The 3D rendered scene is then displayed through a half silvered mirror and this allows people to reach under the mirror and interact with the projected 3D objects in various ways. Did I lose you at the Holodesk point? If so, then take a hop, skip and jump to check out the video. It’s completely astounding and amazing the way technology is advancing and by adding the Kinect, the possibilities are endless.
From Steve Clayton of Next at Microsoft Blog:
My favorite is Holodesk, a research project out of the Sensors and Devices group at Microsoft Research Cambridge. I won’t attempt to describe what it does in great detail, except to say that with Holodesk you can manipulate 3-D, virtual images with your hands. Whilst this is only a research project at this stage, I can envisage future applications in areas such as board gaming, rapid prototype design or perhaps even telepresence, where users would share a single 3D scene viewed from different perspectives. I know it sounds very Star Trek but this is not science fiction.
For the record, the Holodesk isn’t the only 3-D interaction experiment out there. But what sets it apart from the rest is the use of beam-splitters and a graphic processing algorithm, which work together to provide a more life-like experience. The video provides a much better explanation, so I’ll leave the explanation at that.
Engadget spotted the pad in the wild and claim it’s a prototype device made by Microsoft Research Asia. The charging pad is named “uPad” and was produced in limited numbers as a souvenir for Microsoft Research Asia’s 10th anniversary. It’s not yet clear whether the device will be mass manufactured or released outside of Asia. Microsoft officials were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
Microsoft applied for a patent for the device last year which was spotted this week. According to the patent, devices can be placed on any side of the pad for wireless charging, inductively. The device will use the inbuilt accelerometer to detect which part is facing up to send the charge. The pad will also include an OLED screen to display information such as news and sports headlines and weather information.
Image from the patent application
Powermat devices currently offer similar features by using a combination of wireless induction charging, magnetic alignment and RFID handshake. Powermat offers replacement battery covers and batteries for devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry and Nexus One. The technology works by aligning magnetic points to a desktop pad that completes an RFID handshake to determine the exact amount of power required for the device. The device is then charged using electromagnetic fields to transfer energy between two objects
