![The Evolution and Prospect of 3D Display Technology<br />Hsiao Hui, Pan<br />Marcello Lago<br />Master in Business Design Academic Year 2008-2009<br />Milan, 13/11/2009<br />Abstract<br />The Evolution<br />From 2D to 3D<br />Before Industrial Revolution<br />After Industrial Revolution<br />Stereoscopy Basics<br />3D Watching Technologies<br />3D Technology Nowadays<br />The popularity of 3D material<br />Hardware<br />Software<br />Application<br />Entertainment<br />Transportation<br />Medical<br />Education <br />Others<br />Home Entertainment<br />3D TV<br />3D Home Cinema<br />Anaglyph, the red and blue glasses<br />The polarized image<br />Active Glasses solutions<br />3D Display Game<br />Equipment/NVIDIA<br />The Evolution of Video Game(Before Real 3D Vision Game)<br />3D Virtual Video Game Nowadays<br />Prospects – Medical Application<br />Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy<br />What Is Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy?<br />Technology Application Nowadays<br />Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Telemedicine<br />What Is Telemedicine?<br />Technology Application Nowadays<br />Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Teaching & Researching<br />Conclusion<br />1 Abstract<br />The origin of three-dimension image can be traced back to the basic needs of human being: desire to be charmed. The desire for three-dimension is including being enchanted with the beauty of reality and an unworldly wonderland. So, why not use three-dimensional approach to performance our past memories or future breathings? <br />Believe it or not, 3D photography has existed for over 150 years. In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions. At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. And this is just the beginning of 3D display evolution. <br />As new technologies are introduced, people's habits are changing. And also economy is impacting consumers at home. The housing market is forcing many consumers to stay in their current home for longer than previously planned. Additionally, some consumers have chosen to spend more time at home to reduce spending. Even though some of the consumers made a concerted effort to cut back in the past few months, many consumers are likely to splurge on home entertainment or improvement items because they are spending so much time at home. So, obviously digital home entertainment becomes more important in our life. <br />But, except home entertainment can 3D display technology be used on other application? As information communication and multi-media advance, 3D display research is actively conducted in order to accomplish more reality oriented service in broad fields including not only entertainment but also communication, information, education and even medical. <br />In this thesis, you can see the 3D display developing evolution and forecasts, perspectives of 3D display technology in the future.<br />2 The Evolution<br />The origin of three-dimension image can be traced back to the basic needs of human being: desire to be charmed. The desire for three-dimension is including being enchanted with the beauty of reality and an unworldly wonderland. So, why not use three-dimensional approach to performance our past memories or future breathings?<br />3D photography has existed for over 150 years. In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions. At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />2.1 From 2D to 3D<br />2.1.a Before Industrial Revolution<br />2570480152400Binocular Vision – Leonardo da Vinci500 years ago, the invention pioneer - Leonardo da Vinci had already interested in this phenomenon “Binocular Vision”. Binocular Vision is vision in which both eyes are used together. The word binocular comes from two Latin roots, “bi” for double and “oculus” for eye. Having two eyes confers at least has few advantages over having one. First, it gives a creature a spare eye in case one is damaged. Second, it gives a wider field of view. For example, a human has a horizontal field of view of approximately 180 degrees with two eyes but only 150 degrees with one. CITATION wikipediaBinocularVision \l 1028 (2) <br />In short, the human being has binocular vision and it means a man can see the object around him from two different angles. And the duty of brain is to mix those images which are coming from two optical nerves and create one and only three dimensional vision. In few words, the binocular vision allows us to obtain the three dimension perception and vision of the world around us. <br />Around 1600, Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli created a double ink drawing. Looking at the drawing in a device that each eye can only fuel for the relevant image and this makes a man can recognize a corporeal dimension person. And this exactly shows the major problem, as we use our eyes to see two different images, our eyes usually always automatically attached to one point. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3)<br />Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli7747099060<br />2.1.b After Industrial Revolution<br />In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions.<br />At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1) Around 1860, the first three-dimensional photo occurred in the world. In 1894, Frenchman Jules Richard designed a new, smaller, handy stereo camera made of blue-tinted Brass, size 4,5 x 10.5 cm, which be named in Richard Vérascope in the market. In 1880, August Fuhrmann designed a rotary-vision equipment “Kaiser Panorama” for up to 25 people, which presented special stereo series for a small charge to the public. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3)<br /> Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. <br />In 1905, Richard presented his Glyphoscope in public. This camera was quite similar to Verascope, but the front plate could be removed and the home-recorded stereo could be regarded to the slides of the camera. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3) Although the popularity of stereo photography declined rapidly after the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, within theses cameras the stereo photography for masses population was possible. In 1938, William B. Gruber & Messrs. Sawyer created “View Master”. The little magic discs with various motifs of landscapes, shots of movie stars or fairy tale series, which were reconstructed with figures and could be admired with an appropriate viewer. At that time View Master was a very succeed product. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />Within another fifty years however, 3D became an entertainment mania again. The invention of Kodachrome color film along with the introduction of the Realist stereo camera fuelled a renewed interest in personal, color 3D photography, while everything from Viewmaster discs, comic books, and a variety of movies were all produced in 3-D during the 1950’s.<br />In the 1960’s it was arrival of the Kodak Instamatic camera, along with the color Polaroid, which quelled interest in 3D photography.<br />In recent years 3D has started growing once again. With IMAX movies becoming a popular form of entertainment, media publications such as Sport Illustrated and TV Guide have used 3D to drive reader interest. Spy Kids 3D is the first popular anaglyph format movie produced in over twenty years. Over 25 major 3D Movie titles have been produced between 2005 and 2009 with numerous movie theaters becoming equipped with polarized projectors.<br />The widespread adoption of personal computers, digital cameras and desktop photo printers has now removed any obstacles to stereo 3D photography in the home or office. With the introduction of Photo3-D, now anyone who can operate a digital camera can take their own, eye-popping 3D photos.<br />In the past three years Stereo 3D technologies have touched laptops, monitors, display systems, and loads of new gadgets and capturing devices have been introduced. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />2.2 Stereoscopy Basics<br />Before going to deeper discussion, in this section I will use graphic and chart to describe different types of stereoscopy basic.<br />- Standard Mono Rendering<br />Scene is viewed from one mono eye and projected on Near Clipping plane in Viewport.<br />- Two eyes, one screen, two images<br />Left and Right eyes<br />Shifting the mono eye along the X axis<br />One “virtual” screen<br />Where the left and right frustums converge<br />Two images<br />2 images are generated at the near clipping plane in each view and then presented independently to each eyes of the user on the real screen.<br />- Interaxial (Eye Separation)<br />Distance between the 2 virtual eyes in eye space<br />The mono, left & right eyes directions are all parallels<br />- Screen Depth (Convergence)<br />Screen‘s virtual depth in eye space<br />Plane where Left and Right Frustums intersect<br />- Left/Right Projection<br />Projection matrix for each eyes is a horizontally modified version of regular mono projection matrix<br />Shifting X coordinate left or right<br />- Parallax<br />Signed Distance on the screen between the projected positions of one vertex in left and right image<br />Parallax is function of the depth of the vertex in eye space<br />Parallax = Interaxial * ( 1 –ScreenDepth/ W )<br />- In/Out of the Screen<br />Parallax creates the depth perception relative to the screen<br />When Parallax is negative, vertex appears Out of the screen<br />- Parallax in equation<br />Parallax = Interaxial * ( 1 –ScreenDepth/ W )<br />- Left/Right rendering surfaces<br />View dependent render targets must be duplicated<br />Back buffer<br />Depth Stencil buffer<br />Intermediate full screen render targets used to process final image<br />High dynamic range, Blur, Bloom<br />Screen Space Ambient Occlusion<br />- Mono rendering surfaces<br />View independent render targets DON’T need to be duplicated<br />Shadow map<br />Spot light maps projected in the scene<br /> CITATION NVIDIA \l 1028 (4)<br />2.3 3D Watching Technologies<br />All the principles of 3D technology adopt a common approach: all the artificial images which were produced for left and right eye have to use “Image Separation” to guide the visual.<br />If the quality of artificial image is good enough, then the brain can construct a three-dimensional image. The main difference between these technologies is the “Image Separation” can actually be achieved.<br />247651714503D sight instrumentImage Separation Modemechanical design3D Imaging Locationslides, photographs (paper)Strengthlow-costWeaknessinconvenient to use<br />5715749303D glassesImage Separation Modecolor filters, start with red - green filter3D Imaging Locationpaper, TFT monitors and notebook , CRT monitors, Projector, Plasma Display monitorsStrengthunmatched price/effectiveness advantageWeaknesscannot be used for color-blind peopleRemark“Spy Kids 3” is the first movie supports this technology, in 2003<br />17145234315Polarized 3D glassesImage Separation Modepolarizing Filter glasses3D Imaging Locationcurtain screen plus two projectorsStrengthexcellent imaging qualityWeaknessneed curtain screen and currently only can be used with projectorRemarkused in IMAX-3D theater<br />171452381253D shutter glassesImage Separation Modesmall LC panel (rotated by turns)3D Imaging LocationCRT monitors, some special projectorsStrengthhigh-resolution imaging qualityWeaknesseasy to glitterRemarkattractive price makes it become the ideal device for top CRT users<br />19052336803D VR (head-wear displayer)Image Separation Modemechanical Design3D Imaging Locationsmall LCD display (each eye requires a set)Strengthnearly perfect of image separationWeaknesshigh priceRemarkLCD monitor closes to the eye may cause health problems<br /> CITATION tomshardware \l 1028 (5)<br />For pursuing a more realistic visual sensory enjoyment, the consumers start demanding for higher display quality. So manufacturers continually develop higher quality and more three-dimensional sense technology; all for satisfying consumers’ sensory stimulation.<br /> 3D techniques are usually divided in three types: color separation, optical and time division. <br />- Color Separation<br />So far, the most popular type is Color Separation, which is using overlapping images in different colors and then use red and blue glasses to separate and filter the overlapping images to achieve depth of field effect. This technology is easy to enter and low-cost but the image won’t be full-color and red-green blindness cannot see it.<br />- Optical<br />This method is playing two projectors at the same time and overlapping two images then use polarized glasses to let tow images overlap to achieve 3D effect. However, the costs for filming, producing and hardware equipments are quite high.<br />These two methods we can see it in the iMAX 3D cinema.<br />- Time Division<br />It has the best effect and which is using time difference to achieve three-dimensional effect. When the left side lens is pervious to light, the right side lens is opaque, and vice versa. <br />When the display image in the glasses switching fast and frequently, through visible persistence the brain can calculate and create 3D image.<br /> CITATION NVIDIA \l 1028 (4)<br />3 3D Technology Nowadays<br />3.1 The popularity of 3D material<br />In the world, there are still existed large amounts of paper and slide type of 3D photos and now most of them are in digital. However, until recently, 3D products start having very strong breakthrough and having more demand from high-end market. And the reason can be traced back to several centuries ago. Nothing more than technical limitations, production, reproduction and required high costs for watching. <br />If 3D material can be obtained with digital pattern then it can be able to watch by all the 3D technology. This is a very important issue for the ideality, flexibility and marketing terms of 3D-use. <br />Before talk about 3D technology applications, I will introduce the hardware and software first.<br />3.2 Hardware<br />Technology changes quickly over time. So in the following I will bring up some latest products on the market.<br />- 3D TV<br />3D TV is an emerging line of televisions offering stereoscopic imaging, creating the illusion of depth by presenting a slightly different image to each eye, without the need of special glasses. Most of the current 3D platforms for televisions and cinema, require wearing either polarized or shuttered glasses or goggles. For example, a new line of 3D televisions by Philips, sold under the WOWvx brand, uses very small lenses placed over the millions of red, blue and green pixels that make up the television screen. The lenses cause each individual pixel to project light at one of a series of nine angles projecting from the display.<br />And in 2008, Hyundai is offering – in Japan only – the first product for watching the 3-D programs that cable station (BS 11) in Japan now broadcast about four times a day.<br /> CITATION 3Dtv \l 1028 (6)<br />- 3D Ready Projector<br />Now there are two different kinds of 3D projector. One needs to use special glasses and another doesn’t. However, both of them support displaying 3D movies, games or TV programs<br /><JVC DLA-RS2> <View Sonic PJD6211><br />- 3D Digital Camera<br />Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 digital camera can record both in 2D and in 3D (still images and movies). The Real 3D W1 camera uses two separate Fujinon lenses along with two 10 megapixel CCD sensors to be able to simultaneously take two images just like the eyes of a normal human see everything. The two images can then be combined into a 3D stereo picture with the help of the RP (Real Photo) Processor 3D or into a 3D stereo video clip with resolution of up to 640×480. CITATION FUJIFILM \l 1028 (7)<br />1778017145<br />- 3D Webcam<br />Minoru is an interesting product in the form of a web camera that uses two lenses and two CMOS sensors in order to be able to take Stereoscopic 3D pictures and videos. The camera is supposedly very easy to setup and use in both normal 2D mode (just like a normal webcam) and in 3D mode, where it can output and record not only in the most commonly used Anaglyph mode, but also Side by Side and Row Interlaced mode. This means that you can produce S3D images and videos for easy viewing with anaglyph glasses or with other more expensive and providing better results products and technologies.<br /> <br /> CITATION MINORU \l 1028 (8)<br />- 3D Full HD Camera<br />Panasonic announced it will start developing a professional 3D Full HD production system. Most 3D recording systems require dual cameras mounted in close proximity, but Panasonic’s newest 3D camcorder combines these two systems into one. The device will feature a twin-lens system for capturing 3D footage natively in 1080p, and the video streams will be stored on P2 cards. Although it merely is a prototype, but it is made clear that the company intends to bring this to market as soon as possible.<br /> CITATION Panasonic \l 1028 (9)<br />- Heliodisplay<br />The Heliodisplay includes patented and proprietary technology to create an almost invisible tri-layered out of phase field to generate the surface required to accept projection of video or images into free-space. The Heliodisplay plays directly from the supplied thumbdrive AVI and JPEG files. If user wish, he/she can provide a separate video/image source such as a computer, TV, DVD or alternate media player--typically a low-end PC, DVD player or media player. The current version of the Heliodisplay projects 55\"
