Friday, August 07, 2009

Maybe the Holodeck isn't that far away

This is pretty amazing: Touchable Hologram Becomes Reality:

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Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed 3D holograms that can be touched with bare hands. Generally, holograms can't be felt because they're made only of light. But the new technology adds tactile feedback to holograms hovering in 3D space.
Called the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, the hologram projector uses an ultrasound phenomenon called acoustic radiation pressure to create a pressure sensation on a user's hands, which are tracked with two Nintendo Wiimotes. As the researchers explain, the method doesn't use any direct contact and so doesn't dilute the quality of the hologram. The researchers, led by Hiroyuki Shinoda, currently have the technology on display at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans.
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Technorati tags: Holodeck, hologram

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am a Master's of Teaching student at Liberty University who enjoys techology and is a StarTrek fan. More the concepts than role playing. In any event, I was curious about holographic technology that may be applied in education. I was actually surprised to see this.

I believe that virtual media in teaching will lead students 50 years from now in educational directions that are well advanced and directly applied to real problems.

For instance being able to stand in an XYZ defined experiment able to push at various coordinate points and seeing how thouse changes take place in real time can save time in applied research.

Children who might use such technology could move mathematical concepts around such as fractions etc to see immediate results and gain spacial understanding.

History is another area that would come to life with this futuristic learnin tool. Students today have the History and Discovery Channels, which present history alive. However, the next generation elementary, middle, and high schools may well be testing grounds for this incredible technology that could allow students to be inside a molecule and move atoms around with active bonds.

In any event, this is exiting as I begin my road in my second career of education.

Nate S.
Charlottesville, Virginia