Mixing reality and VR

[giza]

omnibahumut gave this to me. It's badass:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3857855347623051125

The speaker is a bit hard to understand, but there are some nifty effects a few minutes into the intro that mix VR objects (cars, helicopters, etc.) with actual real life objects that are on a table.

The idea is nothing new; I remember reading about this back in 1994. But back then, computers that were powerful enough to do something like that cost way too much. Technology is cheap enough now to make such a thing possible, however.

I, for one, welcome our VR-based helicopter overlords.

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

I noticed right away that VR objects the guy is holding are all superimposed over his full image, instead of vanishing behind the other hand..

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

Its still quite faciating, and I'm not sure how they're doing that..

[zeeth_kyrah]

Note the cable coming out of his sleeve. He's probably holding a pointer or other positional device that the system is reading from. What'd be extra cool is if the system could read a laser pointer and translate that in real-time.

[giza.livejournal.com]

What siege said. There are probably at least 3 sensors that are also tracking his hand and triangulating the position. Add them in with a sensor that tracks where the camera is pointed, and it's pretty straightforward to draw the graphic at the appropriate place on the screen.

[nightfurson.livejournal.com]

Neat stuff! I'm bothered I saw it from the "Whose line is it anyway" styled shows first, lol. I can wait to see how this technology would apply to videogames... *shivers*