Emerging Imaging Technology at CeBIT 2004.

This article reports on various imaging technologies unveiled at the electronics show CeBIT 2004 held in Hannover, Germany. The extension of human-computer interaction into the third dimension is one area where there is a lot of innovation. The Fraunhofer Institute Free2C 3D-Display is a silver stand-up kiosk, which waits for a user to walk into its viewing sweet spot, an area about an arm's length in front of the screen. From this spot, the user can see a stereo image without the use of special glasses or other viewing devices. The kiosk has eye-level cameras which track the user's head and eye locations. When a user steps in front of the kiosk, it locks on to the head and eye positions. Philips Research introduced their FluidFocus lens, which has many potential applications. The lens works by changing the shape of the meniscus of an oil/water separation boundary within a short tube with transparent end caps. The inside of the tube and one end cap are coated with a water-repellent material. In one demonstration head mounted cameras was used to detect objects in the field of view, and to use these as the anchor points for 3D virtual object superimposed. As the real base object moves within the field of view, the three dimensional virtual object moves with it. Another demonstration allowed multiple users to view a three dimensional representation of a city, and interact using three dimensional pointers, and by moving physical place cards which were tied to 3D virtual objects.