Techno Babble

The Office of Tomorrow project aims at developing novel interfaces for collaborative workspaces, enhancing traditional face-to-face meetings. In cooperation with Voestalpine Informationstechnologie GmbH and Team7, the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences is the main contributor of this project. The project started in September 2005 and will finish in September 2008.

http://www.officeoftomorrow.org/

Shared Design Space is a multi-user design workspace which enables users to simultaneously draw on a large-scale interactive table and present their work on a touch-sensitive presentation wall. The project features high resolution tabletop projection, accurate pen tracking and novel interaction techniques for the table.

A number of technologies are combined to create this Augmented Reality setup:

• a vertical touch sensitive rear-projection surface,
• a large horizontal tabletop projection setup,
• Anoto digital pens and paper,
• integration of multiple devices (laptop, tablet PCs, etc.),
• a wireless networking setup, and the
• combination and integration of different interaction metaphors (e.g. advanced hyper-dragging, Pick&Drop, and intuitive interaction with both the table and rear-projection surface).

Watch the video

http://kf12.com/blogs/uploads/sds.wmv

sidenote: The digital pens are based on Anoto Functionality

http://www.anotofunctionality.com/

which is the same technology Iexplored a few years ago with the Personal Digital Pen from Logitech. The digital pen uses ink and handles just like a normal ballpoint pen, but it also contains a digital camera, an advanced image processing system and a communication unit, for example for wireless Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone. The paper consists of an ordinary paper provided with a dot pattern, invisible to the eye, that is either pre-printed or printed on a laser printer. The displacement of the dots, 0.1 millimetres in size, from the relative position enables them to be programmed to tell the pen the exact location on the page – or the whole pad of papers – one is writing on.

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A fingertip-mounted haptic sensing digitizer that captures physical phenomena at the fingertip during a user’s tactile activities. The complex biomechanical characteristics of the finger can achieve delicate input actions in art, medicine, and industry.

Researchers from the Virtual Reality Lab at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York say their “Fingertip Digitizer,” which users wear on the tip of the index finger, can transfer to the virtual world the meaning and intent of common hand gestures, such as pointing, wagging the finger, tapping in the air or other movements that can be used to direct the actions of an electronic device.

They expect the Fingertip Digitizer and related software to be market-ready within three years.

Touch Painter and Touch Canvas software is being developed to accompany the Fingertip Digitizer. Using this software and the Fingertip Digitizer, the user will be able to apply digital paint to a computer-screen canvas with a few flicks or taps of the index finger.

Related articles can be found at:

• Whats next in Science and Technology
• The University at Buffalo News Center
• Emerging Technology Trends - ZDnet Blog

Other activities from the Virtual Reality Lab at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, can be found at

http://www.vrlab.buffalo.edu

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The goal of this project, from researchers at the University of Tokyo, is to increase the possibility of the interaction of physical objects by using tabletop objects as projection screens as well as input devices.

Details taken from the project website at

http://www.hc.ic.i.u-tokyo.ac.jp/project/tablescape/

Tablescape Plus integrates diverse technologies:

• Special optics based on material that is normally used for window blinds. The material is used as a horizontal tabletop screen.
• A unique method of calibrating camera-projector combinations to display images of a horizontal tabletop screen and upstanding objects.
• The AR Toolkit library detects the position and direction of objects placed on the tabletop. While head-mounted displays are often used in the field of augmented reality, Tabletop Plus does not require any special equipment.
• Tangible user interfaces to deliver a broad range of interaction.
• Software architecture for collaborative display of heterogeneous information.

Tablescape Plus uses 4 key technical innovations:

1. Optical design of a special screen system that is is diffusive from one privileged direction and has high transparency to incoming light from other directions. The diffusive direction is used to show images on a tabletop screen. By projecting images from the transparent direction, the system can also project on the surfaces of objects placed vertically.
2. A method for detecting the tabletop objects from inside the system. An infrared camera is installed underneath the table facing upward. Infrared light is projected from the side of the camera to the screen, and a retro-reflective material of a known shape is attached underneath each object. When physical objects are placed, the ID, position, and rotation of each object are recognized by using the ARToolKit library.
3. A method for calibrating projector images geometrically. With this method, each projector can display identical parts of images onto identical positions.
4. A method for harmonizing projected images. Each projected image should change relative to the other images according to the input information of placed objects.

The project has three subsidiary goals:

• To develop a display system that can project separate images onto a horizontal tabletop screen and vertically placed tabletop objects simultaneously.
• To add interactivity to this new display system by introducing camera-based tracking methods and infrared optical systems.
• To explore the new paradigm of Tablescape Plus applications by developing attractive and specialized demos including games, simulation, education, and scientific visualization.