through 92\"
diagonal images .<br />Like any computer monitor or TV, images appear brighter the lower the ambient light. Also, just like viewing any computer monitor or TV, viewing a Heliodisplay image in direct sunlight is almost impossible. The image is display into two-dimensional space (i.e. planar). Heliodisplay images appear 3D, even though in fact, the images are planar. This allows for easy display of visual presentation material with a three-dimensional appearance since there is no physical depth reference. Images appear more three-dimensional that 3D displays Images can be seen up to 75 degrees off aspect for a total viewing area of over 150 degrees- similar to an LCD screen. Viewing requires no special glasses or background/foreground screening. All of the models allow for grabbing a floating image in thin air, while the interactive models, the P55i allow a finger or hand to move images around in the air as if one were grabbing a virtual object. No special glove or pointing device is required. Just as you use a mouse to move the cursor on a traditional computer monitor, you can use your finger to move the cursor around the Heliodisplay image<br />The displays allows for unobtrusive imagery, so video, images or advertising can be positioned in mid-air while the display is hidden within a counter, coffee table, pedestal or furniture. Custom displays include customized Heliodisplays, as well as alternative imaging solutions depending on display size, footprint, features and application.<br /> <br /> CITATION heliodisplay \l 1028 (10)<br />3.3 Software<br />- Augmented Reality (AR)<br />There are two commonly accepted definitions of Augmented Reality today. One was given by Ronald Azuma in 1997. Azuma's definition says that Augmented Reality<br />combines real and virtual<br />is interactive in real time<br />is registered in 3D<br />However, more recently, the term augmented reality has been blurred a bit due to the increased interest of the general public in AR. <br />So basically, augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, like for example sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time. Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. <br />Current applications of augmented reality are: advertising, navigation devices, prospecting (In the fields of hydrology, ecology, and geology, AR can be used to display an interactive analysis of terrain characteristics. Users could use, and collaboratively modify and analyze, interactive three-dimensional maps), architecture, sightseeing, entertainment and education…etc.<br />For future applications, it can be expanding a PC screen into the real environment, virtual devices of all kinds, virtual conferences or replacement of cell phone and car navigator screens…etc.<br />And there are two free software to contribute augmented reality. They are ARToolKit and ATOMIC Authoring Tool.<br />ARToolKit is a Cross-platform Library for the creation of augmented reality applications, developed by Hirokazu Kato in 1999 and was released by the University of Washington HIT Lab. Currently it is maintained as an open source project hosted on SourceForge with commercial licenses available from ARToolWorks.<br />ATOMIC Authoring Tool is a Cross-platform Authoring Tool software, for Augmented Reality Applications, which is a frontend for the ARToolKit library. It was developed for non-programmers, to create small and simple, Augmented Reality applications, released under the GNU GPL License. CITATION AugmentedReality \l 1028 (11)<br /> <br />- Medical Image Illustrator (MIIL)<br />MIIL (Medical Image Illustrator) can help users see the unseen, and provide many image processing and visualization functionality. Users can play with these tools similar to the interaction style of the popular image editing software and explore the data.<br />MIIL is a medical image visualization system for diagnosis and surgical planning. This software reads the DICOM images (the visualization and interactive media lab at NCHC processes the DICOM data from several medical imaging modalities, and segments the brain white matter tissue, tumor, and tracts.) directly and performs semi-automatic segmentation, measurement and other image adjustment processes. In the post-processing stage, it allows users to visualize the volume data with transfer function adjustment to highlight the image feature. MIIL lets the medical staffs interactively manipulate the data and provide visual effect that helps the communication between the patients and doctors. And this 3D interactive visualization application allows the surgeons to have a better understanding of the patient before the operation.<br /> <br /> <br /> CITATION MIIL \l 1028 (12)<br />3.4 Application<br />Because of those various hardware and software, currently there are many different types of application in 3D display field (beyond 3D movie or 3D TV program). I will try to sore them into different categories to make it to be understood easily.<br />3.4.a Entertainment<br />- Live 3D football match<br />In the beginning of this year, 3ality Digital broadcasted a 3D live football match in Burbank. A LA Times journalists said this after he attended this event. <br />“Compare traditional broadcast method with 3D broadcast technology. 3D broadcast technology brings the audience a wider and different feeling. The whole game might not be very exciting, but the 3D broadcast technology brought a new experience and it made the audience did not want to bring their attention away from the match. The sense of shock of this game was not less than the 3D concert movie of U2. 3D brought a new vision and that’s 2D cannot compete with. <br /> CITATION LATimes \l 1028 (13)<br />- Youtube with 3D Video support<br />Recently, Youtube is experimenting with 3D Video. Though still very much in pre-beta, a YouTube developer has built a stereoscopic player—a fancy way of saying you can already view some YouTube videos in 3D. The project is open for testing now.<br />In the screenshot below, you can see what the video looks like when playing in 3D mode. There are currently a total of ten 3D viewing styles to choose from, including “Focus-Thru,” Cross-eyed,” and “Mirror Split,” and they work on various videos containing the right tags. <br /> CITATION youtube3D \l 1028 (14)<br />- 3D Console Games<br />The actual technology (system and engine) used today allows a great depth of field that the elements around us can be possible not only perceive the fact that they are in 3d but also the relative distance. So in the first-person shooting or car racing games (have more “depth” in the game) are really changing player’s gaming experience than 2D. <br />Although currently there are not that much 3D games on the market (Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter44, Assassin's Creed 2, wipEout HD...etc), Sony ensured that next year will via software update (3D mode) to let all PS3 games (including 2D games on the market now) can be played under 3D display mode.<br />- 3D Live cards<br />Topps, the company that pre-dates Human Growth Hormone abuse and packs a nostalgic smack of dusty pink sticks of chewing gum is back in the game. Just hold the special 3D Live card in front of a webcam and watch a three-dimensional avatar spring to life -- rotate the card and the figure rotates in full perspective. The technology provided by Total Immersion also allows collectors to drop the player into simple pitching, batting and catching games using the computer keyboard. The 3D live series will eventually feature video.<br />And actually this method has also been used in a PS3 game -- The eye of Judgment.<br /> <br /> <The eye of Judgment><br /> CITATION 3DbaseballCard \l 1028 (15)<br />3.4.b Transportation<br />- Passenger Scanner<br />A machine which takes \"
naked\"
images of airline passengers is being trialled in England as part of a new high-tech security system. Manchester Airport is using the full-body scan machine which can instantly detect any hidden weapons or explosives without passengers having to remove any of their clothing for a search. A three-dimensional image is then created and assessed by an officer sitting in a separate part of the airport. However, some passengers fear the machine reveals a little too much, including breast enlargements, the outline of genitals and body piercings.<br /> CITATION 3DairportScan \l 1028 (16)<br />- E-passport<br />Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a \"
slim and bendable\"
OLED color display within a \"
polycarbonate data page.\"
Yet we still haven't seen video of its e-passport with flexible OLED display in action, 'till now. The 2-inch, 240x320 AMOLED displays a disembodied, rotating head in 260k colors and 10k:1 contrast when activated by an RF source reader. No details were provided as to when these might enter production but we have the icky feeling it'll be sooner than we want.<br /> CITATION Epassport \l 1028 (17)<br />- Navigation<br />AcrossAir, a nascent application builder for the iPhone, has conjured up a slickly executed digital guidance application-- Nearest Tube, which augments video with real-time distance and directions to the nearest subway station.<br />Nearest Tube application superimposes directional cues and signage on the iPhone's live picture image. Held flat, the screen actually shows the train lines underground; held vertically, you can see signposts with train station names. The functionality depends on the iPhone 3Gs GPS to determine your location, and to present appropriate images.<br /> CITATION navigation \l 1028 (18)<br />3.4.c Medical<br />About medical application of 3D display technology, I have mentioned a little bit in the software section -- Medical Image Illustrator (MIIL). So, except 3D image shooting and 3D image forming, can we observe human body and organ structure even more detail? Now MIT has some furthered research in this field.<br />- 3-D images of eye<br />In work that could improve diagnoses of many eye diseases, MIT researchers have developed a new type of laser for taking high-resolution, 3-D images of the retina, the part of the eye that converts light to electrical signals that travel to the brain.<br />\"
Within the last few years optical coherence tomography has become a standard diagnostic for ophthalmology. New techniques are now enabling dramatic increases in image acquisition speeds. These advances promise to enable new and powerful three-dimensional visualization methods which could improve early diagnosis of disease and treatment monitoring,\"
said Fujimoto, who holds appointments in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics.<br />Future clinical studies, as well as further development, may someday enable ophthalmologists to routinely obtain three-dimensional \"
OCT snapshots\"
of the eye, containing comprehensive volumetric information about the microstructure of the retina. Such snapshots could potentially improve diagnoses of retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.<br /> CITATION eye3D \l 1028 (19)<br />- Monitoring Heartbeat<br />Doctors today actually have two ways to detect the fetal heartbeat: ultrasound and electrocardiography (better known as ECG or EKG). However, it is weak compared to the maternal heartbeat and surrounding noise. Further, it has not been possible to separate the three signals without distorting characteristics of the fetal heartbeat key to identifying potential clinical problems. Tiny fluctuations in a fetus's heartbeat can indicate distress, but currently there is no way to detect such subtle variations except during labor, when it could be too late to prevent serious or even fatal complications. While only a minority of pregnancies suffer from fluctuations in the fetal heartbeat, the issue is nonetheless critical because those that do can result in bad outcomes. These problems include certain infections and a loss of oxygen to the baby if it is strangled by its own umbilical cord.<br /> <br /> CITATION ATh \l 1028 (20)<br />Now, a new system developed by an MIT scientist and colleagues including an obstetrician could allow much earlier monitoring of the fetal heartbeat. To use the system, which the team believes could be deployed during the second trimester of pregnancy (around 20 weeks) and perhaps earlier, a woman would wear a wide belt around her abdomen fitted with several ECG electrodes. (The prototype has 32, but that number will be lower in the final device.) The data collected from those electrodes are then fed to a monitor and analyzed with the new algorithm, which in turn separates the different signals.<br />This system could also cut the rate of Cesarean deliveries by helping clinicians rule out potential problems that might otherwise prompt the procedure. Finally, the device used today to monitor subtle changes in the fetal heartbeat during labor must be attached to the fetus itself, but the new product would be noninvasive.<br />3.4.d Education<br />- Virtual reality exhibition<br />Imagine visiting a museum which is nothing more than a blank room. Seems pointless, doesn’t it? And yet, people from Canon estimate that half a million people will visit such an exhibit at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. Dinosaur 2009 – Miracles of the Desert is a dinosaur exhibition where you need to wear a pair of virtual reality glasses, when a whole new world opens up to you.<br />In the exhibition, there had a technology exhibit area, which offered a new experience by using the virtual reality technology in order to show augmented reality. That is accomplished with the usage of video technology and a fancy blend of real time real world and virtual world. The scope and look through the site-wide viewing angle is possible with the usage of high-resolution cards developed by Canon, the CG and real space where 3D dinosaurs emerge.<br />So, visitors will be able to experience dinosaurs walk around them and the other visitors, as their virtual reality glasses project these creatures in 3D right before the viewer.<br /> CITATION Canon \l 1028 (21)<br />- Educational 3D Biology Video Game<br />Immue Attack is a high tech 3D computer game that teaches how the human body and the immune system work. In this game, you program a nanobot to teach all cells in the body how to fight bacterial and viral infections. It is a great game for high school science students.<br />The player assumes the role of a pilot remote-controlling the nanobot Explorer. With the help of advisors, the player must learn about the different cells and environments in the human body in order to determine how to train the immune system. Visual and audio clues in the game provide the information needed to accomplish this goal. Each subsequent level of Immune Attack features a different infection, and a different cell type the player must train. Cells trained on previous levels are available for deployment as well, allowing the user to make use of a wide range of agents to accomplish their mission.<br />However, immune Attack is quite a large download, about 0.5 GB, so players must have a fast internet connection and sufficient disk space to play.<br /> CITATION educationApp \l 1028 (22)<br />3.4.e Others<br />- 360-degree 3D display<br />In Tokyo's Digital Content EXP0 2009, Sony showed a 360-degree 3D display prototype. After the break for a quick walk-around to see how Sony hopes the device can be used both commercially and in home. <br />The 13 x 27-cm device packs a stereoscopic, 24-bit color image measuring just 96 × 128 pixels viewable at 360-degrees without special glasses. If the prototype ever hits the assembly line then Sony envisions its commercial use in digital signage or medical imaging -- or as a 3D photo frame, television, house for your virtual pet, or visualizer to assist with web shopping in the home.<br /> CITATION Sony3D \l 1028 (23)<br />Actually not only Sony is developing this technology, but also Pioneer has shown its “<br />Pioneer 3D Floating Vision” in the exhibition. <br />It doesn’t require you to wear glasses (yawn) to view 3D images. User can connect the Floating Vision to a PC via USB 2.0 to view images or videos “floating” over the display (5.7 inches, 640 × 480 VGA resolution). User even can “interact” with the image, as the device detects user’s hand movements. It’s also possible to “control” an image with voice (the device has a microphone on its front). CITATION Pioneer \l 1028 (24)<br />1778021590<br />- Business Card<br />Many business cards are boring to be honest. Most, if not all just show your name, rank and how you can be contacted. James Alliban has decided to use augmented reality to create his business cards. The cards were printed at moo.com and on the back contain a graphic which is then captured on to a computer. Via a webcam, when the camera picks up the little graphic a cool 3D grid of colored planes pops up, each extruding towards the camera depending on the brightness of the pixel, and then a video can be played back with the business card owner being seen talking with a message about himself. The only downside is that the receiver of the business card needs a computer to see the content on it. Of course you can simply print the graphic on one side and then your usual name and address on the other side.