Saturday, May 13, 2006
The Heliodisplay
In the beginning of the movie Paycheck, the main character Michael Jennings reverse engineers a competitor's display technology and then improves upon it. As he is demonstrating his new "A-Life" 3D display technology, he is asked if the technology is the exact same technology as their competitor's. He says no, not exactly, since he realized that there was actually no need for the screen at all and the he proceeds to remove the screen and the image is left still being displayed. WOW! Cool stuff... Futuristic... not really. A similar technology has been available for awhile. The Cool Pick Of The Day goes to Heliodisplay.
The Heliodisplay technology has been around for at least a few years now. Every time I have explained the technology to people, they do the wand wave off and say "yeah yeah that'd be cool but come back to reality." Then I tell them, "But you have been able to buy and even rent them for over a year." Their whole attitude immediately changes with a look of excitement, then back to disbelief... It MUST be like $100,000 or something. Nope, actually last I checked I was quoted around $18,000 to buy (could be cheaper now). "NAHHHH, it's just vaporware," they say... "has anyone seen it?"" Yes! It is available today!
Not only have people seen the Heliodisplay, they have touched it. Yes folks, this image projection technology is interactive, like a touch screen. How does it work? The display technology is based on projecting an image onto a curtain of modified air. The air handling mechanism draws air into it and charges the air particles and aligns them, then blows them out so the projector can then reflect the image of them. Nothing is added to the air so there is no odors or particulates to worry about- they are just charged air particles. The projector can sense when something crosses the air curtain and that is how the display can sense touch. Using their Heliocast(TM) software with a USB connected computer, the touchscreen capability is available.
The projected image itself is 2-Dimensional. The image is a projection onto a planar air curtain but since their is no depth reference plane to compare it against, images can be easily made to look 3D. Images can be viewed from the front only at a 150 degree viewing angle from the front and the image resolution is from 800x600 - 1280x1024 and higher resolutions are possible and available with their enterprise solutions option. Its 30 inch diagonal viewing area can support both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. It can display the image up to 28 inches away from the Heliodisplay but its quality is best when the image stays within its normal specified 30" diagonal display area. Normal video connections are possible to the Heliodisplay so computer, TV and DVD outputs are simple. Since the image float without any reference color around them, it is best if they are large, bright, well defined images. Outdoor viewing is almost impossible since the air stream can easily be interrupted and the daylight will wash away the image. Though I don't see why the display can't be encased in glass and displayed at night.
Since the image is only visible from the front, it can be used for some interesting types of applications. For instance, a camera viewing a person from behind a Heliodisplay will never see the image on the display. In this way the Heliodisplay can be used like a teleprompter. It may be even possible for the Heliodisplay to project an image dark and solid enough to create a 1-way courtesy curtain.
The power requirements are normal and can on standard 110-220v power, so it can be used anywhere in the world. No special glasses need to be used to view the display and no special devices like gloves, pointed stylus, etc needs to be used to interact with the image. To use this display, your eyes and hands are the only thing needed. :)
The Heliodisplay technology has been around for at least a few years now. Every time I have explained the technology to people, they do the wand wave off and say "yeah yeah that'd be cool but come back to reality." Then I tell them, "But you have been able to buy and even rent them for over a year." Their whole attitude immediately changes with a look of excitement, then back to disbelief... It MUST be like $100,000 or something. Nope, actually last I checked I was quoted around $18,000 to buy (could be cheaper now). "NAHHHH, it's just vaporware," they say... "has anyone seen it?"" Yes! It is available today!
Not only have people seen the Heliodisplay, they have touched it. Yes folks, this image projection technology is interactive, like a touch screen. How does it work? The display technology is based on projecting an image onto a curtain of modified air. The air handling mechanism draws air into it and charges the air particles and aligns them, then blows them out so the projector can then reflect the image of them. Nothing is added to the air so there is no odors or particulates to worry about- they are just charged air particles. The projector can sense when something crosses the air curtain and that is how the display can sense touch. Using their Heliocast(TM) software with a USB connected computer, the touchscreen capability is available.
The projected image itself is 2-Dimensional. The image is a projection onto a planar air curtain but since their is no depth reference plane to compare it against, images can be easily made to look 3D. Images can be viewed from the front only at a 150 degree viewing angle from the front and the image resolution is from 800x600 - 1280x1024 and higher resolutions are possible and available with their enterprise solutions option. Its 30 inch diagonal viewing area can support both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. It can display the image up to 28 inches away from the Heliodisplay but its quality is best when the image stays within its normal specified 30" diagonal display area. Normal video connections are possible to the Heliodisplay so computer, TV and DVD outputs are simple. Since the image float without any reference color around them, it is best if they are large, bright, well defined images. Outdoor viewing is almost impossible since the air stream can easily be interrupted and the daylight will wash away the image. Though I don't see why the display can't be encased in glass and displayed at night.
Since the image is only visible from the front, it can be used for some interesting types of applications. For instance, a camera viewing a person from behind a Heliodisplay will never see the image on the display. In this way the Heliodisplay can be used like a teleprompter. It may be even possible for the Heliodisplay to project an image dark and solid enough to create a 1-way courtesy curtain.
The power requirements are normal and can on standard 110-220v power, so it can be used anywhere in the world. No special glasses need to be used to view the display and no special devices like gloves, pointed stylus, etc needs to be used to interact with the image. To use this display, your eyes and hands are the only thing needed. :)
# posted by TheGuardian : 8:48 PM
