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Tangible Display Makes 3D Touchable

Posted by Zonk on Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:07 PM
from the haptic-happenstance dept.
Displays Science Technology
moon_monkey writes "Researchers in Japan have developed a display that makes 3D objects solid enough to grasp. The system, created by engineers at Japan's NTT, combines a 3D display with a haptic glove, making 3D items that look real but also feel solid to touch. Two cameras are used to image an object, to make the 3D image. A computer also uses this to render a solid representation. It could be used to inspect products remotely, or even to shake hands with someone on the other side of the world, the researchers say."
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  • Did somebody say McDonald's? (Score:4, Funny)

    by UbuntuDupe (970646) * on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:09PM (#19712619) Journal
    And by "McDonald's", I of course mean "teledildonics" [wikipedia.org]?

  • How long until this is in the home? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jandrese (485) <kensama@vt.edu> on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:11PM (#19712641) Homepage Journal
    I think porn manufacturers just popped a woody. Making it feel "real" is probably a long way off though, especially for home use.

    • Knowing the pr0n industry, and guys in general - 5 years, tops.

      Then we'll be reading stories about people who die of starvation because they were so caught up in their cybersex world, that they forgot to eat, sleep, etc., and just died.

      And there will be clinics for cybersextoy addicts.

      And law suits.

      The big question for slashdotters, of course, is "Will it run linux?" This will be the first time they prefer Windows, because it can be depended to "go down on them" on a regular basis.

      And no, I don't want to imagine a Boewulf Cluster of them - it would be a REAL cluster-f*ck!

      • Don't forget RSI from remote sex0rz!
      • Luckily, Nature has a built-in cure for sex addicts, which is called the orgasm. After the event occurs, the subject's interest in sex naturally abates for a time, and they either roll over and fall asleep or go and see what's in the fridge.
      • > Then we'll be reading stories about people who die of starvation because they were so caught up in their cybersex world There was a story like this in the late 60's except it wasn't just cyber sex but people in telepresence/VR couches at living out the second lives at the cost of their first lives. I can still remember the description of a scene where this guy breaks into a house and finds mountains of cartons of commercial crap (e.g. "fizzy cola" and stuff you'd find on the shopping channel) ordered

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Wicko (977078)
      I will be the first person to ever receive a vjob.

    • Re:How long until this is in the home? (Score:5, Funny)

      by skinfitz (564041) on Monday July 02 2007, @02:00AM (#19714201) Journal

      Making it feel "real" is probably a long way off though, especially for home use.
      ...as opposed to work use..?
      • Work use being the ones they hinted at in the article. Letting molecular biologists touch and manipulate molecules that they're visualizing, etc...

        Additionally, the cheap home model will probably not be as good as an expensive commercial models.

  • Has to be said... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ushering05401 (1086795) on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:20PM (#19712717)
    Get money from pr0n kingpins. Bring them into the family and let them subsidize this tech/form their own group of researchers to specifically pursue porn related applications. It will get to market so much faster than if left to academics..

    My interest would be to explore new human/computer interactions (not like that sickos). The 2d nature of monitor systems is only slightly less annoying with the new 3d super gee whiz flying through space multiple workspace navigation systems.

    A haptic glove with sensitive feedback mechanisms and a graphical interface that allows organization of workspaces/workspace elements in an untethered 3d environment is something I have always wanted. Add in some good voice recognition and a chair designed so you can rest your arms while still retaining full range of motion with the gloved hand.

    It would be the interface of my dreams.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by snilloc (470200)
      The 2d nature of monitor systems is only slightly less annoying with the new 3d super gee whiz flying through space multiple workspace navigation systems.

      While 3d workspaces certainly would have their applications (medicine for instance), IMO for the average individual 3d would be merely re-creating the physical workspace that the 2d interface replaced. The 2d space is useful because it is an abstraction/simplification of the work that was previously done in 3d.

      • Telepresence as I understand it has unlimited engineering possibilities, not just medical (which is a specific type of engineering really, just a massively complicated one) but besides any industrial type usage it's mostly a social tool.

        I mean, really, as far as talking to people goes, the telephone is enough. It's the ultimate evolution in long distance communication taken as a basic concept.

        But.

        Videoconferencing is just so much nicer, you can see the smiles or the anger of the person on the other side, f
    • I don't think there's a geek in the world with the sheer physical strength [ok-cancel.com] to work with that interface for very long.

  • YESSSSSSSSS!!!! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    *runs out to buy lube*

  • Wait (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ZachMG (1122511)
    So does this mean that there is a possibility of realtime or "live" 3D encounters, no I do not think so. At this point it may be able to scan in one object and display it for feeling but doing it where new things can be scanned and created anywhere realtime would need processing power way beyond what we have so to all you sickos out there this probably wont be of much use if you like anything better then a plastic bag full of Vaseline.
    • I don't imagine any heavy processing requirements here. Collision detection on 3D objects is done in almost every 3D game. The nodes in the glove are equivalent to a few other moving game objects colliding with the 3d object in question. How many games have you seen that can handle that workload? Quite a few, I think.

      This article is B.S., though. This isn't a "tactile display", it's just a 3D display, much like we've had for decades, with a force feedback glove attached.