<br /> CITATION 3DnameCard \l 1028 (25)<br />- Real View-3D Scanner<br />RealView-3D Scanner looked a bit like a sci-fi toy. The RealView 360 scanner has a platform for object that rotates while a turret-like device with dual cameras scans in all the object's surface data. The result is a single 3D image that you can import into any application. And it makes models that scan in VGA, HD and larger-format resolutions. <br />One of the intended uses of the machine is to create more realistic depictions of consumer products. For example, if you have a beaten-up Star Wars Bobba Fett action figure you’d like to sell on eBay and want to make sure every deep gash is accurately portrayed, this might be a fine option. Even though it seems like a fun idea, it’s hard to see how the scanner will be that much of an improvement over an HD video on YouTube when selling a small product. <br />However, it might actually prove useful for larger scale 3D scans. For example, a full 3D copy of your body might help you find better fitting clothes for online retail stores that provide super-specific measurements. According to Real-View, there is a kiosk version of the tech available.<br /> <br /> CITATION RealView3d \l 1028 (26)<br />- 3D display cell phone<br />At the Nokia World event in Stuttgart the Finnish phone maker is demonstrating a Nokia device that boasts a no-glasses-required 3D display. Running on a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - not the planned launch platform for the tech - the display (pictured, but obviously not captured by the camera) offers rudimentary 3D on a handheld device. <br />This cell phone has a special screen made by a secret third party manufacturer and has proprietary software to run the content.<br /> CITATION NokiaN810 \l 1028 (27)<br />4 Home Entertainments<br />As new technologies are introduced, people's habits are changing. And also economy is impacting consumers at home. The housing market is forcing many consumers to stay in their current home for longer than previously planned. Additionally, some consumers have chosen to spend more time at home to reduce spending. Even though some of the consumers made a concerted effort to cut back in the past few months, many consumers are likely to splurge on home entertainment or improvement items because they are spending so much time at home. So it's no surprise that consumer electronics companies are keen to tempt us into buying new home entertainment technology.<br />As to these following two tables, 53% consumer research and purchase online for home entertainment, 65% purchase online. The percentages of home entertainment are averagely higher than kitchen appliances, laundry appliance and home furniture. And 33% of homeowner would like to make an online purchase of home entertainment products in the next 12 months, 36% non-homeowners also would like to purchase home entertainment products. <br />Please indicate where you will most likely research and purchase the following products:<br />Given the current economic climate, in which of the following categories would you likely make an online purchase in the next 12 months?<br /> CITATION PriceGrabber \l 1028 (28)<br />Generally speaking, home entertainment is just about home theater. However, as technology develops, consumer’s needs increasing and lifestyle changing; nowadays home entertainment is not just about home theater. Except the traditional home theater, internet, gaming, 3D TV…etc are the main trend for future life. Following, I will try to sort some new and developing trends in categories.<br />4.1 3D TV<br />One thing is clear, TV manufacturers need something new to get people buying TVs. Over the last couple of years, TV manufacturers have experienced a sales boom as consumers upgrade to digital TVs in anticipation of the government's mandated switch to digital TV broadcasts in February 2009. Eager shoppers have also been upgrading to high-definition TVs as movie studios, cable and satellite operators, and TV broadcasters have begun offering more programming in HD. But as the economy worsens, the forecast for the TV market is looking grim. The LCD TV market is only expected to grow about 17 percent in terms of units shipped in 2009, according to research firm DisplaySearch. This is down from growth of about 29 percent in 2008. Plasma TV growth is also expected to suffer with the market only expected to grow by about 5 percent in 2009 compared with a 24 percent rise in 2008, DisplaySearch said.<br />As a result, TV makers are looking for the next hot thing to attract new consumers. And some are hoping 3D TVs could be it.<br />Continuously, four of the top selling TV manufacturers--Samsung Electronics, Sony, LG Electronics and Panasonic--showed off their latest versions of 3D TVs. Panasonic set up a mini-home theater where its 103-inch, plasma 3D screen showed clips from New Line Cinema's Journey to the Center of the Earth and Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Bolt. They also showed high-definition 3D footage from NBC's broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. While some manufacturers have already begun selling 3D-ready TVs, the top four manufacturers plan to have new, advanced 3D TVs on sale toward the end of 2009 and into 2010. <br />But the big question is whether consumers, particularly American consumers, will be willing to upgrade to a new TV just because it has 3D. Pricing for today's 3D ready TVs is comparable to other flat-screen HDTVs.<br />Three-dimensional movies have been around since the 1950s. And for most of its lifespan the technology has been seen more as a gimmick than something that truly enhances the movie-going experience. But newer technology and advanced special effects are helping 3D movies break into the mainstream. TV makers believe that much of the demand for 3D will come from Hollywood, which is pushing 3D in a big way. Last year, DreamWorks announced that all its films will be produced for 3D production beginning in 2009. The company has partnered with chipmaker Intel to build processors that will help make 3D in the home a reality. <br />NBA basketball fans watch a live 3D broadcast of Game 2 of the 2007 NBA finals. Sports leagues have also been experimenting with 3D technology. Both the National Basketball Association and the National Football League have broadcast events and games in 3D to movie theaters. <br />From a technical standpoint, the technology is available and mature enough today to make 3D TVs available at a reasonable cost to consumers. But there are still a few drawbacks that could prevent 3D TV from becoming the next big thing in home entertainment.<br />For one, to get the really cool, immersive 3D experience without getting a massive head-ache, consumers will have to wear special glasses when they're watching TV in 3D. The glasses are needed because 3D imaging requires sending a different image to each eye. And the glasses help merge the images in the mind and trick the brain into thinking that it's seeing a single 3D image.<br />However, in a perfect world, consumers should be able to have the immersive 3D experience without wearing glasses. But Keisuke Suetsugi, a manager for the audio visual center at Panasonic, said that it will be at least 10 years before the technology is advanced enough to provide a similarly robust 3D experience without glasses. \"
Glassless 3D would be ideal,\"
he said. \"
But it's just not possible to do that now and get the same quality experience. You would need at least 50 times more pixels to get a display to provide the same 3D experience that we provide with our TV. We are still 10 years away from that kind of technology.\"
<br />\"
Glassless 3D is available today for digital signage and advertising,\"
Taesoo Park, a chief research engineer at LG, explained. \"
But the technology is not ready for TVs, because it would hurt people's eyes or give them a headache to look at today's 3D displays for any length of time. It will be at least a decade before we can get the technology to make glassless TV a reality.\"
That said, some manufacturers claim they have developed technology that doesn't require glasses. Phillips uses a technology it calls WOWvx. 3M and Toshiba also showed off glassless 3D screens at CES. 3M has created a thin film technology that can be used to beam light selectively to the viewer's right and left eyes.<br />But glasses aren't the only thing that could hold back 3D adoption. Currently, there's no standard way to get 3D footage from the movie studios or from a live broadcasts to the home. Companies, such as Panasonic, are already working on developing a standard. But industry watchers fear that competing standards could emerge and spur another \"
format\"
war like the one that pitted HD DVD and Blu-ray against each other. Panasonic's said they are hopeful that a common standard for 3D Blu-ray hardware, software, and TVs will emerge sometime this year, paving the way for 3D TV sales to pick up in 2010.<br />4.2 3D Home Cinema<br />3D becomes an obligation, not an option in the cinema. 3D fascinates everyone, young and elders. And 3D looks like to be the trend of this period, the key word used to determinate many stands in the IFA Berlin fair and is the technology on which many companies are researching (and spending) on. As 3D grows in popularity at movies, interest in the technology from the television sector will grow. In 2009, a growing number of 3D television sets are going to be available. An increasing number of DVDs offering 3D content may also become a mess market.<br />Creating a 3D image is quite simple, much more than what you imagine. It just needed to film or take a picture with the same distance of the human eyes (I have mentioned this in REF _Ref245472275 \r \h 3. 3D Technology Nowadays). At this point to visualize a 3D image you just need to show to the left eye what has been recorded by the left camera, and to the right eye what has recorded the right camera. Here comes the hard part: to do this has been realized many techniques, some are now obsolete some are modern and they even require active glasses.<br />4.2.a Anaglyph, the red and blue glasses<br />The most diffused – and old – technique for the 3D vision is the one of the Anaglyph, in few words the typical glass built with paper with different colors lens (usually complementary colors). Watched without these glasses an anaglyph is an image composed by two overlapping images, recorded with the same distance of the human eyes.<br />But when you wear the glasses the eyes perceive an image slightly different: with anaglyph with red filter the left eye that is watching through the red filter, it will see the red components of the image as white and the components green and blue as black. In the same way the right eye, that has a blue filter in front of it, will drop the blue and green components and will just see the red one. The brain unites two images and perceives the differences between right and left eye as a difference of distance and will elaborate a three-dimensional image. The components of brightness, the white and the black, will be perceived in the same way by both eyes.<br />However, the glasses make physically uncomfortable and for real 3D vision is not always the same. The anaglyph, with its paper made and uncomfortable glasses is the most used system in the home video world. Just three or four pair of glasses in the DVD or Blue-ray box is enough to have a 3D system ready to be used. The fact that no additional hardware is needed is the only good point of this technique that has lots of bad ones.<br />The first one of them is surely the fact that there’s no standard: the most diffused is indeed the one with red on the left and blue on the right, but in the home video sector now you can find different glasses with other colors (as used for Bloody Valentine in 3D), realized by Trioscopic and able to create a better color experience.<br />So, in the end, use this technique to watch a movie you need the glasses already packed with the movie. Another bad point is that the paper made glasses are really uncomfortable and in few words impossible to be used by persons that use glasses, but even worse is the aspect of the image quality: sure the 3D effect can be seen but the colors of the image are totally unnatural and wrong. The anaglyph 3D is easy, but surely is not the best way to show 3D; indeed most of the time take the will away. These are not the only problems related to the anaglyph system: the image of the left side is most of the times out of focus, this happen because the eye get on focus in different way the red and blue channels and this one has the priority for the human eye: a pair of glasses with different grade for the left eye would be a solution to obtain an image perfectly on focus and with a major realism.<br /> Better glasses with optical correction for the left eye and built with more comfortable material are available but the cost is really high. Last problem is the setting of the TV: the anaglyph system uses colors, a TV with not proper saturation, color or contrast setting might reproduce a not visible 3D effect or even disturbing one<br />4.2.b The polarized image<br />The most used solution for 3D in the motion-picture area is the polarized image. In the beginning were used two projectors perfectly synchronized with two polarized filters in front of each lens: the double image is projected on a screen (gray and reflective to don’t lose the polarization) and the audience, wearing polarized glasses , perceive with one eye the image of a projector and with the other eye the image of the other.<br />Today the situation has changed and the technology allows using one single projector. Indeed many theaters are using RealD technology, that with a particular filter transmit with a single projector 72 times for second the image for the right eye and 72 times the one for the left. The audience using passive polarized glasses (very cheap and highly recyclable) perceives distinctly the two channels, channels that the brain elaborates in a 3D image. This is a solution that could be used also for home video.<br /><The RealD system use a polarizing screen in front of the projector><br />In the recent IFA hold in Berlin, JVC showed a 3D TV based on this technology: every pixel is cover by a polarized lens, a row with vertical polarization and a row with horizontal polarization. The final effect is similar but there is a noticeable problem about resolution: using this 3D technique the image resolution is reproduced with half of the resolution.<br />Moreover, there is another technique “The 3D Dolby system”. A system similar to the polarization one is the one used by Dolby with its Dolby 3D. In this technique instead of using polarized light the two channels, right and left, are filtered chromatically with a disc placed between the projector and the lens. The Dolby system is as good as the other because is able to perform a nice 3D effect with an optimal chromatic scene and low operating cost.<br />< Dolby 3D system uses passive glasses and a circular filter inserted in the projector system><br />4.2.c Active Glasses solutions<br />It is the most advanced and functional solution is without any doubt the one using active glasses. The working process is quite simple: the glasses have two LCD shutters that quickly close the right and left eye. To do this the glasses have to be synchronized with the image and the synchronization is done using a transmitter, usually an infra-red one. The solution is used in theaters by XpanD and in consumer field by NVIDIA and some other companies. By now NVIDIA is the best choice for 3D home cinema, because is the best way to reproduce and watch 3D and the spectator just need to buy the glasses and the transmitter, the blue-ray player can be updated (via firmware upgrade).<br />The active system is without doubt the one bound to be successful in the home video area: Sony, Panasonic and other companies are betting on active glasses for 3D at home.<br />4.3 3D Display Game<br />The video game console market is not saturated yet. In a recent survey, 52 percent of consumers reported that either they or someone in their household owns a video game console system.<br /> Forty-three percent of consumers have a seventh generation console in their households. The majority of those households have Nintendo Wii consoles (22%) followed by Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles (12%) and Sony PS3 consoles (9%).<br />Below is a questionnaire of “In the past 6 months, which of the following have you done at home in your free time?” The 1st activity Generation X (1965-1979) -77%, Boomers (1946-1964)-79%, and Silent Generation (Before 1946) -84%, do in their free time is watch TV, closely followed by browsing the Internet. Generation Yers play games on a PC or console (66%) in their free time almost as much as they watch TV (70%).<br />2/3 Generation Yers have played a video game in the last six months. While that level of gaming does not begin to compete with browsing the Internet (91%), it exceeds the percentage of consumers who report talking on the phone (64%), exercising (64%) and reading (64%), during the same time period (bottom, left). And nearly half of consumers (46%) played games on a PC or console in their free time.<br />In the past 6 months, which of the following have you done at home in your free time?<br />In the questionnaire of “For what activities do you use your video game console?” Generation Yers (89%), Generation X (89%), Baby Boomer (83%) and Silent Generation (55%) use their video game console to play video games and the secondary use is watch movies. <br />However, thirty percent of consumers, in households with video game consoles, reported that they personally use the console to connect to the Internet – play games on the Internet (20%), download games online (11%) and browse the Internet (9%). And Generation Yers use the console to connect to the Internet nearly three times more than the average consumer, 80 and 30 percent respectively. Gen Yers play games on the Internet (34%), download games online (29%) and browse the Internet (17%) twice as much as any other generation.