mbk@netcom.COM (Miles Kehoe) (04/06/91)
I recently got a newsletter from a financial service which wants to sell me their service and advice on stock picks, coming trends and other fiction... However, this month it mentions a very interesting product recently shown at a 'tech show' in LA (that's California, not Louisiana) which the company will be releasing 'soon'. The company is 'With Design in Mind' (WDIM on OTC, recent price $6) and, up until recently their claim to fame was the funny 'plasma balls' sold in the trendy parts of big department store electronics departments. Their new product, which they seem to have demonstrated at this nameless LA show is an aquarium sized container. This container can project 3-d images within the acquarium (color, I believe) *like* holograms but 'not' holographic. These images apparently can be animated, and don't have to be 'near' the thing(s) they are projecting. The first application shown at the show was for department stores to show very expensive jewelery, etc... when you reach out to pick up the diamonds, your hand passes thru them. Finally, a safe way to show precious jewels! It also seems that WDIM has also hired a couple of hot-shot computer game programmers.... with some interest in arcade-type games - in which you will be a character in a 3-d playing field... I'll let your imagination take it from here - project a control panel with some non-intrusive sensors.... and you have a really nice 'holodeck' in a box. Now think of what you could do with a room sized holodeck.... Anyone else know anything about WDIM??
naimark@apple.com (Michael Naimark) (04/07/91)
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet this system uses a single standard video display reflected off of a large concave mirror, creating a real (as opposed to virtual) image floating in front of the mirror's surface. This has been used in the past for "floating genies" as well as the "floating nickel" illusion available at many science museum shops. It's a good hack when used well.