Holus Aims To Put A Holodeck On Your Tabletop

[Fanghawk]

Holus Aims To Put A Holodeck On Your Tabletop

H+ Technology's Holus won't just make holograms, it will generate them from content you're using on traditional devices.

For years, members of The Escapist's Science & Tech team have asked a single question: When, exactly, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/holodeck>can we get our Star Trek holodecks? Sadly, it turns out <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/hologram>making convincing holograms is a lot harder than we thought, but maybe it's safer to start small. Like tabletop small. That's the principle behind H+ Technology's Holus - an interactive display that turns your 2D digital content into holograms. All you'd need to do is connect your computer or mobile device, and the Holus would extrapolate a 3D image that meets your needs.

At first glance, the Holus looks like an box with glass sides and some kind of pyramid inside, but it effectively acts like a holographic computer monitor. Once you connected a device using USB or HDMI ports, potentially any software can present three-dimensional displays that can be viewed from all sides. From a gaming perspective, the applications are pretty obvious - in fact, H+ already plans to support the Unity 5 and Unreal Engine 4 SDKs. The Holus also sounds well-suited to digital board games, which could be loaded with the push of a button.

[kickstarter=1314339634/holus-the-interactive-tabletop-holographic-display]

But H+ wants the tech to go much further. There's a social angle that opens the Holus up for holographic teleconferencing, using 3D images of anyone you're speaking with. 3D printing technologies will also be supported by letting users preview models before creating physical copies. H+ also wants the Holus to be compatible with gesture and thought-based interfaces like Leap Motion or Emotiv, which should let you control the display without physically touching it.

It might sound like a holograhic pie-in-the-sky idea, but the Holus has been getting a fair amount of attention already. Early iterations are have won accolades from NextBC and the Vancouver User Experience Awards. Now H+ Techologies is looking to Kickstarter to complete the commercial version, and has already surpassed its $50,000 by a staggering 370 percent.

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Whether the Holus will take off remains to be seen, but it may be a promising way to make hologram technology practical for end users - even if it's not the holodeck we imagined. Would you want a Holus in your home?

Source: <a hef=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1314339634/holus-the-interactive-tabletop-holographic-display>Kickstarter

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[bz316]

Holy shit. The "Homeworld" games would be amazing to play on something like this!

 

[Lightknight]

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I would be pleasantly surprised if this doesn't get used for porn. Nay, I would be tremendously surprised.

 

[RJ 17]

I would be pleasantly surprised if this doesn't get used for porn. Nay, I would be tremendously surprised.

That's pretty much a certainty. I haven't checked out the kickstarter page for details, but from the sound of this article it sounds like it just takes your video/media and creates a 3D image of it. Sooooo yeah, pretty much plug'n'play ready for all your TBs of porn.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

It's nothing impressive on a technical level, based on what I'm seeing. It's a clever optical trick, but if it is what I think it is, it comes down to a standard computer monitor, some clever software, and some carefully angled perspex.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflective-Prism/

This is absurdly simple on a technical level, and the pyramid structure inside this 'display' looks very similar to that, if upside down compared to what you'd expect.

But... In fact, on closer inspection I can see the screen suspended on the upper surface of that box...

It's a clever illusion, for sure, but on a technical level, this is cheap, and so easy to do tons of people improvise these kinds of displays reasonably often.

The only thing worth noting is the claims they make about their 'special software'.

 

[freaper]

If you want to connect, put down the phone and look someone in the eye for once.

 

[Mikeybb]

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

My guess is it'll be horrifically expensive for what you'll get to do with it, undersupported initially and infested with gimmick titles at first.
...but at the same time I know I'll be silently adding one to a list of "objects of desire I'm forbidden from acquiring".

It'll be right there next to oculus rift, a hovercraft, valves prance-around-the-room version of oculus rift (I think it's going to be called "fuck! my ankle!"), a G-sync moniter, a replica Iron Throne and self respect.

 

[Nurb]

It'll be niche and expensive, just like the Occulous.

 

[Scars Unseen]

If you want to connect, put down the phone and look someone in the eye for once.

The curvature of the Earth is in my way. I live a little over 7,000 miles from my family.

 

[Rattja]

That thing is way too big for the amount of "screen" it has. It almost has more plastic/edge surface than actual screen it's wayy to clunky. I'm wondering if it has to be a pyramid shape to be able to work, cause if not that seems like a very poor use of space. If not essential I'd rather have it as a square, sort of like a fish tank.
It also can only seen from the sides as the top and bottom is covered by rather thick plates, all which make the whole thing seem rather awkward to use. I mean, watch the video and they all have to sort of hunker down or sit on the floor to be able to look into it, it just does not seem practical to me.