<br />For what activities do you use your video game console?<br /> CITATION VideoGameTrend \l 1028 (29)<br />Above are the behaviors of consumer who plays video game nowadays. Then I will introduce the equipment and games for 3D display mode.<br />4.3.a Equipment (NVIDIA)<br />3D, this is a term we have been hearing since the 1960's when cheesy paper glasses and mildly applicable 3D was introduced in movies and made things appear to be moving in your direction. In reality this entire concept is rather old, but technology is starting to catch up with the ideals of 3D and making it a viable application in the gaming world. The paper glasses have been replaced with some new cool plastic goggles and NVIDIA has incorporated the 3D aspect of gaming in these new goggles and their own drivers. NVIDIA always known as a trend setter and major player in the VGA game has taken stereo 3D to the next level and bringing it into our home by way of your NVIDIA VGA card a new pair of glasses and IR box that will be known as the GeForce Stereoscopic 3D Vision.<br />- The Technical Aspect<br />How does the brain translate the two-dimensional images represented by the retina into the three-dimensional images that we see? Like I stated in my opening words the idea and concept of 3D has been around a long time. The basic technology involved is taking an image and then splitting it into two various and slightly different parts and then using glasses to make our brain translate those images into one 3D image. Your brain takes these two images and combines them bringing depth to the entire scene you are viewing and tricking your brain into seeing the images in 3D Vision.<br />Creating 3D computer graphics and its process can be broken down to three various stages in its application: 3D Modeling which describes the process when shaping an object, layout and animation which describes the motion and placement of objects within a scene, and then the last phase the actual rendering which produces an actual 3D image of an object. These processes are the only available with the realization of the modern PC as the processing power needed to make this technology a reality is only know showing actual real time progress. NVIDIA takes this technology to a new level by adding an element to their driver package that works in conjunction with their NVIDIA branded VGA cards and Stereoscopic 3D glasses.<br />When 3D was introduced back in the 60s, they used paper glasses with red and blue lenses that helped trick the brain into seeing altered images that were called stereo 3D, but this had its limitations due to the older anaglyph technology, which was able to give each eye its own image by superimposing each frame of a video with a different color hue and eliminating the unneeded frames. Having a red and blue lens defined and filtered out various frames of a sequence that in turn gave each eye a different perspective of the scene. The main problem with this older technology was tinting of the image due to the poor processing of the image to your brain that resulted in only mild and slightly blurry 3D effect. This anaglyph technology has actually has a very long shelf life all things considered as up until the last decade this was the solitary way of translating 3D to the brain.<br />Now polarization is the most common way of translating stereo 3D to your brain and it has many of the same technological aspects that the older anaglyph technology. The main difference in this technology is that instead of using read and blue colored lenses transparent lenses are used that polarize, or filter out the images and allow each eye to see its own image clearly. Polarization technology is nothing new; it's been in your sunglasses for years filtering out various color patterns form the sun that can harm your eyes. It works in the same way with stereo 3D only in a slightly modified way. This as well has its limitations as well as you must be facing the monitor at just the right angle to see the picture correctly translated in 3D. The reason for this factor is that there is not enough power in a normal monitor to correctly change the view accordingly with your heads position to the monitor and although IZ3D did solve most of this problem by placing one monitor screen on top of another in conjunction with polarized glasses, it still gave you that headache associated with your retinal translation of 3D and slow framerates.<br />NVIDIA has gone a different direction entirely with this process, but this idea is not new just redefined by them and reintroduced as 3D vision, as technology in monitors has advanced to a new level by way of 120Hz refresh rates, which play a major role in this application. The major problem with any of the older passive or active technology using 3D glasses in conjunction with a monitor has been poor framerates, as most monitors at their highest resolution only offered 60Hz refresh rates, which translates into barely thirty framreates per second, per each eye of a pair of stereo 3D glasses. When playing games 30 framerates a second was the minimum requirement to keep games playing without the games playing sluggish, so take that and apply it to the 3D environment and you can understand why older monitors and glasses never quite worked right. But alas now come along monitors that have a refresh rate of 120Hz and new possibilities can be realized as now each eye of the new powered glasses can now give you the same refresh rate per eye in stereoscopic 3D as your old monitor did in standard gaming.<br />The key to an active glasses solution is that the lenses must be properly synchronized with the display requiring some form of communication between the two devices to function properly. When the left eye frame is shown on the screen then the left lens must be completely open and during the time the screen refreshes with the next frame for the right eye the glasses must also switch lens opacity. This communication could be done by way of a cable of or using infrared signals, as the NVIDIA solution we are looking at today uses. Each lens in the glasses is effectively a 1 pixel LCD screen that is turned off (black) or on (clear) depending on which eye should see the image displayed on the screen. An infrared box that connects by way of a USB cable is the communications hub of the Stereoscopic 3D Vision technology and the new glasses are constantly updated and refreshed with the proper information to each eye that translates through your retinas 3D imagery that does not cause headaches due to poor framerates. Using this technology also allows the user to move their head and angle to the monitor with little effect to the translated 3D image. NVIDIA is ahead of the curve and as monitors improve so will the ability of technological advancements in NVIDIA's Stereoscopic 3D Vision.<br />- NVIDIA 3D Vision Hardware<br /> <br />These are some shots of the box and the glasses as they come in the retail package. This will also be what the package consumer will be buying when it hits the retail shelves.<br />In the shot above it is all the cables and driver CDs that come inside the retail box, the USB cables can be use to connect to either 120Hz LCD Monitor or the S-Video connection on TV. The glasses are also charged off the USB port of PC.<br /> <br />The glasses are made of a plastic polymer with dark lenses that translate the information to each one of eyes. They come with an additional nose piece if consumer happens to have a small nose that the standard fit might slip off of during gaming.<br /> <br />The glasses connect via an included USB cable and are turned on by pushing a button on the side of the glasses that turns green when turned on. The glasses stay powered for almost ten hours of game play before needing a recharge.<br /> <br />Above is the IR or infrared communication box that constantly updates the glasses to the game while consumer is playing on PC. This unit also connects via another USB cable that provides power to the unit. On the back of the IR unit is a scroll knob for the depth amount of the 3D immersion. Consumer can use this knob to either pull in an image or create more 3D depth to the game environment.<br /> CITATION NVIDIAco \l 1028 (30)<br />4.3.b The Evolution of Video Game (before real 3D vision game)<br />The video and computer game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world. The two main sections of the games market are that of computer and video games. Computer games are games that are played on Personal Computers (PCs) whilst video games are played using<br />a television and a games console (a cheap mass produced computer).<br />The hi-graphic 3D video games that we play today are certainly a result of inventions in the past. Most of the people play video games, but don't know what has enabled them to enjoy such entertaining technology. There have been several ups and downs in the evolution of video games, and their advancements were not quick, as there were many challenges involved in making them better. Below I will introduce a bit the evolution of video games (before real 3D vision game).<br />The first video game was released in 1958. In the 1970s, video games became widely available in arcades and on home computers. Early video game graphics consisted mainly of geometric objects. <br /><The game \"
Pong\"
, released in 1972><br /><The game \"
Speed Freak\"
, from 1977><br />For the first time, graphics were not generated programmatically but created by an artist and saved to an image file. Sprites often consist of a series of images that are played in sequence to create an animation. Even today, many games used sprite-technology.<br /><\"
Space Invaders\"
from 1978><br /><\"
Pac Man\"
from 1980><br />3D-Engines had been \"
faked\"
before, mostly in racing games but never without major flaws. The technology used by these games created a realistic 3D-environment that you could walk through. All objects and characters excluding the walls were 2D-sprites.<br />As the video game technology evolved in the early 1990s, several action and first-person shooting games were bought into the scene, like 'Wolfenstein 3D' and 'Doom'. Looking at the popularity of such games, the companies decided on providing free 'demo' game versions to the public. During these years, computers became well suited for handling such 3D games. The 'doom' game had certainly set a standard for action shooting games along with good 3D graphics.<br /> <br /><\"
Wolfenstein 3D\"
from 1992> <\"
Doom\"
from 1993><br />With increasing processing power, it finally became possible to create \"
real\"
3D engines where all (or at least most) objects and characters were 3D. In the Doom age you were restricted to moving forwards and to the side, now it was possible to also move upwards and downwards. CITATION Lay09 \l 1028 (31)<br /><\"
Max Payne\"
, released in 2001><br />In addition, an interesting aspect of the change in the industry is the way that games are controlled by the players. Early designs used simple mechanisms, whilst the latest consoles have state of the art motion sensing controls. Some of the most substantial changes in the control schemes of games came about during the transition from 2D to 3D games. That is the change from flat 2 dimensional games to fully 3 dimensional environments. Lately there has also been a change to more immersive control schemes.<br />4.3.c 3D Virtual Video Game Nowadays<br />Nowadays, there are many advanced 3D games available in several genres such as shooting, sports, puzzles, action, horror, racing, etc. These games also include a high-quality surround sound and highly advanced graphics, and can be played on advanced gadgets such as the 'PS3' and 'Xbox 360'.<br />Because of now real 3D vision game is in the beginning of development, almost every big console or gaming companies (like Sony, Microsoft) are presenting their now 3D gaming technology and games on the market. So below I will introduce them by company.<br />- Sony<br />a. EyePet<br />EyePet is a game for the PlayStation 3. The game uses the PlayStation Eye camera to allow a virtual pet to interact with people and objects in the real world. Using augmented reality, the simian, gremlin-like creature appears to be aware of its environment and surroundings and reacts to them accordingly. The player can place objects in front of the animal and the game will interpret what the object is and respond to it. For example, if the player rolls a ball towards it, it will jump out of the way to avoid being hurt. It will also react to the player's actions and sound allowing the user to, for example, tickle the animal or clap their hands to startle it. <br />This game also has a drawing system, which involves drawing basic sketches of cars and planes and other objects comprised of basic shapes. You hold your sketch to the camera, and the pet then grabs a crayon and re-draws your sketch virtually. In the demonstration video, a drawing with the proper constituent parts will transform into 3D objects that combine into pet toys. So the pet winds up flying on the plane or driving the car. Players can pick the textures for any of the objects. So imagine making the car from wood or stone, for example.<br />One of the other things is the ability to give your pet a check-up. You hold the card up to the pet as if it's an X-ray scanner and wand over where the pet is virtually standing. This provides clues to its mood and its needs. Maybe it's sad or hungry. CITATION EyePet \l 1028 (32)<br /> <br />b. PlayStation Home<br />The concept of PlayStation Home is simple: You log in, create a character and roam about the world, interacting with other users and various entertainment outlets (movie screens, arcade games, etc.)<br />Inside PlayStation Home there are 4 areas:<br />1. Your apartment. It's about 15ft x 40ft.<br />2. The Lobby. This area is quite large, about the size of a football field. There are places to sit and chat, and large screens to watch.<br />3. Movie Theatre. When you walk in there is a large screen playing movie. There are 10 theatre rooms which currently show a variety of game and movie trailers.<br />4. The Game Room. The game room is about half the size of the lobby, which is more than big enough. It's easily the most popular room. There are 6 pool tables, 4 bowling lanes, and 10 arcade machines.<br />The face creation system is very detailed. It's sorted by things like: eyes, nose, etc. and goes all the way down to things like: Upper face symmetry, lower face symmetry. These facial features are adjusted by a slider that can be moved in both the x and y axis. For example, while adjusting \"
eye location\"
the y axis controls the height of your eyes, and the x axis controls their distance from the centre of your face. There are about 20 of these sliders, which give you about 40 different ways to adjust your face alone. <br />Recently Sony claimed, Sony has already developed 3D face scan technology. Player can use PlayStation Eye camera to scan his/her own face in some way, then his/her avatar in PlayStation Home will be exactly like him/her.<br />And about hair style and clothing soon in this game will have cooperative partners provide their own products. Just try to imagine, what if Sony also has totally 3D body scan, players can try on real shoes, clothes or underwear by their own avatar. If they really like it, they even can buy the real one in this game and this makes PlayStation Home also become a e-shop.<br />This game supports Bluetooth headsets as well as keyboards. Player can hold R2 (control) to speak. The audio volume depends on the proximity of player’s character to the source. This works well in allowing player to have one-on-one conversations while still being able to hear people chatter around. <br />PlayStation Home is like a virtual reality on-line community. In the game players can chat with their friend, walk around or even watch a movie with their friend. Actually, Sony has also presented a prototype version that players no more need control to play this game. Players walk or turn in front of the screen (with PlayStation Eye camera) their avatar will act in the same way.<br />And the latest version of this game (Version 1.30, released on October 1, 2009) included key features such as Universal Game Launching, 3D item previews in the shopping complex, a camera that lets users take in-Home pictures and save them to their PS3's HDD, new emotes, an advanced targeting system, and users can now determine their cache size to make navigating Home a smoother experience. CITATION PlayStationHome \l 1028 (33)<br />Besides these two games, when it came to the idea of 3D gaming, Sony was implicit but never explicit. <br />January 9, 2009 - At Sony CEO Howard Stringer's keynote address, he underlined a keen interest in developing 3D technology -- specifically, RealD 3D -- and its potential future with Sony. While the discussion primarily concerned the box office, Stringer did allude to its possible use in videogames, as evidenced by a flashed image of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Inside the CES expo hall, though, Sony is going a step further with RealD and the PlayStation 3 by showing off three different technology demos of games using the stereoscopic effect: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, WipEout HD, and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift these games.<br />Racing games, such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Wipeout HD, were used as examples of how 3D technology can be used to enhance the gameplay experience, with Sony representatives explaining that driving games in particular can benefit from an enhanced level of depth perception. CITATION Sony01 \l 1028 (34)<br />- Microsoft/Xbox<br />a. Project Natal<br />Microsoft's Project Natal will “reinvent the industry and revolutionize home entertainment”, according to the company's corporate vice president for Xbox Shane Kim.<br />Project Natal is Microsoft's 3D camera for Xbox 360. It tracks people's motions in three dimensions and has a microphone capable of voice recognition. It is to be used as a controller-free method of playing video games, tracking the player's body movements and voice and transferring that information directly to the gaming console. Project Natal uses an RGB camera, an infrared projector and a monochrome CMOS sensor. The RGB camera tracks basic colors and enables features such as Natal's ability to recognize faces. The infrared and CMOS sensors work in tandem to create a 3D image of the room. Microsoft claims that it is this combination of several sensory arrays that allow Natal to work in any light condition.<br />This data is then combined with proprietary algorithms to map a wire-frame skeleton of the player in real-time. It is this extra layer of processing that allows Natal to continue working even if something wanders between the player and the camera. This wire-frame system also allows Natal to recognize four players at once without getting overlapping limbs confused. In addition to its visual sensors, Natal has a multiarray microphone that can \"
