World's first 100 million voxel volumetric 3D display
31 July 2002
News
Actuality Systems, a developer of advanced 3D display technology, presented the results of the development of its spherical 3D display technology at the AeroSense 2002 Conference held earlier this year in Orlando. The breakthrough technology is believed to provide the highest resolution volumetric imagery ever developed.
The unique monitor, code-named Helios, is shaped like a 51 cm diameter globe and can show high-resolution colour images that appear to hover in space, allowing multiple users to move completely around the 360° display and view images from any angle.
Unlike some 3D displays that require special stereoscopic goggles to simulate multidimensional imagery, or flat-screen monitors that translate 3D data into flat 2D images, this technology is volumetric, meaning that instead of simulating the effect of 3D, it actually illuminates voxels throughout the full range of 3D locations inside the spherical display. Custom embedded graphics architecture also takes computational load off the user's workstation, allowing fully animated 3D imagery that can be controlled and manoeuvred from the keyboard.
The display has a resolution of approximately 100 million volume pixels or 'voxels'. Instead of flat square pixels, voxels also have depth. Resolution is defined in terms of a stack of flat slices arranged around a centreline like thin wedges of an apple around its core. The company uses special graphics-rendering algorithms to generate the extremely fast, high-performance scene drawing that is crucial for smooth animation.
The company says that some typical applications include: drug discovery; virtual prototyping; air-traffic control; surgical planning; battlefield visualisation; game development; and other possibilities.
For more information: www.actuality-systems.com
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