Spatial View shows up in 3D

Today was all about 3D - James from Spatial View came to talk to the IMM class about new innovations. He started his talk by discussing different ways that people view 3D.

Stereoscopy
These are the Anaglyph (red/green, red/cyan) glasses, and the issues with these glasses are that you can’t get good colour/contrast, but they provide you with good depth perception.

Polarized glasses are the type that are the most popular form found in theatres and they allow for full colour, high quality images, but doesn’t translate to home viewing.

Cross-eyed view is another way to view in 3D - similar to those Magic Eye books and posters they used to have.

Below is an image of an old fashioned stereograph.


Autostereoscopy
This method uses different techniques to achieve 3D without using glasses. It's pretty cool, he made us sit down in front of his laptop and we were shown a video in 3D, but we didn't have to put on the dorky glasses. However, I found that it gave me a bit of a headache, so I can't imagine watching for more than a few minutes. The Parallax Barrier works by taking advantage of the parallax caused by they barrier being in front of LCD screen. Each eye see the screen at slightly different angle which causes the 3D effect. Parallax barriers allow for more than two views to be seen allowing multiple viewing angles - for example I was able to see the 3D effect when I was standing off to the side as well, but it was in black and white.

Lenticular Displays
Lenticular displays operate on the same principles as lenticular printing
Pixels are magnified in different directions depending on where they fall on the lens, so each eye sees a different view. Any number of views can be used, depending on the dot-pitch of the screen and size of the lens. This display offers better brightness than barrier because light is not being blocked it is being refracted and is often used with eye tracking to provide a sweet spot that follows the viewer.

Gesturing at GestureTek

Last Friday we trekked down to Toronto to visit GestureTek, the "pioneer, patent-holder and world-leader in camera-enabled gesture-recognition technology for presentation and entertainment systems." Vincent John Vincent took us on a tour of their many creations and told us a bit about the history of the GestureTek company.

Way back in the stone age of 1986, when I was still playing with Western Barbie and My Little Pony, Vincent was developing a breakthrough in computer-human interaction. Using an old school Commodore 64, they were able to come up with a rough system, but eventually switched over to Windows and have been having success with the Windows OS since. Over the years they have expanded their patent and have developed all sorts of gesture controlled goodies. Some are geared to be educational, others are helping people in their lives and some are just plain fun.



The photograph shows us listening to Vincent as he demonstrates the AirPoint, which allows you to point at the screen and use your hand as a mouse. It's really neat and allows a level of human-computer interaction unencumbered by remotes or pointers.

Another really interesting invention that they have created is the Immersive Virtual Gaming, which allows users to stand in front of a green screen and see themselves in an interactive video game. I was a bit sad that I didn't get to try this one out, but it was cool to watch regardless.




One thing that I hadn't realized the GestureTek technology could be applied to was physiotherapy. Apparently the units are extremely popular and helpful in the rehabilitation of patients. I was extremely pleased to hear this because I was racking my brain trying to think of additional real-world applications of the technology and this was one that I hadn't considered. To think that their technology is tuned enough to track every single movement you make and calculate how well you complete the movement is really mind-boggling. The reason I find it really neat is because I have a Wii fit and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the movement correctly because it only registers your balance.

There is already tons of media attention surrounding GestureTek and their achievements and as they continue to grow, I'm sure they will push the limits of this technology to explore new creative and groundbreaking avenues.