In a previous post I talked about holograms as a thing of the near future. I was wrong, they’re here now. Watch the video below to see how Microsoft’s Holo Lens is being teamed with Actiongram to create sci-fi right now:
If that video clip is anything to go by, the interface is still in its infancy, but given the speed with which things like 3D printers have become mainstream, I expect real life holograms to become an everyday reality within five years…and that may be a conservative estimate.
One thing I am sure of is that hologram technology will change how we work, rest and play. I wonder how much money I have in my piggy bank….
Meeks
Authors' favourite books
NANO 2012
April 8th, 2016 at 2:00 am
Oooh. Can’t. Wait. Of course, this means REALLY immersing yourself in a book, right??? 😀
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April 8th, 2016 at 4:46 am
Well, books and games/VR work in two different paradigms i think. A book tries to hook you in by presenting a well crafter story and letting your imagination take over, while a game/VR/any interactive thing, tries to present it’s story directly to you in creating a world and showing it to you. So in modern interactive experiences, you can’t really imagine a world that’s different than the one shown to you.
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:53 am
Yup, I agree but it could provide a brand new way of telling a story. MMOs like FFXIV do it already by making your character an integral part of the cutscenes. This would be similar but taken to the nth degree by making the whole story a ‘cutscene’.
I think there would still be a place for imaginative reading though. At least I hope so.
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:51 am
Actually I’m with George on this one – wouldn’t it be more like an interactive movie rather than a book? Or actually…it would be more like a game where you, the ‘reader’ become the character. Would have to be first person pov though, I think. Hmm….
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April 7th, 2016 at 10:26 pm
Now if only I could send my hologram or avatar to work and I could stay home and sleep!
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:48 am
lmao! Yes, that would be the ultimate. If you work it out please let me know!
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April 7th, 2016 at 7:19 pm
I can’t wait to get my hands on one of those kits. Microsoft has a presence here in the form of research/educational centers and Unity already has support for the damn thing.
I’ve been gathering information for a couple of years now on a project i want to do with augmented reality (which i prefer, because it doesn’t cut you completely off.) I’m still waiting for holograms without head gear though.
One thing that worries me though (and it isn’t shown in promotional videos) is how tired you’d be with the control scheme. Because you are using something that makes you want to be physically involved, but the controls so far are either with head tracking, or with a gamepad. In the most advanced cases, you get a control wand or something similar.
But imagine making actual content like 3D models in that environment so that you can get it looking right on the first try or at least close to that.
You’d get one hell of a workout. Flailing your arms to make all the gestures. Demos from most companies show premade assets and the user is just loading those in and then manipulating them.
Samsung is also developing a pair of headphone like devices that will manipulate your hearing to throw you off balance. So when in your virtual world you have a bobbing ship, you’ll feel that bobbing with the use of that device. Because you know, how fun is it otherwise if you don’t get to barf on a fake ship?
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:43 am
lmao – oh I love that bit about barfing! As someone with a weak stomach, I hope it’s an option you can opt OUT of. As for the point about the physical workout, I think that could actually be a major selling point.
When the Wii first came out I was /almost/ tempted to get one because it promised the possibility of actually moving as you play.
-cough- my waistline could probably use a good workout. 🙂
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April 7th, 2016 at 6:11 pm
Hold on there techie, me no understand. What are these holograms for, what do they do? Does all this air clicking and head moving count as exercise? I need to know.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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April 7th, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Ditto.
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:48 am
-giggles- What I said to David!
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:40 am
At the moment it’s all just ‘a game’ – arranging pre-made 3D figures in your own space. But in time, holograms could take the place of input devices such as the keyboard and mouse. E.g. instead of pointing and clicking at something on a screen, you would point and ‘tap’ something that only appears as a hologram. BUT it would act as if it were real. At least, that’s my take on it.
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April 8th, 2016 at 11:59 pm
There were many attempts at that with musical instruments, Meeks – playing spatial movement, as it were – none of which caught on. In the end, the tactile interaction seems to win, at least it has for musicians. I’m not convinced that as creatures of sentience, it necessarily assists us to bypass one of our basic five physical senses. That said, there doubtless are countless applications where having no physical contact is a benefit, or even a necessity perhaps.
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April 9th, 2016 at 10:08 am
As someone who loves music, I’d have to agree about the tactile contact with an instrument. You just can’t get the range of expression with an electronic keyboard, for example, because what it is capable of is standardized. With other things though…I’m not so sure.
As a gamer, I’m already capable of suspending disbelief for quite long periods of time using only sight, sound [and sometimes] a kind of force feedback from the controller. And that’s 2D sight. Once 3D becomes the norm in games, the immersion factor will sky-rocket.
Now imagine that I’m building a simple box using holograms, and imagine that the tech allows me to /feel/ its shape via some kind of force feedback mechanism. After a while I could easily imagine feeling that that box was real.
Of course, the problem with designing something only in VR is that VR can’t show all of the tiny imperfections of a real world object. Inspiration, however, can often spring from things that are wrong rather than things that are right.
Hmm…now there’s an idea to explore in a story. 🙂
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April 7th, 2016 at 11:35 am
Lots of new technologies are coming very, very soon. I worked for a virtual reality company back in 1993/94. That was a long time ago in VR time. I’m working for a new company right now and all the equipment is smaller, cheaper, faster, easier and better. A gamer dreamland!
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April 7th, 2016 at 7:24 pm
Ooor… reconstruction of ancient landscapes that are long gone 😀
And have school trips to places that you can’t possibly go.
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:47 am
Yes! As part of Innerscape I had this scene where Miira goes to Petra [in Jordan] via VR, mostly because that is what I would love to do. Then the Pyramids, The Great Wall of China, Kyoto, inside a volcano, on top of an iceberg…..I want it now!
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April 7th, 2016 at 11:23 am
Wow. That was pretty cool. I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the next couple decades. Things are happening so fast. Thanks for sharing.
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April 7th, 2016 at 12:40 pm
You’re very welcome. This new tech really is amazing. 🙂
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April 7th, 2016 at 9:58 am
It’s kind of mind-blowing to think of what we might have a decade from now.
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April 7th, 2016 at 10:02 am
I know! Part of me is like a kid with a new toy, really, really excited. The other part is going…’OMG…Innerscape will be outdated before I even publish it.’ And then the 63 year old me is going…’will I even be able to afford this wonderful new toy before I’m too old to enjoy it?’
Technology is definitely a double edged sword.
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April 7th, 2016 at 10:05 am
Ha, that it is!
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April 7th, 2016 at 7:22 pm
I think the hololens will be around 500-600 USD max.
There’s already a similar device called CastAR (doesn’t have as much freedom, you need a reflective surface for that one) that is around 400 USD.
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April 8th, 2016 at 9:45 am
Oh! Still too expensive for my budget atm but in a few years that price should come down significantly. Hmmm….. better start putting stuff into that piggy bank of mine. 😀
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