locate voices by sound and extract ambient noise.\"
This will allow for individual voice recognition and headset-free chatting in online games.<br />As of today, Microsoft has only presented Natal as an Xbox 360 peripheral. However, there is reason to believe that it will also be usable on your PC at some point. Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that the Windows group has \"
latched onto\"
Natal's technology and is eyeing it for use in home entertainment and office applications.<br />Microsoft has said that it plans to treat the Natal launch like the release of a new console. That usually means that a dozen or so games will come out alongside it. So far, six games have been shown using the camera. Not everything that is shown will necessarily be released to the public when Natal launches and older titles won't get Natal upgrades.<br />Below are two example of how does Natal work.<br />Milo<br />This game from Lionhead Studios is a bit like a virtual friend -- Milo (an unassuming school boy), it pulled the rug out from under us, resetting our preconceptions about the limits of this technology. For the first time, having a logical, meaningful exchange with an AI character is possible, thanks to a combination of speech recognition and the use of the camera on the Natal bar. Milo could “hear” and interpret the tone of your voice to determine your mood and “understand” your words, replying with logic and reacting physically on-screen.<br />What really blew me away, however, was when the Milo routine broke through the Augmented Reality barrier, allowing you to “pass” an object into the game world and have Milo interpret that object. In the instance of the demonstration, I watched an illustration on a sheet of paper get scanned and passed into the game world, where Milo grabbed hold of it. It’s really amazing.<br />Ricochet<br />Richochet challenges players to get up off of the couch and swing and kick at balls flying towards them. The goal is to hit balls back and break targets using your hands and feet. This is a bite-sized mini-game powered by Unreal Engine 3 that perfectly demonstrated the technology's capabilities, putting up a translucent player avatar up on screen and then hurling a flurry of balls for them to deflect. The tracking of movement is astounding, the detail of the recognition even more so. In the demonstration, I saw while player waving his arms around, at which the avatar promptly followed, and then to highlight its accuracy he began to thrust his hips around wildly, his moves again captured perfectly on screen.<br />Such precision is possible thanks to quick-fire mapping and instantaneous creation of a virtual skeleton comprising of 48 separate points. We're afforded a quick look under the bonnet with a glimpse at what Natal sees - infra-red images help detect the player, and combining this data with set algorithms helps map a wire-frame skeleton. These same algorithms help Natal predict what certain limbs are doing based on the position of other body parts – so if a hand or arm drops out of picture it will still accurately represent your motions.<br />It's this same principle that means even if something wanders between the player and the camera the experience is uninterrupted – a fact that the demonstrator by running a chair between himself and Natal, during which time the image onscreen remains intact. It's this principle as well that supports up to four people, and it's this that ensures that Natal won't get confused when the flailing limbs are overlapping. <br />On the game front, this device opens the door to true first person shooters, where your arm is the weapon and your movement actually propels you forwards – negating the need for sticks and buttons. Just imagine the potential in a stealth simulation where your character on screen actually responds exactly to your movement, posture and even sounds you make. It's drool-worthy stuff, we think you'll agree. We just hope that this gaming revolution comes sooner rather than later.<br /> CITATION NATAL \l 1028 (35)<br />For players, Sony EyePet and Xbox Project Natal may have come upon the Mario and Sonic for this generation.<br />More than a decade ago, Nintendo and Sega waged a console war with Mario and Sonic as the figures around which fans rallied. Neither was an expression of what a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis was technologically capable of. But they served as shorthand for their companies and their fans. Mario embodied a certain all-ages joyfulness and quality of game. Sonic represented attitude and verve that his company would want you to think Nintendo didn't have.<br />The EyePet and Milo might prove to be better representations of what their host systems and corporate backers are capable of concocting. Better than Mario and Sonic ever were. So they're worth watching. They're worth debating. And the success of one or the other may yet prove whether it is Sony or Microsoft that has the better ability to harness horsepower, gadgetry and developer ingenuity.<br />One of the commenters commended the demonstration on youtube “Natal is cool, pet is cool. Plus Natal and Pets these is very cool. But natal needed new xbox 360 I don’t like these part\"
<br />People are drawing comparisons because EyePet and Milo are both camera-supported convergences of software and video game hardware designed to simulate a lifelike being -- and to do so with the minimal involvement of a game controller. EyePet does it with an already-released camera, the PlayStation Eye. Milo does it with Microsoft's Project Natal, an elaborate mechanism that has no price, no release date but is intended to work with the current Xbox 360. They are both demonstrations of what ambitious creators can wring out of video game technology or even other nice application in the future.<br />5 The Prospects – Medical Application<br />To me, gaming, or home entertainment certainly are interesting. However, I find that if we can use these technologies as a springboard to medical care, it would be a nice big jump.<br />Below I will use the theories and technologies that I have studied from above to describe my points of view for the prospects of 3D display technology.<br />5.1 Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy<br />5.1.a What is Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy?<br />Fist, Physical therapy is a health care profession which provides services to individuals in order to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional ability throughout life. This includes providing services in circumstances where movement and function are threatened by aging, injury, disease or environmental factors.<br />Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation. This encompasses physical, psychological, emotional, and social well being. It <br />Involves the interaction between physical therapist, patients/clients, other health professionals, families, care givers, and communities in a process where movement potential is assessed and goals are agreed upon, using knowledge and skills unique to physical therapists. Physical therapy is performed by either a physical therapist or an assistant acting under their direction. PTs utilize an individual's history and physical examination to arrive at a diagnosis and establish a management plan, and when necessary, incorporate the results of laboratory and imaging studies. Electrodiagnostic testing (e.g. electromyograms and nerve conduction velocity testing) may also be of assistance. <br />Physical therapy has many specialties including cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, neurologic, orthopaedic and pediatrics to name some of the more common areas. PTs practice in many settings, such as outpatient clinics or offices, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, extended care facilities, private homes, education and research centers, schools, hospices, industrial workplaces or other occupational environments, fitness centers and sports training facilities. <br />Because the body of knowledge of physical therapy is quite large, some PTs specialize in a specific clinical area. While there are many different types of physical therapy, the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties list seven specialist certifications, including Sports Physical Therapy and Clinical Electrophysiology. Worldwide the six most common specialty areas in physical therapy are:<br />- Orthopedic Physical Therapy<br />Orthopedic physical therapists diagnose, manage, and treat disorders and injuries of the musculoskeletal system including rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery. This specialty of physical therapy is most often found in the out-patient clinical setting. Orthopedic therapists are trained in the treatment of post-operative orthopedic procedures, fractures, acute sports injuries, arthritis, sprains, strains, back and neck pain, spinal conditions and amputations. Joint and spine mobilization/manipulation, therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular reeducation, hot/cold packs, and electrical muscle stimulation (e.g., cryotherapy, iontophoresis, electrotherapy) are modalities often used to expedite recovery in the orthopedic setting. Additionally, an emerging adjunct to diagnosis and treatment is the use of sonography for diagnosis and to guide treatments such as muscle retraining. Those who have suffered injury or disease affecting the muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons of the body will benefit from assessment by a physical therapist specialized in orthopedics.<br /> <br />- Neurological Physical Therapy<br />Neurological physical therapy is a discipline focused on working with individuals who have a neurological disorder or disease. These include Alzheimer's disease, ALS, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke. Common impairments associated with neurologic conditions include impairments of; vision, balance, ambulation, activities of daily living, movement, speech and loss of functional independence.<br />- Pediatric Physical Therapy<br />Pediatric physical therapy assists in early detection of health problems and uses a wide variety of modalities to treat disorders in the pediatric population. These therapists are specialized in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of infants, children, and adolescents with a variety of congenital, developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal, or acquired disorders/diseases. Treatments focus on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance as well as cognitive and sensory processing/integration. Children with developmental delays, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or torticollis, may be treated by pediatric physical therapists.<br /> <br />- Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy<br />Cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation physical therapists treat a wide variety of individuals with cardiopulmonary disorders or those who have had cardiac or pulmonary surgery. Primary goals of this specialty include increasing endurance and functional independence. Manual therapy is utilized in this field to assist in clearing lung secretions experienced with cystic fibrosis. Disorders, including heart attacks, post coronary bypass surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis, treatments can benefit from cardiovascular and pulmonary specialized physical therapists.<br />- Geriatric Physical Therapy<br />Geriatric physical therapy covers a wide area of issues concerning people as they go through normal adult aging, but is usually focused on the older adult. There are many conditions that affect many people as they grow older and include but are not limited to the following: arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hip and joint replacement, balance disorders, incontinence, etc. Geriatric physical therapy helps those affected by such problems in developing a specialized program to help restore mobility, reduce pain, and increase fitness levels<br /> <br /> CITATION physicalTherapy \l 1028 (36)<br />Second, speech-language pathology is the study of disorders that affect a person's speech, language, cognition, voice, swallowing (dysphagia) and the rehabilitative or corrective treatment of physical and/or cognitive deficits/disorders resulting in difficulty with communication and/or swallowing.<br />Communication includes speech (articulation, intonation, rate, intensity, voice, resonance, fluency), language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), both receptive and expressive language (including reading and writing), and non-verbal communication such as facial expression and gesture. Swallowing problems managed under speech therapy are problems in the oral and pharyngeal stages of swallowing (not oesophageal). Depending on the nature and severity of the disorder, common treatments may range from physical strengthening exercises, instructive or repetitive practice and drilling, to the use of audio-visual aids and introduction of strategies to facilitate functional communication. Speech therapy may also include sign language and the use of picture symbols or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).<br />There are separate standardized assessment tools administered for infants, school-aged children, adolescents and adults. Assessments primarily examine the form, content, understanding and use of language, as well as articulation, and phonology. Oral motor and swallowing assessments often require specialized training. These include the use of bedside examination tools and endoscopic/modified barium radiology procedures.<br />Individuals may be referred to an SLP for any of the following: Traumatic brain injury, Stroke, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, Cranial nerve damage, Progressive neurological conditions (Parkinson, ALS, etc), Developmental delay, Learning disability (speaking and listening), Autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger syndrome, Genetic disorders that adversely affect speech, language and/or cognitive development, Injuries due to complications at birth, Feeding and swallowing concerns, Craniofacial anamolies that adversely affect speech, language and/or cognitive development, Cerebral Palsy, Augmentative Alternative Communication needs.<br />There are myriad Speech-Language Assessment tools used for chidren and adults, depending on the area of need.<br />Speech and language therapists work with:<br />- Babies with feeding and swallowing difficulties<br />- Children with mild, moderate or severe: learning difficulties, physical disabilities, language delay, specific language impairment, specific difficulties in producing sounds (including vocalic r and lisps), hearing impairment, cleft palate, stammering, autism/social interaction difficulties, dyslexia voice disorders.<br />- Adults with eating and swallowing and/or communication problems following: stroke, head injury (Traumatic brain injury), Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, dementia, cancer of the head, neck and throat (including laryngectomy), voice problems, mental health issues, learning difficulties, physical disabilities, stammering (dysfluency), hearing impairment, transgender voice therapy (usually for male-to-female individuals)<br />- Adults and Children with Cerebral Palsy CITATION Speechandlanguagepathology \l 1028 (37)<br />3683020955 <br />5.1.b Technology Application Nowadays<br />I think 3D display technology can be used to help or support people who need physical therapy. Why do I think of this is because when I was in university, I joined in social care club. And I had a chance to see and know how that cerebral palsy did and developmental retardation patients (especially kids) take their rehabilitation treatment, and how difficult could be for the physical therapist to help those patients.