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Laser Beams!
09 May 2004 by Jeffrey Kalmikoff
I guess I’ve been fascinated with lasers ever since I was a kid. Maybe it spawned from being plopped down in front of so many science fiction movies and TV programs. Now, this fascination never drove me to a career in lasers, or even motivated me to experiment with the technology (except for the laser pointer I had in the 10th grade until it was confiscated by my Health teacher) - but the wide-eyed amazement always returns when I see them used in interesting ways.
As of late I’ve been noticing the use of lasers in technology that has crept more and more into the realm we would call ‘everyday’ objects/use. A while back, Wired reported on the possible use of laser technology by police for a “prototype of a weapon that shoots laser beams to stop criminals in their tracks”. A couple weeks back, BBC News online reported the advent of laser vision. LASER VISION!. The technology uses a laser to project images directly onto your retina, essentially overlaying an image directly on top of what you’re naturally looking at. Everyone say it with me… “I’ll be back.” Can you imagine the possibilities? Plus, it hasn’t made anyone go blind (yet)!
Finally, in one of the more practical use of lasers (though, it would probably make the tips of your fingers incredibly sore)… the Virtual Keyboard. This technology “leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, it analyzes what you’re typing by the coordinates of that location”. Pretty neat.
However, this all begs the question: “is it too much to ask to get sharks with friggin’ laser beams attached to their heads?”
11 comments so far (Post a Comment)
09 May 2004 | Dr Evil said...
Using these "lasers" we punch a hole in the protective layer round the world, which we call "the ozone layer."
09 May 2004 | Geoff said...
At the last Flash Forward there was a guy there showing off some neat laser projection stuff. the unit was still about the size of a matchbox, plus power and whatnot, but it was pretty neat. he was projecting images into the wall. He said that colored lasers (blue in particular) were just getting to the point where they can be made really cheaply, so in the pretty near future we should start seeing color laser projectors that are really tiny.
Think about a cellphone with a tiny laser projector on it... you could show your friends all the pictures you took by projecting them onto the wall. Or maybe some little videos even?
09 May 2004 | Jeff Minard said...
Yeah, lasers are awesome. There's been recent sucessful test of lasers big enough ( and with enough of a targeting system) to be able to shoot down high flying missiles.
Star Wars v2 here we come! :D
I like the idea of having a little ear piece with a speaker, microphone going to my mouth, and a little "eye" piece extending just beyond my eye projecting a laser overlay in my vision. Top it off with a small video camera mounted right above the speaker connected to your shoe computer wirelessly and it's going to be really awesome.
Think about it - your PIM can scan and recognize a face, and then tell you who your talking to, when you last saw them, and important info - like childrens names, b-day, whatever. It'll be like having an IM info windo+history all at once. Oh how sweet.
Or even better: Look at a small bird - beep! - outline circles the bird, data on it's specie, age, whatever.
I also await the day when lasers come standard on tanks too :D Then again - i'd really love to see a battleship mounted rail gun tooo :D
09 May 2004 | Jonny Roader said...
"I also await the day when lasers come standard on tanks too :D Then again - i'd really love to see a battleship mounted rail gun tooo :D"
War as entertainment. Nice.
10 May 2004 | Andrew said...
I have a friend who works at MicroVision. they are looking into putting the technology into cell phones for mobile internet... it is suppose to be better then HDTV quality.
10 May 2004 | Andrew said...
Also, I know they have been able to get it to work with DVD players.
10 May 2004 | ~bc said...
You can have laser beams on sharks... for ONE MEEEELLION DOLLARS!
10 May 2004 | Bill Brown said...
Perhaps, then, you might be interested in yellow lasers?
10 May 2004 | Bill Brown said...
Oh, and here's the mp3.
10 May 2004 | Benjy said...
Man, I hope the laser keyboards are a success. I bought stock in the company (iBiz Technologies a few months ago after reading rave reviews about the product following the Consumer Electronics show in Jan.
10 May 2004 | TL said...
My cousin Rob invented some crazy green laser that can create 3d images.
There have been many approaches to real-time three-dimensional (3-D) imaging. Stereo techniques, include red-green or polarizing glasses, and holograms which can be displayed in real-time using acousto-optic modulators. The drawback of these techniques is that they are essentially 3-D images projected onto 2-D screens. Even at their best, they have substantially less than 180 degree fields of view. In contrast, volumetric displays can be seen through 360 degrees. Robert Batchko has developed (and will demonstrate) his patented "Volumetric Display" device that produces images inside a transparent acrylic cylinder. The effect is a bit like enclosing a model ship inside a bottle, which a person can view from any side, with the added benefit that a person could see the inner workings of the ship because the outside edges are largely transparent. Applications include air traffic control displays, medical imaging and 3-D entertainment (neat games).
Or, for the more scientifically inclined...
Electro-holographic and volumetric displays are current subjects of research for the auto- stereoscopic presentation of multi-variate information in real-time. Although both technologies offer robust psychological and physiological depth cues, discrepancies limit their usefulness to specific applications. This paper presents a multi-dimensional display system which, in dual modes, functions as both a 360$DGR electro-holographic stereogram (also known as cylindrical or multiplex electro-hologram) and volumetric display. The system alternately provides both holographic and volumetric images, with corresponding depth cues, in one display space.
Just imagine, a shark with lasers projecting life-size 3-D porno in the water. I'd bet that would get the turnstiles at the aquarium clicking.
