In a few years, computer users and gamers might get the option to be able to get touchy-feely with their monitors and tablet screen. Varying textures can be simulated on a display, and that may include the feel of a person’s skin. There’s no doubt that one particular entertainment industry will be excited in what can be developed from it, and that can bring new meaning to what kind of new simulations can be offered to the viewer. In essence, this new invention is a form of haptic technology, and its use in video games have been around for some time in the form of force-feedback motion-controllers.
In an early report by Gizmag in 2012, Disney Research and Senseg was reported to have developed a system where a user’s fingertips can sense a simulated bump on a flat screen. Now if that included 3D projection, the beginnings of hard light projection may well become a reality. Remember Rimmer from Red Dwarf? He’s a hologram with no ability to interact with his environment. Later in the series, his projection unit was modified so that his light body is more “tangible,” and thus be indestructible.
Projecting light onto other objects has been around for some time. What started as a simple way to show movies on a flat film screen has made way into installation art pieces. But now it is being used in a new way to put virtual makeup on people’s faces with the help of computers, 3D rendering and an array of light projectors. It is being called “Face Hacking,” and early demonstrations of this technology shows how light can be projected onto moving objects — in this video’s case, two human faces — and be updated fast enough to make it look like one person can transform into another. Just how it works is both entertaining and awe-inspiring.