<br />By now for physical therapy, there is a nice example of combining gaming console with physical therapy – Nintendo Wii. <br />Nintendo Wii games console, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, it has already became a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. In fact, many patients say PT -- physical therapy's nickname -- really stands for “pain and torture”. The usual stretching and lifting exercises that help the sick or injured regain strength can be painful, repetitive and downright boring. <br />However, using the game console's unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. The Wii Fit game -- a white plastic platform motion detector operated through a Nintendo Wii console -- translates a person's real-time movements onto a screen and offers 40 activities in yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance, many appropriate for therapy. And with so many possibilities, therapists can tailor patient sessions, monitoring carefully to avoid the overuse common with Wii's simulated sports. Physical therapist is hoping that even patients who cannot walk or stand will also get in on the fun by sitting on the platform, called a balance board. That application has yet to be tested, though patients in wheelchairs already can use some Wii sporting games.<br />So, What are the actual medical uses of Nintendo Wii?<br />- Helps in Arthritis<br />Arthritis is an inflammation of bone joints which is accompanied by joint pain. People who suffer with arthritis are in need of physical activity in order to maintain a healthy and active life. Movement of the joints promotes strength by stretching tendons and muscles, thereby helps bone structure.<br />Many Physical Therapists are using Nintendo’s Wii Fit as a physiotherapy aid to encourage arthritic patients to do their crucial daily exercises. The Wii uses motion sensor controls, which means that the gamer has to move around in order to play the game. Not only it provides a fun way of doing some of the therapeutic exercises, but it beats the same aerobic step and joint exercise routines that can make patients bore.nintendo-wii-headset<br />- Helps in Stroke<br />A stroke occurs when a blood clot forms in a damaged vessel, which blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Doctors says that use of Nintendo Wii games like tennis, golf or boxing can help stroke victims recover more quickly without any harsh impact on the body.. Moreover, it’s fun. Doctors in the U.S. are now beginning to use the Wii to help stroke victims regain movement in their arms and legs. Furthermore, German clinicians have also been reported to use the Wii to speed up recovery in injured soldiers.<br />- Helps in Parkinson’s disease<br />Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease that impairs motor skills. Dr. Ben Herz, program director and assistant professor of Allied Health Sciences Department of Occupational Therapy, Georgia, US mentioned that the Nintendo Wii allows patients to work in a virtual environment like visual perception, eye-hand coordination, figure-ground relationships and sequenced movements that is safe, fun and motivational treatment tool.<br /> An 8 week study conducted on 20 Parkinson’s patients revealed that patients playing video games showed significant improvements in rigidity, movement, fine motor skills and energy levels. Dr. Herz stated that “Perhaps most impressively, most patient’s depression levels decreased to zero”. This is significant outcome as 45 percent or higher Parkinson’s patients are reported to suffer from depression.<br />Dr. Ben’s study also revealed that Wii exercise effects can increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in Parkinson’s patients. Dopamine helps in improving voluntary and functional movements.<br />- Helps in Rehabilitation process<br />Rehabilitation is the process of restoring and regaining physical strength and function. Such patients require intensive physical therapy for recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. Patients often complain that physical therapy is repetitive, boring and torturous.<br />The new approach called ‘Wii-habilitation’ or “Wiihab” is changing the dynamics of Physical Therapy. Wiihab allows patients to play Wii video games such as baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis as part of their physical therapy routine. <br />Doctors consider it to be an excellent alternative to traditional therapies as it not only helps to improve muscle movement, but at the same time, it exercises the mind. Patients are engrossed in playing the games to the level that patients ignore or forget the discomfort, which is very essential in the recovery process. Rehab centers across the country having patients with varying level of injuries, such as spinal cord, paralysis in certain part of body and so on are utilizing this fun way to treat their patients. Elizabeth Penny, therapist at WakeMed Health, NC says that Wii improved endurance, strength and coordination in the patients. <br />Wii comes handy even in occupational therapy and helps patients relearn daily living skills including brushing teeth, combing hair and fastening clothes.<br />Nintendo Wii has added new dimensions to the gaming industry. There is no doubt that Nintendo Wii is a “more active” form of computer gaming unlike traditional hand-held or TV video games, where users sit on the couch, exercising no more than their thumbs.<br />The Wii represents innovation in a way that players interact with games through the use unique motion sensor controllers, Wii also provides a more intuitive and interactive means of gaming experience, requiring body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. This might be the reason Nintendo Wii has not only taken place in various living rooms but also has become a part of various clinics and hospital settings. Apparently, it has proven itself to be a valuable resource in improving the quality of patients’ physique. CITATION WiifitMedical \l 1028 (38)<br />However, Nintendo Wii treatment is still under estimation. Because Wii is a gaming console and it was not created to be a physical therapy tool. And when a patient stands on the Wii fit board, if he/she doesn’t have a therapist by his/her side supporting he/she, the patient could lost balance , fall or happened some serious errors.<br />For speech & language therapy, “The Interactive Metronome” program provides a structured, goal-oriented process that challenges the patient to synchronize a range of hand and foot exercises to a precise computer-generated reference tone heard through headphones. The patient attempts to match the rhythmic beat with repetitive motor actions. <br />Today, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Physical Therapists, Educators, Athletic Trainers, Licensed Rehabilitation Medical and Mental Health Professionals Neurologists, Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Chiropractic Care Professionals are enhancing traditional therapy approaches with IM and achieving measurably improved outcomes. IM has been shown to improve: Attention & Concentration, Motor Planning & Sequencing, Language Processing, Behavior (Aggression & Impulsivity), Balance and Gait, Endurance, Strength, Motor Skills, Coordination.<br />5.1.c Further Technology Application Perspective<br />In the beginning, this is just an idea, a concept, but after I studied deeply, I think this application really can be implemented.<br />For improving physical therapy, I think a stroke patient who cannot act, speak and express himself well. He will need a therapist to train and teach his body and facial muscles and his brain.<br />By Microsoft’s Project Natal – Ricochet, we can develop and transform this technology to help the patients who has this needs. <br />As I mentioned before, Ricochet has quick-fire mapping and instantaneous creation of a virtual skeleton comprising of 48 separate points. So the tracking system of Ricochet is astounding, the detail of the recognition even more so. And it doesn’t need for sticks and buttons or a board to stand on. If combine this with a force feedback device (it can be a gloves or an arm/leg set) and real 3D vision, the patient can really see the object and feel the weight or force; at the same time the device also can memorize the therapy record for helping the therapist understand and evaluate the therapy level. Moreover, through 3D body scan and vision function, the program can be customized. Physical therapy training won’t be just like a flat activity. <br />For speech & language therapy, since Project Natal can track people's motions in three dimensions and has a microphone capable of voice recognition. I think it also can be nice to help or support teaching and learning sign language and some of the aphasia patients. Cause In fact, patient with aphasia is due to brain injury and temporarily lost original language ability. As long as the patient can have encouragement and support and professional speech therapy. Their language ability still have a chance to return to a certain extent. So, if the patient can have their first step to practice talking and interact with a virtual character (can be a little boy or a cute animal), it won’t be like “The Interactive Metronome”, you just can interact with a mono rhythm signal, this really will open their mind to try and learn.<br />Moreover, I think these patients do not only need teaching and training for their therapist, but also need to be encouraged and start having communication with people.<br />5.2 Telemedicine<br />5.2.a What Is Telemedicine?<br />Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred through the phone or the Internet and sometimes other networks for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations.<br />Telemedicine may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone, or as complex as using satellite technology and video-conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different countries. Telemedicine generally refers to the use of communications and information technologies for the delivery of clinical care.<br />Telemedicine can be broken into three main categories: store-and-forward, remote monitoring and interactive services.<br />- Store-and-forward<br />Store-and forward telemedicine involves acquiring medical data (like medical images, biosignals etc) and then transmitting this data to a doctor or medical specialist at a convenient time for assessment offline. It does not require the presence of both parties at the same time. Dermatology (cf: teledermatology), radiology, and pathology are common specialties that are conducive to asynchronous telemedicine. A properly structured Medical Record preferably in electronic form should be a component of this transfer. A key difference between traditional in-person patient meetings and telemedicine encounters is the omission of an actual physical examination and history. The store-and-forward process requires the clinician to rely on a history report and audio/video information in lieu of a physical examination.<br /> <br />- Remote monitoring<br />Remote monitoring, also known as self-monitoring/testing, enables medical professionals to monitor a patient remotely using various technological devices. This method is primarily used for managing chronic diseases or specific conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, or asthma. These services can provide comparable health outcomes to traditional in-person patient encounters, supply greater satisfaction to patients, and may be cost-effective.<br /> <br />- Interactive services<br />Interactive telemedicine services provide real-time interactions between patient and provider, to include phone conversations, online communication and home visits. Many activities such as history review, physical examination, psychiatric evaluations and ophthalmology assessments can be conducted comparably to those done in traditional face-to-face visits. In addition, “clinician-interactive” telemedicine services may be less costly than in-person clinical visits. <br />Telemedicine is most beneficial for populations living in isolated communities and remote regions and is currently being applied in virtually all medical domains. Monitoring a patient at home using known devices like blood pressure monitors and transferring the information to a caregiver is a fast growing emerging service. These remote monitoring solutions have a focus on current high morbidity chronic diseases and are mainly deployed for the First World. In developing countries a new way of practicing telemedicine is emerging better known as Primary Remote Diagnostic Visits whereby a doctor uses devices to remotely examine and treat a patient. This new technology and principle of practicing medicine holds big promises to solving major health care delivery problems in for instance Southern Africa because Primary Remote Diagnostic Consultations not only monitors an already diagnosed chronic disease, but has the promise to diagnosing and managing the diseases a patient will typically visit a general practitioner for.<br /> CITATION Telemedicine \l 1028 (39)<br />5.2.b Technology Application Nowadays<br />ECG or electrocardiograph can be transmitted using telephone and wireless. This was done by Barr (1958) who transmitted ECG tracings to about 40,000 feet.<br />Teletransmission of ECG using indigenous methods. One of the oldest known telecardiology system (teletransmission of ECG) was established in Gwalior, India in 1975 at GR Medical college by Dr. Ajai Shanker, Dr. S. Makhija, P.K. Mantri using indegenous technique for the first time in India. This system enabled wireless transmission of ECG from the moving ICU van or the patient’s home to the central station in ICU of the department of Medicine. Transmission using wireless was done using frequency modulation which eliminated noise. Transmission was also done through telephone lines. The ECG output was connected to the telephone input using a modulator which converted ECG into high frequency sound. At the other end a demodulator reconverted the sound into ECG with a good gain accuracy. The ECG was converted to sound waves with a frequency varying from 500 Hz to 2500 Hz with 1500 Hz at baseline.<br />This system was also used to monitor patients with pacemakers in remote areas. The central control unit at the ICU was able to correctly interpret arrhythmias. This technique helped medical aid reach in remote areas.<br /> CITATION Telemedicine \l 1028 (39)<br />5.2.c Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Below I will use two scenarios to describe my concept.<br />- Hospital Care and Family Communication<br />Patient Situation: Gestational diabetic<br />What can future 3D telemedicine technology help the patient?<br />Gestational diabetic usually onset from 28th week of pregnancy and lasts till the child birth. Women who have gestational diabetes can take the help of telemedicine to monitor and keep their glucose level under control. The patient needs to monitory their blood glucose level on the daily basis. Traditional telemedicine approach was to take the blood glucose reading at home. The patient sends the glucose reading using email or calls doctors’ office.<br />More advanced telemedicine systems allows the blood glucode readings to be automatically uploaded to the web server using the network at the patient’s home. Patient can also use iPhone or other data enabled cell phones to automatically upload the glucose reading to the server. The glucose reading is read by the doctor or nurse. The doctor or nurse then advises the patient with necessary instructions.<br />In the future by using 3D technology, the patient can scan herself with 3D body scanner at home then she can communicate with the doctor in real-time. The doctor not only can monitor baby’s heartbeat to prevent certain infections and a loss of oxygen to the baby if it is strangled by its own umbilical cord (For detail please check REF _Ref245289526 \w \h 3.4.c Medical), but also track patient’s gestational diabetic condition more precision. Except clinic time, this 3D system can connect to telephone line, Ethernet or 3G wireless system to upload the patient’s in time data. It may also have in built Bluetooth system that allows the blood glucose meter to communicate with the system.<br /> For patient, she also can share her condition with her family or friends. They can see her and her baby in 3D film. After the baby born, parents can keep updated on their infants’ condition and to view 3D images of their infants while they are in the neonatal intensive care unit. Parents also can share their happiness with some relatives far away.<br />1895218513<br />- Telesurgery<br />Telesurgery (also known as remote surgery) is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location. It is a form of telepresence. Remote surgery combines elements of robotics, cutting edge communication technology such as high-speed data connections and elements of management information systems. While the field of robotic surgery is fairly well established, most of these robots are controlled by surgeons at the location of the surgery. Remote surgery is essentially advanced telecommuting for surgeons, where the physical distance between the surgeon and the patient is immaterial. It promises to allow the expertise of specialized surgeons to be available to patients worldwide, without the need for patients to travel beyond their local hospital.<br />1841536830 Assistant professor of surgery Timothy Broderick (far right), medical director for UC's Center for Surgical Innovation, and his team perform robotic telesurgery in a desolate valley in California on a simulated patient five miles away.<br />Patient’s location: Africa<br />Doctor’s location: United Kingdom<br />This has made the possibility for a skilled surgeon to provide real-time guidance to less skilled surgeons across the country. So what if a patient who is located in North Africa needs help form the specialist in UK? From before the surgery until after, what can 3D telemedicine support the whole process? <br />Before the surgery, doctor can use 3D telemedicine to track patient’s condition constantly and specifically. Patient can be given a 3D laparoscopy check, where a small \"
