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Portal Screen

Enhanced experience viewing 3D CG environments, transforming any monitor.
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I had this idea 10 years ago (Quake 2 era) but lost all aspiration to develop or market it. Fitting three cheap but very responsive signal points to the viewers head or headphones, we could triangulate his eye's position relative to the screen in almost real time (after an initial calibration). This telemetric information could be fed into a 3D rendering engine and the image updated dynamically. Thus the screen would appear to be a window or portal through which the player is looking. Lean left and the view would expand on the right to see what was hidden by the right side of the screen; lean closer and the FOW would change to see more etc. If you'd like to develop it, make it well and sell it cheap! I hate to see new technology sold at very high prices, never reaching critical mass and fading back into obscurity. Bolly
Bolly, Feb 24 2007

TrackIR http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/
optical head tracking [nuclear hobo, Feb 25 2007]

TrackIR FOV http://www.youtube....watch?v=_AO0F5sLdVM
Watch 45-50 seconds in for translational movement. [MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 26 2007]


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       just spent a few mins bobbing and weaving in front of my screen to get what you mean- the change of perspective without just using a very large screen, but wouldn't you just be ableto use the 'lean right/left' button? and how does it track when you have another swig of your beer?
the dog's breakfast, Feb 25 2007
  

       I like this, just so long as you can detect eye position without have to stick things on your head.
ldischler, Feb 25 2007
  

       Baked (see link).
nuclear hobo, Feb 25 2007
  

       TrackIR seems similar, however it is entirely different. The best description I can think of is: Imagine being in a submarine and looking through a porthole, you'd have to lean left and right to get a better view of your surroundings. Better still, lean closer!
Bolly, Feb 25 2007
  

       I dunno, Bolly. TrackIR looked awfully like what you describe. Did you watch their YouTube demo video? Although the guy had a beard, he was leaning left and right, and forth and back, and the view on the monitor responded appropriately.
MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 25 2007
  

       I have seen the video on Youtube, their kit is good, but it does a different thing. Its all to do with FOW (field of view). Make an aperture with your fingers and look at a real 3D environment (your room). Now keeping your fingers still, move your head and see how the view changes on your "finger portal". Thats what I'm trying to simulate. Rotating your head would have little or no effect. I hope it makes sense now.
Bolly, Feb 26 2007
  

       The thing that TrackIR has on top of your idea is what they call "Motion Scaling" - the view on their screen reacts to an *amplified* version of the operator's movements. If you'd turn that off, it would pretty much be your idea.
jutta, Feb 26 2007
  

       Hi Bolly, The TrackIR demo *did* show field-of-view shifts as well as rotation. If you look about 45 seconds into the first of their demo videos, the guy shifts from side to side and the screen mirrors this. Later in the same video he moves in and out (closer to/ further from the screen), and again the image responds, just as if the screen were a window onto a larger 3D scene beyond. They specify six degrees of freedom, which is the three translations as well as the three rotations.   

       I think it's a good idea, but it's baked. Now, if the software could use a Webcam to figure out your head's angle and position, avoiding the need to wear reference-points, that would be good.
MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 26 2007
  

       How come FOW stands for field of view?
Texticle, Feb 26 2007
  

       It comes from being too engrossed in the "portal" effect, and leaning forward to see the widest possible view: "This is incredible, I can lean forward and the f..OW!"
MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 26 2007
  

       The main source is Easter European languages, as there is no difference between v and w. To this day i struggle with words like view, wow, woven, wave etc. I stand corrected: FOW it is, oh bugger I did it again.
Bolly, Feb 26 2007
  

       /Easter European languages/   

       Bunny for you! And welcome to the HB.
bungston, Feb 26 2007
  


 

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