Japan's 'Helicopter Boyz' turn the Nikon S1000pj into something much more disturbing
By Paul Miller 
posted Nov 29th 2009 8:14AM
posted Nov 29th 2009 8:14AM
posted Nov 29th 2009 8:14AM
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Nice projectors.
But it's not clear how the projectors keep on aiming at the back screen when, say, the arms are being moved all over the place - I'd think some projecting would be done parallel to the screen, minimally, at times.
@(Unverified) nonetheless still very creative on their part.
@(Unverified) It could be a giant screen, but a Parallel projector would work too I guess.
@(Unverified) they did quite a good job there
How weird...am I "verified" now?
@Freakin Ijit
It's just well choreographed. You can actually see times when the projectors do turn to far the other way, especially the hand-forarm projectors.
that's just harsh... poor kids :(
@(Unverified) engadget's just trying to make us look. It worked.
cool
LOL! That just made my day!
that's pretty cool!
I think it was really good. Those pico-projectors are better than I thought.
its actually a pretty cool idea. engadget is a bit harsh...
Engadget is incompetent to make most of the introductions they make, most are designed to get people's goat. But that's a waste of time.
Very cool! Nikon should pay them handsomely!
ohhh...engadget is angry this morning. Pretty cool idea and those projectors are brighter than I thought.
@marksbigspamholder When they are rear projected on the screen, you can have as bright of a projector as you want.
@marksbigspamholder: I'm actually looking forward to pico projector fused products now. There'll be more stuff to compare when showing off gadgets to friends.
Very innovative use , i'd actually like to congratulate them.. Engadget can be a a bit harsh sometimes...
OMG! That's so awesome and pretty brilliant. Great vid. Great promotional if it is.
I'm just trying to figure out where this video gets disturbing.
@Gad Get
Maybe Engadget thinks cat and dog heads on the cheerleaders is crossing the line in to bestiality.
I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else.
Engadget, lighten up. That's a pretty innovative and awesomely creative use for both the cameras and the projectors. I bet you guys can't think of something better.
Very cool :)
Pretty nice camera. Will look into getting one.
Just wait until Kanye West sees those clothes. It's gonna be so much more disturbing..
The Helikopter Boyz were sent to this planet by a higher power to guide us and teach us how t0o protect the wahlez and forests from devistation not radio station.
(Too bad those odon and tuna chomping pubescents don't know how to dance.)
@Dr Yusuf AlKindi
They should at least know the mecha, I mean robot.
There is no way the projectors would be so stable on them when they are dancing around like that. At 0:26 you can see the layout of the cameras, how the bottom two are on their lower leg, but the 2:20 you can see them bend their leg up so the projector would be pointing up, yet the projection stays on the screen. Nifty idea, if it were real.
@turbo2ltr its real.
@richbumx cmon now. Ever hear of motion capture? They start out with one knee on the ground. You cant tell me that the projector is somehow still pointing at the bottom of the screen! When they get up, you clearly see the images come up from the bottom, just like a motion capture would catch it, not come down from the top. At 1:14 they are clearly twisting their legs yet the projected images stay perfectly in line. Its fake.
@turbo2ltr
It's real, it just seems to be too much for you to comprehend.
A single rear-projection (linked to motion capture) would not yield overlapping projections where the overlapped areas intensify in light. And simulating the effect of intensifying and focusing the image when moving closer to the projected surface, or washing out and blurring the image when moving away from the surface, would be far more complicated to set up.
Plus the lower cameras aren't mounted on their lower legs, more like just below the inner side of their knees. That means their leg movements have a bit of leeway, and as long as they point their knees back when picking up their legs, the images will still project onto the wall.
@turbo2ltr Yea, look at 2:03. They turn their heads, but the images stay on the screen.
@(Unverified) Too complicated? These are the Japanese we're talking about here, dude. They can figure it out. A simple video-editing software will allow them to "make it brighter" where two clips overlap, or lose focus when the clips get bigger or smaller. Like, have you ever seen The Matrix? Yeah, that came out 10 years ago. FAKE!!!
More thought - the animation has a framerate. If the projectors were shooting at the wall, there should be completely smooth movement of light.
@(Unverified) well either it's mo-cap or the Japanese have made it possible to project light through people.
At about 1:20 they move their arms in front of their bodies, and you can even see the camera on the wrist of the left one catch the light while it's almost totally facing the audience. The arm image stays on the screen and overlaps the chest image, which, without the aforementioned tech, is impossible.
I had thought it was real until I read all these comments, and I was still trying to explain the discrepancies away until I went back and looked again. The thing that sealed the deal for me is at about 2:38 the leg image of the right kid quickly jumps and changes its orientation, a movement not copied by the kid's leg.
@Voideka
it's impossible to fake this. They would need some way to track their movement. It's more likely that the projectors have stabilisation and tilt adjustment. As for the 2:38 "rotation" you mention, that's just portrait/landscape mode switch that pretty much every camera has these days, using an orientation sensor.
You have to admit the propellers on their heads were funny. It's just such wedgie bait. Oh it's kind of cute.
Nice catchy tune.
Is it real? Dang it there's always a kill joy out there. 2:20 he lifts his leg, doesn't bend it up. So it would stay on the screen as shown. It is real.
@dan he is lifting.. not bending his leg. its real. or are you stuck on the fact that they're instead timing the swaying left and right in exact rhythm as the "fake" background? if thats the case, they deserve even more credit because thats some excellent timing...
and why wouldn't the projectors be so stable on them? maybe you just work for kodak so you dont believe it.
@richbumx whoops. that was not for you dan, that was for the guy on top of you
@richbumx no problem Rich - I figured that out.
This is QUALITY!! GENIUS!
Very cool!!!
But...
I think the projections are coming from behind the screen. When they move their arms in front of their bodies at 1:21 they would be pointing the cameras away from the screens, and the projections would disappear. I think they are mo capped and rear projected.
But....
I could be wrong and these kids could be THAT awesome.
disturbing? awkward? everybody's a comedian on the internet. leave the comedy to maxim, engadget. this is cool and creative!
cool and very weird at the same time, i liked it though !
Such a lazy and clichéd move to just type "much more disturbing" about Japanese stuff and wander off.
Anyway...
On to something else:
It's getting harder and harder to believe it's real as I watch parts of it a second time. I mean, how can some of the images remain so steady, and even project evenly, if the boys' arms or legs move forward? It may be possible they're only using the projectors as sources for tracking through the screen, and projecting the images from behind. I want to believe, I really do, but moments like 2:25 where arms are in front of legs make me wonder.
kinda creepy if you ask me... though I find it interesting at the same time.
Dis..turbing? no not really, but pretty awesome to watch
Fake or not it was pretty cool and well made. The kids looked like they were having fun throughout the whole process, and thats what matters right?
that was awesome