telescope\"
was inserted into the body and the doctor can see the real condition inside the body. During the surgery the doctor will not be just see the patient through monitor like now, he can see the patient in three-dimension, through 3D display he can real do the surgery like the patient is in front of him on the surgery table and cooperate with the other doctors in Africa in real-time. After surgery, doctor can monitor and track the patient with 3D display telemedicine system. He can really see how the patient is recovering and does the patient have any infection. For this, not only can save the doctor a lot of traveling time but also shorten the patient's waiting time to see the doctor and surgical.<br />Moreover, what if this technology can be used on the battlefield in Iraq for army? Or in non-battlefield environments such as remote towns where major surgical centers are located at great distances or where a hospital has been incapacitated due to storms or other causes.<br />5.3 Teaching and Researching<br />Moreover, a real-time interactive teaching of techniques by an expert surgeon to a student not at the same site can be down with 3D display telemedicine.<br />By using 3D display telemedicine medical students won’t be just learning through look at the screen (like the picture above), they even can be in the surgery and stand beside the surgery table learn it in the real-time. <br />6 Conclusions<br />Technological changes our past and present. Technology surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology is building bridges between people on opposite sides of the globe; technology is a boundless horizon consisting of myriad fields, from the environmental conditions to the governance issue, affecting millions across the globe. Technology is also one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel.<br />In 1961, MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS). This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. This also shortened the distance of communication between people all over the world. With the development of technology, now we are having faster network, instant messenger, webcam ...etc such tools supporting our lives and the way to communicate.<br />Although some people may concern, technology has both positive and negative effects in our life including the possible improvement or declination of society. Technology shapes our society and has both positive and negative effects. But I think a good technology invention can be a great “tool” for us. It can help, support or make people have temporary satisfaction, and it will never replace any actual senses and needs as a human being. <br />So, I think about what is the next one to transform our live? I think one of them will be 3D display technology. Obviously, 3D display technology has been used in video/PC gaming and home entertainment field in the beginning. Nevertheless, I think in the future 3D technology developing should also look at other applications, aside from entertainment, that could benefit from an added dimension. Medicine, teaching and peer-to-peer communications are all possible candidates.<br />Cited BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Sam, Ramadan. The History of 3D Photography - Newly Updated. Mission 3-D blog. [Online] January 22, 2009. http://blog.mission3-dgroup.com/2009/01/22/the-history-of-3d-photography/.2. Wikipedia. Binocular Vision. Wikipedia. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binocular_vision#cite_note-0.3. Martin Kohler, Schmalholzstr. Historische Entwicklung der Stereophotographie. 3d-historisch. [Online] http://www.3d-historisch.de/Geschichte_Stereoskopie/Geschichte_Stereoskopie.htm.4. Samuel, Gateau. 3D Vision Technology Develop, Design, Play in 3D Stereo. s.l. : NVIDIA, NVIDIA.5. Tom's Hardware. [Online] Bestofmedia Network. http://www.tomshardware.tw/408,review-408.html.6. 3D television. Wikipedia. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_television.7. FUJIFILM. FinePix REAL 3D W1 : Features - Intuitive Interface & Attractive Function. FUJIFILM Global. [Online] http://www.fujifilm.com/products/3d/camera/finepix_real3dw1/features/page_04.html.8. MINORU. MINORU. [Online] Promotion and Display Technology Ltd. http://www.minoru3d.com/.9. Panasonic. PANASONIC TO START DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROFESSIONAL 3D PRODUCTION SYSTEM. [Online] Panasonic. http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalogId=13251&itemId=342750.10. IO2 Technology . heliodisplay. IO2 Technology . [Online] http://www.io2technology.com/home.11. Wikipedia. Augmented Reality. Wikipedia. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality.12. Visualization and Interactive Media Laboratory of NCHC. MIIL:Medical Image Illustrator. VIML. [Online] http://viml.nchc.org.tw/research/software.php#1.13. Jon, Healey. The NFL, live and in 3D. Los Angeles Times. [Online] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/12/the-nfl-live-an.html.14. yuriythebest. SpaceHunter: adventures in the forbidden zone in 3D review. Youtube. [Online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvhIPHiDNg.15. Thomas, Ricker. Video: Topps launches 3D Live baseball cards, video cards on deck. engadget. [Online] March 09, 2009. http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/topps-launches-3d-live-baseball-cards-video-cards-on-deck/.16. Fairfax Digital. Airport trials 'naked' passenger scanner. Brisbane Times. [Online] http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/airport-trials-naked-passenger-scanner-20091013-gvll.html.17. Darren, Murph. Samsung demonstrates e-passport with flexible OLED display. engadget. [Online] May 20, 2008. http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/20/samsung-demonstrates-e-passport-with-flexible-oled-display/.18. AcrossAir. AcrossAir. [Online] http://www.acrossair.com/apps_nearesttube.htm.19. Elizabeth A., Thomson. MIT team takes high-res, 3-D images of eye. MIT news. [Online] http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/eye-imaging.html.20. Elizabeth, A. Thomson. New system allows earlier monitoring of fetal heartbeat. MIT news. [Online] http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/fetal-0601.html.21. Canon. Japan. Dinosaur 2009 in Makuhari Messe, Chiba. Canon. [Online] July 08, 2009. http://web.canon.jp/pressrelease/2009/p2009jul08j.html.22. Marianne, Wartoft. Immune Attack - Educational 3D Biology Video Game. [Online] http://www.educational-freeware.com/freeware/immune-attack.aspx.23. Thomas, Ricker. Sony's 360-degree 3D prototype displays blown minds (video). engadget. [Online] October 22, 2009. http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/sonys-360-degree-3d-prototype-displays-blown-minds-video/.24. Wu, Atticus. Computex 2009：Pioneer 3D. engadget. [Online] http://chinese.engadget.com/2009/06/03/pioneer-3d-floating/.25. Darren, Murph. Engadget. engadget. [Online] July 17, 2009. http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/17/video-augmented-reality-business-card-sells-itself/#continued.26. Real-View3d. Real-View3d. [Online] http://www.real-view3d.com/.27. Mike, Elgan. Nokia demos 3D cell phone -- no glasses required. The Raw Feed . [Online] September 02, 2009. http://www.therawfeed.com/2009/09/nokia-demos-3d-cell-phone-no-glasses.html.28. Price Grabber. Market Report. PriceGrabber.com. [Online] https://mr.pricegrabber.com/index.php?badlogin=1.29. —. Video Game Trends. PriceGrabber.com. [Online] https://mr.pricegrabber.com/index.php?badlogin=1.30. Corporation, NVIDIA. 3D Vision. NVIDIA. [Online] http://www.nvidia.com/object/3D_Vision_Main.html.31. Layden. The Evolution of 3D Gaming. Elite Bastards. [Online] October 08 , 2009 . http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=865%3Athe-evolution-of-3d-gaming&catid=15%3Aretro-guides&Itemid=28.32. Inc, Sony Computer Entertainment America. EyePet. [Online] http://www.eyepet.com/home.cfm.33. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. PlayStation Home. [Online] http://uk.playstation.com/psn/pshome/.34. Rob, Crossley. Sony Hints at Future 3D Gaming . EDGE. [Online] January 09, 2009. http://www.edge-online.com/news/sony-hints-future-3d-gaming.35. Microsoft. XBOX360 PROJECT NATAL. Microsoft Wave. [Online] http://www.microsoft.com/uk/wave/hardware-projectnatal.aspx.36. Wikipedia. Physical Therapy. Wikipedia. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_therapy.37. —. Speech and language pathology. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_and_language_pathology.38. Rupali, Gupta. Play Nintendo Wii to stay fit. Healthy Living. [Online] June 23, 2009 . http://www.knowabouthealth.com/play-nintendo-wii-to-stay-fit/.39. Wikipedia. Telemedicine. [Online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemedicine.<br />](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mbd09masterthesishsiaohuipan-100317103451-phpapp01/85/Master-Thesis-2009-1-320.jpg)
Master Thesis 2009
- 1. The Evolution and Prospect of 3D Display Technology<br />Hsiao Hui, Pan<br />Marcello Lago<br />Master in Business Design Academic Year 2008-2009<br />Milan, 13/11/2009<br />Abstract<br />The Evolution<br />From 2D to 3D<br />Before Industrial Revolution<br />After Industrial Revolution<br />Stereoscopy Basics<br />3D Watching Technologies<br />3D Technology Nowadays<br />The popularity of 3D material<br />Hardware<br />Software<br />Application<br />Entertainment<br />Transportation<br />Medical<br />Education <br />Others<br />Home Entertainment<br />3D TV<br />3D Home Cinema<br />Anaglyph, the red and blue glasses<br />The polarized image<br />Active Glasses solutions<br />3D Display Game<br />Equipment/NVIDIA<br />The Evolution of Video Game(Before Real 3D Vision Game)<br />3D Virtual Video Game Nowadays<br />Prospects – Medical Application<br />Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy<br />What Is Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy?<br />Technology Application Nowadays<br />Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Telemedicine<br />What Is Telemedicine?<br />Technology Application Nowadays<br />Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Teaching & Researching<br />Conclusion<br />1 Abstract<br />The origin of three-dimension image can be traced back to the basic needs of human being: desire to be charmed. The desire for three-dimension is including being enchanted with the beauty of reality and an unworldly wonderland. So, why not use three-dimensional approach to performance our past memories or future breathings? <br />Believe it or not, 3D photography has existed for over 150 years. In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions. At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. And this is just the beginning of 3D display evolution. <br />As new technologies are introduced, people's habits are changing. And also economy is impacting consumers at home. The housing market is forcing many consumers to stay in their current home for longer than previously planned. Additionally, some consumers have chosen to spend more time at home to reduce spending. Even though some of the consumers made a concerted effort to cut back in the past few months, many consumers are likely to splurge on home entertainment or improvement items because they are spending so much time at home. So, obviously digital home entertainment becomes more important in our life. <br />But, except home entertainment can 3D display technology be used on other application? As information communication and multi-media advance, 3D display research is actively conducted in order to accomplish more reality oriented service in broad fields including not only entertainment but also communication, information, education and even medical. <br />In this thesis, you can see the 3D display developing evolution and forecasts, perspectives of 3D display technology in the future.<br />2 The Evolution<br />The origin of three-dimension image can be traced back to the basic needs of human being: desire to be charmed. The desire for three-dimension is including being enchanted with the beauty of reality and an unworldly wonderland. So, why not use three-dimensional approach to performance our past memories or future breathings?<br />3D photography has existed for over 150 years. In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions. At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />2.1 From 2D to 3D<br />2.1.a Before Industrial Revolution<br />2570480152400Binocular Vision – Leonardo da Vinci500 years ago, the invention pioneer - Leonardo da Vinci had already interested in this phenomenon “Binocular Vision”. Binocular Vision is vision in which both eyes are used together. The word binocular comes from two Latin roots, “bi” for double and “oculus” for eye. Having two eyes confers at least has few advantages over having one. First, it gives a creature a spare eye in case one is damaged. Second, it gives a wider field of view. For example, a human has a horizontal field of view of approximately 180 degrees with two eyes but only 150 degrees with one. CITATION wikipediaBinocularVision \l 1028 (2) <br />In short, the human being has binocular vision and it means a man can see the object around him from two different angles. And the duty of brain is to mix those images which are coming from two optical nerves and create one and only three dimensional vision. In few words, the binocular vision allows us to obtain the three dimension perception and vision of the world around us. <br />Around 1600, Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli created a double ink drawing. Looking at the drawing in a device that each eye can only fuel for the relevant image and this makes a man can recognize a corporeal dimension person. And this exactly shows the major problem, as we use our eyes to see two different images, our eyes usually always automatically attached to one point. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3)<br />Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli7747099060<br />2.1.b After Industrial Revolution<br />In 1838 Professor Charles Wheatstone established that humans perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Each eye, separated by about two and a half inches, sees things with a slightly different aspect. This discrepancy, Wheatstone believed, allows us to see the world in three dimensions.<br />At almost the same time, Mr. Fox Talbot invented the process of putting pictures on paper through the action of light. To prove his theory, Wheatstone invented an instrument he called the stereoscope to view paired images, known as stereographs. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1) Around 1860, the first three-dimensional photo occurred in the world. In 1894, Frenchman Jules Richard designed a new, smaller, handy stereo camera made of blue-tinted Brass, size 4,5 x 10.5 cm, which be named in Richard Vérascope in the market. In 1880, August Fuhrmann designed a rotary-vision equipment “Kaiser Panorama” for up to 25 people, which presented special stereo series for a small charge to the public. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3)<br /> Within fifty years of that moment, stereo photography grew to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, becoming as widespread as TV is today. In the 1890’s nearly every home owned a stereoscope. <br />In 1905, Richard presented his Glyphoscope in public. This camera was quite similar to Verascope, but the front plate could be removed and the home-recorded stereo could be regarded to the slides of the camera. CITATION 3dhistorisch0de \l 1028 (3) Although the popularity of stereo photography declined rapidly after the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, within theses cameras the stereo photography for masses population was possible. In 1938, William B. Gruber & Messrs. Sawyer created “View Master”. The little magic discs with various motifs of landscapes, shots of movie stars or fairy tale series, which were reconstructed with figures and could be admired with an appropriate viewer. At that time View Master was a very succeed product. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />Within another fifty years however, 3D became an entertainment mania again. The invention of Kodachrome color film along with the introduction of the Realist stereo camera fuelled a renewed interest in personal, color 3D photography, while everything from Viewmaster discs, comic books, and a variety of movies were all produced in 3-D during the 1950’s.<br />In the 1960’s it was arrival of the Kodak Instamatic camera, along with the color Polaroid, which quelled interest in 3D photography.