Aussie Speaker Promises Holographic 3D Sound
Why acoustic hologram generators and not speakers? I put that question to Joe Hayes, managing director of Accoustic3D, and his claim was that is was essentially “just to put a wedge between us and the other 5,000 speaker makers in the world.” Hayes’ claim is that the sound quality that you’ll get out of Accoustic3D’s speakers “is equal to that which you’ll get from much higher priced speakers.”
As an example, the model that Hayes will first bring to market, the $US999 Emergence 2.1 speaker system is, so he claims, “equal in quality to some systems costing $100,000. Real audiophile stuff for under a grand”. ...
A 2.1 speaker system might not sound that enticing, but Hayes’ claim is that it’s very specific marketing, with an eye towards buyers of products such as soundbars. “The emergence’s hologram makes 5.1 look ordinary, but we will look at a 5.1 system in the future”.
Hayes estimates that the Emergence system should go on sale sometime in May for sale both online and in traditional retailers, with the possibility of a higher power signature series and potentially an AirPlay compatible model down the track in 2012.
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The Robot That Can Leap Over Asteroids
The world’s most amazing athlete works for NASA. Meet the gigantic, six-legged, tool-wielding robot that can hop around an asteroid. Tiger Woods ain’t got nothin’.
The robot you see in the video is a half-scale model of a vehicle that NASA wants to send on a human mission to the moon. Half. This thing is 4m tall. It’s naked in the video, but when it eventually launches, it’ll have a payload on its back. It’ll probably house a ton of tools and gear, and even temporary space for a crew of one or two. It’s the lunar rover’s mutant, roboinsectoid big brother, and it’s incredible. ...
Oh, and it does all of this in 3D. ATHLETE is a super-spider (with six legs, I know. Maybe it was in a fight?). Not only does it have tons of eyes, but the eyes all come in pairs, enabling perhaps the only useful implementation of 3D ever. The drive cameras, hazard avoidance cameras (haz-cams), and tool cams are all stereoscopic. When you’re navigating a foreign world, two dimensions aren’t going to cut it. You need depth-perception. You need to see the world as if you were standing there. ...
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AR goggles make crime scene investigation a desk job
CRIME scene investigators could one day help solve murders without leaving the office. A pair of augmented reality glasses could allow local police to virtually tag objects in a crime scene, and build a clean record of the scene in 3D video before evidence is removed for processing.
The system, being developed by Oytun Akman and colleagues at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, consists of a head-mounted display receiving 3D video from a pair of attached cameras controlled by a laptop carried in a backpack. This arrangement lets the wearer see their surroundings as normal while also allowing them to overlay virtual objects, which are placed using hand gestures.
A menu appears to float over the left hand when the wearer holds it in front of them. Moving the left hand back and forth selects from a variety of tools, while the right hand serves as a pointer to tag objects in the scene, like blood spatter or bullet holes. The system stores the markers as part of a 3D model of the scene, which investigators can use to help their investigation. It may also be admissible in court as evidence.
If the person wearing the glasses requires assistance, they can contact someone back in the lab who can watch their video stream, speak to the wearer through a headset and place markers in the scene using a mouse and keyboard. This would also allow a police officer to take the first look around a crime scene.
...
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USA: Samsung and LG boost 3D LCD market share as Japanese rivals tumble
The latest TV sales figures for the North American market show Samsung and LG opening up a huge lead over their Japanese rivals in the 3D LCD market. Almost three quarters of the market is now sewn up by the two Korean companies, while the likes of Sony and Panasonic have seen their shares tumble.
In the first quarter of last year, the combined 3D market share held by LG and Samsung was 56%, but in the final three months of 2011 that rose to 73%.
Meanwhile the combined market share of the Japanese manufacturers, including Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba fell from 43% in the first quarter of the year to just 25% in the last three months, according to market research company NPD.
In the overall flatscreen market, which also includes 2D models, the Korean companies had a 34% share in October-December last year, while the Japanese share slipped to 24%. ...
However one significant figure shows how fast LG is catching up with its Korean rival in the 3D TV market, thanks to its commitment to the less expensive 'passive glasses' film-type patterned retarder (FPR) technology.