Another thing I notice with this is the terrible quality depending on the amount of light you have in the room, as you more or less have to keep it dark to be able to see it properly. Again, not practical.

I get it, people want holograms, and one day we might have it but this? Nah, this is not it, try again.

 

[Ukomba]

Not a holodeck then, not a holodeck in anyway. Not even a Dejarik table, really.

 

[freaper]

If you want to connect, put down the phone and look someone in the eye for once.

The curvature of the Earth is in my way. I live a little over 7,000 miles from my family.

Fair enough, and yes, I am aware I sounded like everyone's technology impaired uncle.

 

[Scars Unseen]

If you want to connect, put down the phone and look someone in the eye for once.

The curvature of the Earth is in my way. I live a little over 7,000 miles from my family.

Fair enough, and yes, I am aware I sounded like everyone's technology impaired uncle.

It's okay. I'm probably also several thousand mile away from your lawn.

 

[FalloutJack]

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

Every reaction to every new and complex device is this. It always becomes cheaper to produce, prices lowered. Why? Business. Mass selling frenzy on the new wave. It'll happen. I saw a 3D printer last week in an electronics store. I could buy it.

 

[Somebloke]

Hey look; Yet another outfit trying to pass the old "Pepper's ghost" illusion off as a "hologram".

 

[Gennadios]

I wonder what kind of recording setup teleconferencing businessman in the video used to have a feed of himself from all 4 angles?

The whole video feels scammy, they're passing off oldhat technology as new and at the same time there's no real mention of what makes this iteration of the technology any less of a pain in the ass (except iPhone technology!)

Seriously, seems like you can kickstart any previously failed ideas by adding iPhone integration.

 

[Lightknight]

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

Every reaction to every new and complex device is this. It always becomes cheaper to produce, prices lowered. Why? Business. Mass selling frenzy on the new wave. It'll happen. I saw a 3D printer last week in an electronics store. I could buy it.

3D printers have been purchased by enough enthusiasts and businesses to make the product's market grow. The need and use of 3D printers is immediately evident whereas this holoviewer doesn't provide that kind of apparent value. It isn't large enough to display a full table top game like they're pretending it'd be used for and there really isn't anything else it provides that clicking and dragging (or just rubbing your finger across the phone screen) doesn't provide by way of 3D navigation of a 3D object. If the device were dirt cheap then the novelty would be worth it. But I have no idea what the cost is. So unless it's cheap then we're looking at an expensive product that doesn't service a need.

I can't imagine this as being anything but a luxury unless it could be produced entirely affordably.

My guess is it'll be horrifically expensive for what you'll get to do with it, undersupported initially and infested with gimmick titles at first.
...but at the same time I know I'll be silently adding one to a list of "objects of desire I'm forbidden from acquiring".

It'll be right there next to oculus rift, a hovercraft, valves prance-around-the-room version of oculus rift (I think it's going to be called "fuck! my ankle!"), a G-sync moniter, a replica Iron Throne and self respect.

The rift has already sold tens of thousands of developer kit units that are reportedly close to market cost. By those standards the rift already has success in its own areas. With companies like Microsoft providing streaming capability to side step the need for a $1,000 computer we are seeing a viable product at a not too unreasonable price if you consider the rift like a cheap personal TV. Not to be crass or anything, but the buzz alone about "VR Porn" circling reddit threads and the various places of the internet is enough to make the device viable simply by tapping into that industry.

This device though? I don't see any pricing or anyone clamoring for it. It isn't close to where it needs to be and the makers know that. They just think they need to start somewhere. The problem is that starting here isn't a viable consumer device. It is a passing product in the annuls of gimmicks that comes and goes. The Hololens from Microsoft is potentially just as big of a gimmick waiting to flop but does what this device does and better. So there's already something being marketed that is better than this device.

If you really think that VR is in the same category after we've seen numerous companies invest billions of dollars into it and producing interesting pieces from it then you're behind in the developing news. Even just google cardboard on my android phone is impressive. Advancing that technology is inherently beneficial.

 

[FalloutJack]

Snip

Oh yeah, it is. The first of a commercial hologram technology? There is going to be so much entertainment value there, and businesses who want to design and pick apart a product, Tony Stark style, for full interactivity without even wasting money.

 

[Lightknight]

Snip

Oh yeah, it is. The first of a commercial hologram technology? There is going to be so much entertainment value there, and businesses who want to design and pick apart a product, Tony Stark style, for full interactivity without even wasting money.

A small tabletop "hologram" display?

What for? I've literally heard no buzz about this since and I keep my ears pretty low to the ground in the tech industry.