siggraph2010
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Glowing Pathfinder Bugs installation puts the 'Minority Report' interface to good use - in a sand box (video)
Nestled among the various booths at SIGGRAPH 2010 visitors got to check out a unique installation called Glowing Pathfinder Bugs. Created by Squidsoup and Anthony Rowe, this interactive art piece uses projectors to place "bugs" made out of light in a sandbox, coupled with a 3D gesture-based interface that allows people to pick up, move, and even breed the creatures. The system even takes the topography of the sand itself into consideration: altering the sand will alter the bug's path. It's nice to see someone put an interface technology to good use for a change! Video after the break.
Acroban: the childlike robot you want to punch (video)
We see a lot of robots around here. But few can evoke emotion without resorting to a doe-eyed visage or plush, Dough-Boy bodice. That's what makes Acroban so interesting. Dispensing with the cheap parlor tricks, Acroban still comes across as child-like, playful, seemingly dependent upon your care and guidance. Cute, even though it's a quivering mass of aluminum, wire, and servos with a questionable taste in headwear. Doesn't mean you won't punch it in the pie hole now and again just to show it who's boss -- it is a murderous robot after all. See what we mean after the break.
Sony's 360-degree RayModeler 3D display brings its glasses-free act to LA, plays Breakout (video)
Sony talked up its cylindrical no-glasses 3D 360-degree prototype display last fall, and now it's showing off the tech, dubbed RayModeler 3D, on US soil at SIGGRAPH 2010 through tomorrow. A major bonus of that showcase is an English language video -- embedded after the break, plus a hands on including a game of Pong Breakout from Core77 and our videos from the Japanese exhibition -- showing how it all works, including the eight-camera rig and turntable that capture objects in 45-degree separations before they are interpolated to create a continuous 360-degree motion image. Sony claims this is the first of its type capable of high quality images, full color and interactive live motion -- check it out and imagine keeping a tiny 3D pet or floating, disembodied head on your bedside table, where it can respond and react to your every gesture. We wouldn't want our blip-verts any other way.%Gallery-76236%
Tactile display allows you to 'feel' both light and shadow
The concept of touching things such as light or smells isn't anything new, but there's so much room for interpretation that it's always interesting to see new applications. At Siggraph 2010, a new tactile display is being shown off which allows the user to feel light and shadow. Called Touch Light Through the Leaves, the device consists of a camera which detects light, and 85 vibration units, which have motors, process the light and shadow information into sensations. Check out the video below to see it in action, and hit up the source link for a bit more info.