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In a depature from topics related to Siggraph, I note that Dassault has recently acquired Dynasim AB, a Swedish company developing software tools for solving modeling, simulation and design problems using computer algebra.

http://www.dynasim.se/

CATIA Systems strategy puts embedded systems modeling at the heart of CATIA. DS selected the open standard, Modelica, to be at the core of DS’ open strategy. Hence, the announcement of DS’ acquisition of Dynasim. With the addition of Dynasim, CATIA will be able to feature behavior-driven simulation.

Dymola, the Dynamic Modeling Laboratory, provides an environment for the modeling and simulation of integrated and complex systems and has libraries available for simulating systems in many different engineering fields, based on the object-oriented modeling language Modelica.

http://www.modelica.org/.

One such library is the MultiBody library - this is a free library providing 60 main components such as ready-to-use joint, force, part, body, sensor and visualizer components.

“I am delighted that DS has selected Dynasim as the key component of its V5 embedded system platform,” said Dr Hilding Elmqvist, founder and CEO, Dynasim AB. “Via DS’ integration of CATIA Systems and Modelica based Dymola technologies, DS’ strategy, with its partners, is to help companies switch from a proprietary simulation-centric approach to a full virtual product model.

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Deskrama uses a high resolution position and rotation sensor mounted on a lightweight LCD panel to allow a user to interactively explore a 3D model from a 2D plan.

Moving the LCD panel on a plan drawing of a building allows the user to see a cross-section through a 3D model of the building.

There is a demonstration video at MIT

http://cat2.mit.edu/deskrama/deskrama01_128KB.wmv

a synopsis available here

http://kf12.com/blogs/uploads/deskrama.pdf

and further details about the project are available from the Deskrama home page at MIT.

http://cat2.mit.edu/deskrama/

I found this to be an interesting concept which may be applicable to Mechanical CAD for visualising 3D Models. Particularly interesting is the concept of combining a motion sensor (position and rotation) with the lightweight screen - perhaps this is something which could be explored further.

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HoloVizio from Holografika was shown at Siggraph 2006.

http://www.holografika.com/

Holografika is a Hungarian venture active in the field of emerging photonic technologies. The company developed a proprietary technology in 3D visualisation, including real 3D display devices, software applications, and 3D data compression solutions and holds several patents.

The company at present develops and sells 3D display systems. It started selling its 26” and 32” HoloVizio™ 3D displays in 2004, and plans to offer larger-scale holographic projection systems soon. Second-generation displays, a 3D camera system and a full 3D software environment are all under development.

It is claimed to be the first 3D monitor that enables you to watch the screen image in “true” 3D in a 50-degree continuous field of view without the need for artificial aids such as special glasses or headsets - in effect, the viewer is viewing a hologram.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holography.

Theory

Since HoloVizio is not a stereoscopic or multi-view system it lacks most of the backlogs and drawbacks currently associated with 3D displays. HoloVizio is not a purely holographic system that handles an enormous amount of redundant information. It is rather based on holographic geometrical principles with special focus on reconstructing the key elements of spatial vision. The pixels, or rather voxels of the holographic screen emit light beams of different intensity and colour to the various directions. A light-emitting surface composed of these voxels will act as a digital window or hologram and will be able to show 3D scenes undoubtedly being 3D.

The underlying principle is shown in the following image

Each pixel (voxel) of the display is able to emit light beams at a different colour and intensity to the various directions.

If these lights are controlled appropriately, it appears as if they were emitted from behind or in front of the screen. In these cases, the viewer percieves the points of an image floating in space.

Developer tools are available to provide an interface between 3rd party applications and the hardware.

Sample videos of the device are available from their homepage, although you will need to install the DivX Codec to view them.

http://www.divxmovies.com/codec/

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Here’s a couple of videos made by the CGsociety showing highlights of the show from their perspective.

http://cgsociety.org/

Siggraph 2006 Highlights - Part One

Siggraph 2006 Highlights - Part Two

One of the things mentioned during these videos is that Autodesk is launching a new web-site on 22 August called the “AREA” which is a portal for content to be supplied by Artists and CG developers.

Check it out at

http://the-area.com

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (Japan) were demonstrating their True 3D Display concept as part of the Siggraph 2006 Emerging Technologies.

The device uses the plasma emission phenomenon near the focal point of focused laser light to construct dot arrays in the air (3D Space) (and is incredibly noisy!)

Here it is in action