Technology
Google Project Soli
Capabilities
- Can sense the tiniest motions, volume knob, slider, scrolling, etc. Uses haptic feedback. Has high positional accuracy.
- Radar can work through materials and can be embedded within objects.
- Captures motion up to 10,000 frames per second, much more accurate than camera-based systems.
- Can shrink the radar into a tiny chip, so it is very hard to break because it has no lenses or moving parts.
Limitations
As displays shrink, interacting with devices becomes increasingly difficult.
Competition
Gesture-based controls are not new, but all of the others rely on cameras for motion-tracking, which limits the effectiveness and accuracy of the device.
Future
has been mainly introduced in the context of Smartwatches. Not limited to wearables; it can be embedded in almost any type of device, including objects that don't have a traditional display.
BEACONS
- Can be useful to warn students when they are getting too close to a wall
- Beacons are small, rock-like shaped, wireless sensors. They can be attached to any location or object, while broadcasting low-energy Bluetooth to your smart phone. Your smart phone is prompted with a message or alert, using micro-locaton and contextual awareness.
- Issues: Accuracy, if we do one signal from 10 feet away and another from 2 feet. Also if there are too many beacons in too small of a space, they will interfere with each other.
- It is recommended that you work with the beacons in the actual space, not just an approx. space.
- Where to Buy Beacons
Construction Materials
This Virtual Reality theme park, The VOID, uses white walls and concrete, darkly lit spaces, direct light to imitate the sun, smoke for effect and other low budget elements like hanging string to simulate cobwebs. The first one is anticipated to open in Spring 2016 in Utah, and target price is $29-39 per person.
Interactive LED Walls
This wall uses Kinect sensors to track people's movements based off a complex algorithm. It made of 1,000 LED lamps and it is 13 by 8 feet. When no one is near by, animations are created by collected sound data through Perlin Noise. While there are many interactive LED walls out there, you make one yourself! (With a couple thousand dollars, of course...))
There are a wide variety of products, depending on event and size. They are lightweight and easy to assemble. I believe it can have image playback and video run through some server or a wired connection. Downside to this though...it's SUPER expensive.
It's not a wall, but instead tiles that you assemble together to create a wall. It works how other LED walls work; some kind of connection whether it's through an iPad or server. I couldn't find prices unfortunately. It appears to be less expensive than PixelFLEX, though. This company also offers other products like projectors if we wanted other options.
Microsoft Hololens
- We already know what the Hololens can do, so we have to figure out its limitations. One of its most obvious limitations is it's limited lack of peripheral vision.
- Read More about Hololens Here
- "The biggest issue with HoloLens' holographic viewing is the holograph is limited to what amounts to the size of a large monitor in front of you. You can see the edges of the virtual space where the hologram lives (which are basically the edges of the inner HoloLens frames), and looking outside that space, or moving too close into it, cuts the the hologram off or makes it disappear completely."
- It has built in sensors that detect hand-motion and depth, repurposing Xbox kinect technology. So no gloves are necessary.
- A sense of depth is achieved by bilateral sounds fed into the users ears that create the illusion of space.
- "HoloLens’ main interaction tools are a finger click (folding down your index finger) and voice. You use voice to change tools, and a click to interact with the 3D model. I used clicks to flag objects on Mars, to pin Skype windows in free space, and to play with Minecraft sheep."
- Hololens Review Character
- The upside is that people report getting motion sick as lot less with the hololens, than with the Oculus Rift.
- Microsoft HoloLens information
- Fast Company: Microsoft HoloLens And The Danger Of Mismanaged Expectations.
- Article on the Hololens
The first users of HoloLens may be professionals
and...
Disney's Fly Over California Experience
This is a Disney theme park ride. About 50 people sit suspended in the air (feet dangling) in front of a huge circular movie screen. The chairs lean forward and back and wind is blown onto you while arial view video plays on the sceen. It really feels like you are flying.. and the whole set up is pretty low tech.
5D Cinema Chairs
The 5D cinema environment depends on the equipment systems, it includes projection system, main controlling system, special effect system, management system, audio system and seating system.
Projection
Deep Space 8K
A large-scale, immersive projection experience of deep space in the Ars Electronica Center. The projection is in high resolution creating a unique education experience for the audience.
Article on Enhanced Experience: Deep Space 8K
Cadet Interactive Floor Projection
A floor projection that uses tracking software to have visuals follow user’s movements.
-Openframeworks?