Samsung's last-quarter 3D market share in the States was 46%, down slightly from its 48% in the first three months of last year, while LG's share of the same sector surged from 8% in January-March 2011 to 27% in the last three months of the year.
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LO3D Launches 3-Lens 3D Camera System
The popularity of 3D photography may soon get a boost from a new 3D camera and photofinishing system that was unveiled at International CES by Hong Kong-based LO3D.
The company is covering all phases of professional and consumer digital 3D photography, ranging from specially developed cameras to a 3D photo lab processor.
The 3D cameras include a three-lens consumer (six lenses in a professional version) point-and-shoot model, which will ship bundled with an 8-inch glasses-free 3D digital photo frame.
For those who want hard-copy 3D prints, LO3D also introduced an all-in-one photofinishing processor. The processor, which is intended for photo labs, will produce lenticular 3D prints from both LO3D’s cameras as well as traditional twolens 3D cameras. It will also perform conventional 2D photo processing for multipurpose production requiring limited floor space. ...
The LO3D photo processor uses traditional chemicals, but the company has developed a special multilayer printing paper to produce images from its three- and six-lens cameras.
The developing process is said to be very easy and fast.
The LO3D paper uses a lenticular plastic that is part of the media, eliminating the need to laminate the back as occurs with more traditional 3D printing methods. ...
The all-in-one processor will sell for $75,000. The three-lens 3D camera will be sold as part of a kit with the 8-inch digital photo frame for a $300 suggested retail. ...
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Apple bring 3D into the real world
The world of 3D is branching out from movies and television into our everyday lives. Apple have just released the i-Glass - a pair of regular looking spectacles, which allow the wearer to experience real life in 3 dimensions.
Users will now feel like they are immersed in their own world and enjoy the amazing sense of perspective; making them feel like they are surrounded by actual objects which are different distances away from them.
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Hugo Gets a DVD Release Date!
Paramount announced today that Martin Scorsese's Hugo will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on February 28. ...
The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday February 26, a mere two days before the dvd release date. ...
HUGO Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
The HUGO Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The DVD in the combo pack is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround, Spanish 5.1 Surround and English Audio Description and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The combo pack includes access to a digital copy of the film as well as the following:
Blu-ray
-Feature film in high definition
-Shoot the Moon (The Making of Hugo)
-The Cinemagician, Georges Melies
-The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo
-Big Effects, Small Scale
-Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime
DVD
-Feature film in standard definition
HUGO Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
The HUGO Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo pack includes all of the above, plus a Blu-ray 3D presented in 1080p high definition with English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The Blu-ray 3D includes the feature film presented in high definition and 3D.
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Sony Working on Binaural 3D Sound in Cinematography
Sony have worked on a short music video that has used binaural sound to give a very nice rich 3D sound with wonderful dramatic complete depth and volume. Pop your headphones on for the 3 videos as Sony take you on ride showing you what it is like to be a member of the band and explain to you the technology that is used to capture and share the experience of being there using 3D cinematic sound.
See the three videos here:
Sony's binaural sound is explained further here:
Scorsese talks tech at DGA
Martin Scorsese believes "Hugo," a 3D film set in the year 1930, is a precursor -- one that shows his fellow directors need to adjust to 21st century technologies as soon as possible.
"3D is not a gimmick," Scorsese asserted at Saturday's Directors Guild of America panel for nominees for the guild's feature award. "It's the way we see life. Use it."
Scorsese told the capacity crowd of more than 400 at the DGA headquarters that his enthusiasm for 3D goes back to his youth -- even before such films as Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder."
"I'm a 3D fanatic," he added. "It goes back to the Viewmaster."
Asked by moderator Jeremy Kagan what advice he'd give to young directors, Scorsese first turned to humor...
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The Motion-Sensitive Painting
“Still Life” is an interactive art piece by Scott Garner. “Years ago, I had the idea of a still life painting that wasn’t so still, but could never quite wrap my head around how to build it. After various experiments and explorations, I settled on Unity 3D as the ideal tool to make it happen,”[1] states Garner.
The scene itself consists of a camera tied to the sensor data with all lights and objects parented to it so they rotate in unison.
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