  • Tits? (Score:4, Funny)

    by imag0 (605684) on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:32PM (#19712827) Homepage
    Tits?

    Wake me when there's tits and we'll talk. /mmmm. downloadable b00bies.
      • Have you seen the Haptic Pen [royalsociety.org]. It provides feedback based on the type of material. A solid surface locks the system, while soft squishy materials just slow the pen down a bit.
  • Before we deploy this, could we make sure the safety systems work? Otherwise, I don't know how many crappy stories we'd hear about being trapped by them due to the commonly occurring alien weapon, energy burst, or 19th-century super-villain.
    • Oh, and can we make sure that the safeties can't be disengaged? Oh, unless we're being attacked by the Borg, in which case disengaging the safeties is a good thing.

  • Old news (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Scutter (18425) on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:43PM (#19712909) Journal
    I remember using a haptic glove like this at Comdex like 10 years ago. The display wasn't 3D, but other than that, it was essentially the same thing. The glove had force-feedback motors in each fingertip and when you grasped one of the objects on the screen, they provided tactile feedback representing mass, weight, and to a much lesser extent, texture. In the demonstration, you had to stack blocks of varying types. Very simplistic, but also very very cool. I always wondered where the tech went since I never saw it again after that.
    • Suddenly telecommuting opens new dimensions, like slapping your boss's avatar in the face (low tech version invented by the Japanese as well)
    • Last time I looked at them, they were hideously expensive and there was no applications for them (and yes, I suppose those two are related).

      Seems to be the case with a lot of things these days. People want to make the early adopters pay for the privilege of being first, that's fine, but you actually have to give away units to third party developers too, or you'll never get a killer app.

  • Non-pr0n applications (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Actually, I do RTFA (1058596) on Sunday July 01 2007, @10:49PM (#19712959)

    So, I'm the 14th person to comment, so I'm 14 people too late to point out the pr0n application. So here's a few nifty, but not dirty, uses:

    1. Music lessons on the computer.
    2. Virtual keyboard/mouse. Hey, that portable computer just became a lot closer.
    3. Controlling robots.

    Shoot, I'm sorry, I'm too excited about the pr0n application. Will these gloves be waterproof for easy cleaning?

  • Games, you momos! Yes, sex is fun, too, but games are fun... also... Yeah...

    Imagine wielding a "REAL" sword and having it slice through "REAL" flesh. Or... or... Damn it all, just forget what I just said. Sex is far better.
  • ...shortly thereafter, the human era will be ended.

  • Does it work this time? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Animats (122034) on Monday July 02 2007, @12:37AM (#19713655) Homepage

    This idea goes back a long way. I think it was first tried in the 1970s, using the input end of a remote manipulator arm intended for handling radioactive material. It's been done dozens of times since then. The problem is doing it well.

    We have enough compute power now to get the lag down to a few milliseconds, which was a big problem ten years ago. Then it's mostly a mechanical design problem. Most of the devices so far were too clunky. Is this one better?

  • Yes! (Score:3, Funny)

    by martin-boundary (547041) on Monday July 02 2007, @12:54AM (#19713785)
    Sweet setup! Im buying one as soon as they finish programming "Three Stooges: The Game" on that puppy!

  • Finally... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Heston (1122839) on Monday July 02 2007, @01:59AM (#19714197)
    A device which allows us to punch people in the face....OVER THE Internet!
  • Yes! Finally! Everyone was laughing when I said VRML was the future, now who's got the last laugh? h0 h0 h0!

    Hail the 3-touchable-red-cubes!

  • It could be used to ... shake hands with someone on the other side of the world.

    Fantastic! No more sweaty hands!
  • From the photo, the equipment on the hand looks like stuff from Immersion Corporation (http://www.immersion.com). You may remember Immersion as the company who won a lawsuit for the vibration technology in the Playstation controllers. GameDaily Biz has branded them as 'Patent Trolls'. However, it may not be their hardware - in which case please skip the next paragraph.

    The Cyberglove is a tight glove with flexion sensors to register finger position and thumb rotation. That would also lead me to believe that
  • This is NOT a 3D display which physically projects part of the screen to wrap your hands around it - this is basically a force-feedback glove with servo's on it to provide the force-feedback/touch resistance used in conjunction with a 2D flat-panel monitor providing a holographic display...

    Just clearing things up for people there - cuz its only the very top of TFA, and I'm sick of shitty headlines hyping old news just to generate page views on /. or some idiot blogger who *just* saw an article on tech we

  • 3d modeling. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jshriverWVU (810740) on Monday July 02 2007, @11:53AM (#19719069)
    Add support in blender or Maya and I'll be a happy camper. I've always wish there was a way of creating 3d models via a virtual 3d sphere that you could pull, and mold into an object vs doing it with a mouse and keyboard.

    • "In America, all 3D objects are solid enough to grasp.

      Darn, I'd hate to be flying in your fog!

      ... or trying to dive into your swimming pool.

      BTW, how's breathing that 2D air thing going?

    • Actually since the virtual surfaces are modeled in software, it all depends on the parametric model you are using. So, with the appropriate model, you can modify an object's feeling of "stiffness", or make it elastically deformable, change its texture, etc. Just like how 3D graphics can have objects with different textures, bump maps, and physical behaviour.

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