Re: TECH: Cheapo Augmented Reality & Telepresence Spycams

Julio R. Vaquer (jvaquer@primenet.com)
Fri, 03 Jan 1997 23:57:40 -0700


Chris Hind wrote:
>
> >I love the tropical island idea!
> >
> >How long will it take until everybody will afford a wall-sized display
> >of a live ocean, and a network connection to deliver it? 10 years? 15 ?
>
> I would guess not that long from now. With the coming of lower cost
> flat-screen displays and the merging of the TV and PC we'll see it pretty
> soon. Add in 400kbps DSS Satellite internet access and you're right on the
> money. Next they'll have underwater cams of black smokers w/tube worms,
> jungle cams, all sorts of stuff and with VR goggles you could have all
> these cams in stereoscopic vision. How about cams in the jungles of New
> Guinea so you can help spot large undiscovered mammals?

View the deep sea from your own rec room.

>
> >(Hmm... I can just sit closer to my display now.
>
> Are you referring to a tropical beach or a nude tropical beach? :)
>
> >And I do have a T3...)
>
> oh! oh! I want one!
>
> >As for Augmented Reality, I would love to see my friends sunbathing on
> >that sand, and my beach towel near them.
>
> Imagine changing all the textures of objects inside your home. Instant
> interior decorator! Make that old wooden stairway appear as black marble.
> Superimpose a mercury or firey texture over the ocean. An easy transition
> into the uploaded realm. You could have your PDA builtin to your AR
> goggles, see in infrared, nightvision, ultraviolet. Pave the streets with
> advertizing. You could personalize any aspects of the AR template that you
> wished but the default ones would be transmitted to you by short-distance
> radio communications. The world will look so incredible being able to add
> any texture, paint a house with a texture and never need to repaint. All
> this could be created with a pair of cheapo AR goggles using a blue screen
> effect just as people are currently pasting virtual ads on telivision
> sports games.

Finally, your home can be the scene of a murder mystery and you won't
get arrested. Sci-fi, fantasy. with the proper micro-gyroscopic camera,
See the baseball game from the baseball's point of view.
>
> >By the way, the Venice beach is dark now. A streaming video with a 12
> >hour delay would make it look a lot better. Time machine? I could also
> >rewind the waves on that beach if they are recorded, or fast-forward them.
> >
> >What would you like to see?
>
> I like Mike Lorrey's idea of a webpage containing cams from beaches across
> the globe so you can always see summer. It would also be great for surfers
> to locate the good waves.

Have an index of forty real-time "thumbnail" views to choose from at any
time.
This could be very useful for the travel/recreation industry.

>
> "Every obstacle is a stepping stone to your success."
>
So far, this has been very true for me.