Jinx: Wolfenstein 3D did not have a Z coordinate, in Doom one could set floor and ceiling height and specify how far down/up the walls should extend. Players and monsters would then correctly follow the floor level (or fly).

The 3D environment (think of it as being inside a box rather than on top of a playing field) was correctly displayed from a first person perspective and you could move in it in all 3 directions. Aiming and shooting (and lighting and determining LOS) was 2D.

Wolfenstein - 3D display, 2D movement and aim.
Doom - 3D display and movement, 2D aim.
Quake - 3D all three counts. And mouselook.

All other FPSs ever - small improvements in graphics and gameplay :-)

The Ti DLP chip is the most commercially successful MEMS device created. I own a DLP projector(720p) and a rear projection Mitsubishi DLP TV (1080p). I like that DLP chips can give you 3D (in a checkerboard pattern) basically for "free", and it looks better, IMHO, than other 3D displays which also use active-shutter glasses.

Some nitpicking - most home DLP projectors use a 6-color wheel, not 3.

He also didn't mention that most digital movie theaters use DLP - although this is a a more expensive system, because there are 3 light sources and 3 DLP chips (RGB) instead of having a color wheel - and they are larger chips with more mirrors.

I was thinking it was more like a super powerful version of this....
http://videosift.com/video/3D-Display-Projects-Images-Into-Mid-Air-No-Screen
That removes all the need for lightsaber-proof material to make one, and explains how the length and shape are created.
I must admit, I have not looked deep into Star Wars lore to see what their explanation is.

>> ^Asmo:
>> ^lucky760:
How is this accomplished? (I don't know how to use google.)

My guess is the focal point of the laser causes the molecules at that point to become plasma which radiates a pinpoint of light, making it a pixel (is a 3d pixel still a pixel?) in the space. Create many pixels in all 3 dimensions, you have a 3d hologram.
The air image is much cleaner (you can't see the lines trailing in/out) because there are far less molecules in the way to bleed off the laser as opposed to water.


I guess its a voxel.

>> ^lucky760:

How is this accomplished? (I don't know how to use google.)


My guess is the focal point of the laser causes the molecules at that point to become plasma which radiates a pinpoint of light, making it a pixel (is a 3d pixel still a pixel?) in the space. Create many pixels in all 3 dimensions, you have a 3d hologram.

The air image is much cleaner (you can't see the lines trailing in/out) because there are far less molecules in the way to bleed off the laser as opposed to water.

>> ^soulmonarch:

He talks about digital signage and hospitals, but we all know what it will REALLY be used for:
Porn and videogames.

Advertising first.

Your video, 'True 3D' Display Using Laser Plasma Technology, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 43 Badge!

I hope so. I'd guess they used a 60Hz cam to record a 24Hz or so hologram; otherwise, this video would be irrelevant.

>> ^elrondhubbard:

Cool! But the video flickers so much it's kinda hard to watch -- near seizure material. Hopefully that's just a frame rate mismatch between the 3D projector and the video camera, and the image would look much steadier in person.

GIMMICK! Gaming always has these cycles of little peripherals, control schemes, etc. that at best contribute a few fun experiences, but are always are advertised as revolutionary, incredible things that will forever change way we play games.

Some examples:
Nintendo Power Glove (NES) - worthless as a controller, for any purpose

Light Gun (NES) - Games worth playing that used the light gun: Duck Hunt

Super Scope (SNES) - the Super Nintendo version of the light gun, minus anything worthwhile to play with it

3D/"Virtual Reality" goggles, Virtual Boy (var.) - the next "big thing" is always 3D displays through glasses or head-mounted displays. Reality: the hardware has always detracted from the experience, ranging from mildly annoying at best to instant motion sickness / vomit-inducing nightmare. Good 3D software engines displayed on a flat 2D screen actually *did* revolutionize gaming in a way these likely never will.

Dance Pad/Mat control (Dance Dance Revolution, etc.) - Makes kids exercise! Watch all the fatties lose weight! Sound familiar? Reality: niche appeal, niche market, fatties stay fat

Guitar Hero guitar controllers - Kids learn to appreciate music! They can develop musical talent! Reality: learn to play a faster-paced, vaguely guitar shaped version of Simon!


I don't mean to suggest that some of these things aren't fun. However, I think this sort of thing is guaranteed to have at best a pretty quick flash-in-the-pan sort of popularity. The best ones are instances where the peripheral is designed to work and work well with one given game or type of game, and the cost of that niche input method is just added in to the price of the game it was designed for.

To me, Nintendo was insane to base the entire market viability of the Wii around motion control. Competitors will develop their own solutions (Kinect, for example) and steal away some of the surge of motion control novelty attraction. Once the novelty wears off people will realize that the controllers, keyboard and mouse, joysticks etc. that have been used as input methods for 30+ years have been around that long because they aren't gimmicks, they actually *(&%ing work.

/rant over
//get off my lawn

LOL, reminds me of that old saying - how to look busy when your boss walks past at work...

"..if your boss if walking past your desk and you need to look busy, just pick up some papers from your drawer, and flip through them whilest swearing under your breath, then put them back in the drawer" LOL

_Hacking in movies, its always either a HAL10000 super computer with 9 monitors, and 3D displays, or a glorified ticker tape machine...

Dont forget, you can store your excel spreadsheets on your XBOX and access them by playing PoP...

2d is perfect for now, at least untill we will have useable 3d displays, the thing that they should focus on is that we still use just one "finger", multi touch is the key.

Taken from Bluesnews.com (an excellent geek site, and they link a lot of their media from VS)

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2006/08/06/japanese-scientists-create-true-3d-display/

"Any sort of technology that uses precisely aligned, intersecting infrared lasers to create small amounts of plasma tends to worry us a little, seeing as plasma is, well, quite hot. That hasn’t stopped the folks at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) from developing a true 3D display using this very technique. The device, on display at SIGGRAPH 2006, is able to produce up to 100 dots per second, which in turn are used to create a true, three dimensional image."