only one person and have a limited viewing angle.
Laser display systems, the most advanced 3-D technology, needs a
catalyst to form an image in the air and is too expensive to have commercial
applications. 3-D computer graphics are just 2-D images that give a 3-D feel.
"The device gets around such problems to good measure," he said.
The device, named O-Cubic, comes in three models with different
image sizes and viewing angles. The lowest-end model offers an image of 10 cm in
diameter, a projection distance of 35 cm, and viewing angle of 29 degrees in
horizon. The figures for a premium model are 40x30 cm, 46 cm and 55 degree.
The system can accommodate a wide variety of input sources,
including illuminated solid objects, a CRT displaying real-time computer
generated imagery or output from CD, DVD (digital versatile disk) or
conventional video tape.
A number of commercial applications are immediately available,
from product presentation, virtual catalogs, storefront kiosks and outdoor sign
boards for advertising, allowing vendors to visualize features of their products
more effectively.
"Almost any communication or media delivery application can be
greatly enhanced with the 3D visualization technology," he said.
"Imagine that that the image of objects float in space at your
store, offering clients a closer look of it in every color and pattern and
rotate the object to see it from various angles.
He is highly optimistic about the commercial prospects of the
products as "the advantages will be simply irresistible."
The merits have succeeded in persuading some domestic
corporations.
The company has signed with SK Telecom to install the device in
mobile phone stores. It will also be deployed at an exhibition hall in COEX,
southern Seoul, and used by an online advertising agency DKims Communications.
Its U.S. partner has won orders from the U.S. chains Hyatt Hotel and McDonald.
Further development will find other applications like computer
games, encyclopedia and class rooms, he said.
The two companies share patents for the technology currently
pending. Under an agreement, XOrbis holds rights to sell them in Asia, and OPD
will be in charge of marketing in the rest of the world.
The device is expected to sell for 30 million won, a price far
lower than other 3-D visualization equipment currently available. (HJJ)
http://koreaherald.co.kr/news/2000/10/__10/20001018_1051.htm