<br />In recent years 3D has started growing once again. With IMAX movies becoming a popular form of entertainment, media publications such as Sport Illustrated and TV Guide have used 3D to drive reader interest. Spy Kids 3D is the first popular anaglyph format movie produced in over twenty years. Over 25 major 3D Movie titles have been produced between 2005 and 2009 with numerous movie theaters becoming equipped with polarized projectors.<br />The widespread adoption of personal computers, digital cameras and desktop photo printers has now removed any obstacles to stereo 3D photography in the home or office. With the introduction of Photo3-D, now anyone who can operate a digital camera can take their own, eye-popping 3D photos.<br />In the past three years Stereo 3D technologies have touched laptops, monitors, display systems, and loads of new gadgets and capturing devices have been introduced. CITATION Mission3Dblog \l 1028 (1)<br />2.2 Stereoscopy Basics<br />Before going to deeper discussion, in this section I will use graphic and chart to describe different types of stereoscopy basic.<br />- Standard Mono Rendering<br />Scene is viewed from one mono eye and projected on Near Clipping plane in Viewport.<br />- Two eyes, one screen, two images<br />Left and Right eyes<br />Shifting the mono eye along the X axis<br />One “virtual” screen<br />Where the left and right frustums converge<br />Two images<br />2 images are generated at the near clipping plane in each view and then presented independently to each eyes of the user on the real screen.<br />- Interaxial (Eye Separation)<br />Distance between the 2 virtual eyes in eye space<br />The mono, left & right eyes directions are all parallels<br />- Screen Depth (Convergence)<br />Screen‘s virtual depth in eye space<br />Plane where Left and Right Frustums intersect<br />- Left/Right Projection<br />Projection matrix for each eyes is a horizontally modified version of regular mono projection matrix<br />Shifting X coordinate left or right<br />- Parallax<br />Signed Distance on the screen between the projected positions of one vertex in left and right image<br />Parallax is function of the depth of the vertex in eye space<br />Parallax = Interaxial * ( 1 –ScreenDepth/ W )<br />- In/Out of the Screen<br />Parallax creates the depth perception relative to the screen<br />When Parallax is negative, vertex appears Out of the screen<br />- Parallax in equation<br />Parallax = Interaxial * ( 1 –ScreenDepth/ W )<br />- Left/Right rendering surfaces<br />View dependent render targets must be duplicated<br />Back buffer<br />Depth Stencil buffer<br />Intermediate full screen render targets used to process final image<br />High dynamic range, Blur, Bloom<br />Screen Space Ambient Occlusion<br />- Mono rendering surfaces<br />View independent render targets DON’T need to be duplicated<br />Shadow map<br />Spot light maps projected in the scene<br /> CITATION NVIDIA \l 1028 (4)<br />2.3 3D Watching Technologies<br />All the principles of 3D technology adopt a common approach: all the artificial images which were produced for left and right eye have to use “Image Separation” to guide the visual.<br />If the quality of artificial image is good enough, then the brain can construct a three-dimensional image. The main difference between these technologies is the “Image Separation” can actually be achieved.<br />247651714503D sight instrumentImage Separation Modemechanical design3D Imaging Locationslides, photographs (paper)Strengthlow-costWeaknessinconvenient to use<br />5715749303D glassesImage Separation Modecolor filters, start with red - green filter3D Imaging Locationpaper, TFT monitors and notebook , CRT monitors, Projector, Plasma Display monitorsStrengthunmatched price/effectiveness advantageWeaknesscannot be used for color-blind peopleRemark“Spy Kids 3” is the first movie supports this technology, in 2003<br />17145234315Polarized 3D glassesImage Separation Modepolarizing Filter glasses3D Imaging Locationcurtain screen plus two projectorsStrengthexcellent imaging qualityWeaknessneed curtain screen and currently only can be used with projectorRemarkused in IMAX-3D theater<br />171452381253D shutter glassesImage Separation Modesmall LC panel (rotated by turns)3D Imaging LocationCRT monitors, some special projectorsStrengthhigh-resolution imaging qualityWeaknesseasy to glitterRemarkattractive price makes it become the ideal device for top CRT users<br />19052336803D VR (head-wear displayer)Image Separation Modemechanical Design3D Imaging Locationsmall LCD display (each eye requires a set)Strengthnearly perfect of image separationWeaknesshigh priceRemarkLCD monitor closes to the eye may cause health problems<br /> CITATION tomshardware \l 1028 (5)<br />For pursuing a more realistic visual sensory enjoyment, the consumers start demanding for higher display quality. So manufacturers continually develop higher quality and more three-dimensional sense technology; all for satisfying consumers’ sensory stimulation.<br /> 3D techniques are usually divided in three types: color separation, optical and time division. <br />- Color Separation<br />So far, the most popular type is Color Separation, which is using overlapping images in different colors and then use red and blue glasses to separate and filter the overlapping images to achieve depth of field effect. This technology is easy to enter and low-cost but the image won’t be full-color and red-green blindness cannot see it.<br />- Optical<br />This method is playing two projectors at the same time and overlapping two images then use polarized glasses to let tow images overlap to achieve 3D effect. However, the costs for filming, producing and hardware equipments are quite high.<br />These two methods we can see it in the iMAX 3D cinema.<br />- Time Division<br />It has the best effect and which is using time difference to achieve three-dimensional effect. When the left side lens is pervious to light, the right side lens is opaque, and vice versa. <br />When the display image in the glasses switching fast and frequently, through visible persistence the brain can calculate and create 3D image.<br /> CITATION NVIDIA \l 1028 (4)<br />3 3D Technology Nowadays<br />3.1 The popularity of 3D material<br />In the world, there are still existed large amounts of paper and slide type of 3D photos and now most of them are in digital. However, until recently, 3D products start having very strong breakthrough and having more demand from high-end market. And the reason can be traced back to several centuries ago. Nothing more than technical limitations, production, reproduction and required high costs for watching. <br />If 3D material can be obtained with digital pattern then it can be able to watch by all the 3D technology. This is a very important issue for the ideality, flexibility and marketing terms of 3D-use. <br />Before talk about 3D technology applications, I will introduce the hardware and software first.<br />3.2 Hardware<br />Technology changes quickly over time. So in the following I will bring up some latest products on the market.<br />- 3D TV<br />3D TV is an emerging line of televisions offering stereoscopic imaging, creating the illusion of depth by presenting a slightly different image to each eye, without the need of special glasses. Most of the current 3D platforms for televisions and cinema, require wearing either polarized or shuttered glasses or goggles. For example, a new line of 3D televisions by Philips, sold under the WOWvx brand, uses very small lenses placed over the millions of red, blue and green pixels that make up the television screen. The lenses cause each individual pixel to project light at one of a series of nine angles projecting from the display.<br />And in 2008, Hyundai is offering – in Japan only – the first product for watching the 3-D programs that cable station (BS 11) in Japan now broadcast about four times a day.<br /> CITATION 3Dtv \l 1028 (6)<br />- 3D Ready Projector<br />Now there are two different kinds of 3D projector. One needs to use special glasses and another doesn’t. However, both of them support displaying 3D movies, games or TV programs<br /><JVC DLA-RS2> <View Sonic PJD6211><br />- 3D Digital Camera<br />Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 digital camera can record both in 2D and in 3D (still images and movies). The Real 3D W1 camera uses two separate Fujinon lenses along with two 10 megapixel CCD sensors to be able to simultaneously take two images just like the eyes of a normal human see everything. The two images can then be combined into a 3D stereo picture with the help of the RP (Real Photo) Processor 3D or into a 3D stereo video clip with resolution of up to 640×480. CITATION FUJIFILM \l 1028 (7)<br />1778017145<br />- 3D Webcam<br />Minoru is an interesting product in the form of a web camera that uses two lenses and two CMOS sensors in order to be able to take Stereoscopic 3D pictures and videos. The camera is supposedly very easy to setup and use in both normal 2D mode (just like a normal webcam) and in 3D mode, where it can output and record not only in the most commonly used Anaglyph mode, but also Side by Side and Row Interlaced mode. This means that you can produce S3D images and videos for easy viewing with anaglyph glasses or with other more expensive and providing better results products and technologies.<br /> <br /> CITATION MINORU \l 1028 (8)<br />- 3D Full HD Camera<br />Panasonic announced it will start developing a professional 3D Full HD production system. Most 3D recording systems require dual cameras mounted in close proximity, but Panasonic’s newest 3D camcorder combines these two systems into one. The device will feature a twin-lens system for capturing 3D footage natively in 1080p, and the video streams will be stored on P2 cards. Although it merely is a prototype, but it is made clear that the company intends to bring this to market as soon as possible.<br /> CITATION Panasonic \l 1028 (9)<br />- Heliodisplay<br />The Heliodisplay includes patented and proprietary technology to create an almost invisible tri-layered out of phase field to generate the surface required to accept projection of video or images into free-space. The Heliodisplay plays directly from the supplied thumbdrive AVI and JPEG files. If user wish, he/she can provide a separate video/image source such as a computer, TV, DVD or alternate media player--typically a low-end PC, DVD player or media player. The current version of the Heliodisplay projects 55\" through 92\" diagonal images .<br />Like any computer monitor or TV, images appear brighter the lower the ambient light. Also, just like viewing any computer monitor or TV, viewing a Heliodisplay image in direct sunlight is almost impossible. The image is display into two-dimensional space (i.e. planar). Heliodisplay images appear 3D, even though in fact, the images are planar. This allows for easy display of visual presentation material with a three-dimensional appearance since there is no physical depth reference. Images appear more three-dimensional that 3D displays Images can be seen up to 75 degrees off aspect for a total viewing area of over 150 degrees- similar to an LCD screen. Viewing requires no special glasses or background/foreground screening. All of the models allow for grabbing a floating image in thin air, while the interactive models, the P55i allow a finger or hand to move images around in the air as if one were grabbing a virtual object. No special glove or pointing device is required. Just as you use a mouse to move the cursor on a traditional computer monitor, you can use your finger to move the cursor around the Heliodisplay image<br />The displays allows for unobtrusive imagery, so video, images or advertising can be positioned in mid-air while the display is hidden within a counter, coffee table, pedestal or furniture. Custom displays include customized Heliodisplays, as well as alternative imaging solutions depending on display size, footprint, features and application.<br /> <br /> CITATION heliodisplay \l 1028 (10)<br />3.3 Software<br />- Augmented Reality (AR)<br />There are two commonly accepted definitions of Augmented Reality today. One was given by Ronald Azuma in 1997. Azuma's definition says that Augmented Reality<br />combines real and virtual<br />is interactive in real time<br />is registered in 3D<br />However, more recently, the term augmented reality has been blurred a bit due to the increased interest of the general public in AR. <br />So basically, augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, like for example sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time. Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. <br />Current applications of augmented reality are: advertising, navigation devices, prospecting (In the fields of hydrology, ecology, and geology, AR can be used to display an interactive analysis of terrain characteristics. Users could use, and collaboratively modify and analyze, interactive three-dimensional maps), architecture, sightseeing, entertainment and education…etc.<br />For future applications, it can be expanding a PC screen into the real environment, virtual devices of all kinds, virtual conferences or replacement of cell phone and car navigator screens…etc.<br />And there are two free software to contribute augmented reality. They are ARToolKit and ATOMIC Authoring Tool.<br />ARToolKit is a Cross-platform Library for the creation of augmented reality applications, developed by Hirokazu Kato in 1999 and was released by the University of Washington HIT Lab. Currently it is maintained as an open source project hosted on SourceForge with commercial licenses available from ARToolWorks.<br />ATOMIC Authoring Tool is a Cross-platform Authoring Tool software, for Augmented Reality Applications, which is a frontend for the ARToolKit library. It was developed for non-programmers, to create small and simple, Augmented Reality applications, released under the GNU GPL License. CITATION AugmentedReality \l 1028 (11)<br /> <br />- Medical Image Illustrator (MIIL)<br />MIIL (Medical Image Illustrator) can help users see the unseen, and provide many image processing and visualization functionality. Users can play with these tools similar to the interaction style of the popular image editing software and explore the data.<br />MIIL is a medical image visualization system for diagnosis and surgical planning. This software reads the DICOM images (the visualization and interactive media lab at NCHC processes the DICOM data from several medical imaging modalities, and segments the brain white matter tissue, tumor, and tracts.) directly and performs semi-automatic segmentation, measurement and other image adjustment processes. In the post-processing stage, it allows users to visualize the volume data with transfer function adjustment to highlight the image feature. MIIL lets the medical staffs interactively manipulate the data and provide visual effect that helps the communication between the patients and doctors. And this 3D interactive visualization application allows the surgeons to have a better understanding of the patient before the operation.<br /> <br /> <br /> CITATION MIIL \l 1028 (12)<br />3.4 Application<br />Because of those various hardware and software, currently there are many different types of application in 3D display field (beyond 3D movie or 3D TV program). I will try to sore them into different categories to make it to be understood easily.<br />3.4.a Entertainment<br />- Live 3D football match<br />In the beginning of this year, 3ality Digital broadcasted a 3D live football match in Burbank. A LA Times journalists said this after he attended this event. <br />“Compare traditional broadcast method with 3D broadcast technology. 3D broadcast technology brings the audience a wider and different feeling. The whole game might not be very exciting, but the 3D broadcast technology brought a new experience and it made the audience did not want to bring their attention away from the match. The sense of shock of this game was not less than the 3D concert movie of U2. 3D brought a new vision and that’s 2D cannot compete with. <br /> CITATION LATimes \l 1028 (13)<br />- Youtube with 3D Video support<br />Recently, Youtube is experimenting with 3D Video. Though still very much in pre-beta, a YouTube developer has built a stereoscopic player—a fancy way of saying you can already view some YouTube videos in 3D. The project is open for testing now.<br />In the screenshot below, you can see what the video looks like when playing in 3D mode. There are currently a total of ten 3D viewing styles to choose from, including “Focus-Thru,” Cross-eyed,” and “Mirror Split,” and they work on various videos containing the right tags. <br /> CITATION youtube3D \l 1028 (14)<br />- 3D Console Games<br />The actual technology (system and engine) used today allows a great depth of field that the elements around us can be possible not only perceive the fact that they are in 3d but also the relative distance. So in the first-person shooting or car racing games (have more “depth” in the game) are really changing player’s gaming experience than 2D. <br />Although currently there are not that much 3D games on the market (Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter44, Assassin's Creed 2, wipEout HD...etc), Sony ensured that next year will via software update (3D mode) to let all PS3 games (including 2D games on the market now) can be played under 3D display mode.<br />- 3D Live cards<br />Topps, the company that pre-dates Human Growth Hormone abuse and packs a nostalgic smack of dusty pink sticks of chewing gum is back in the game. Just hold the special 3D Live card in front of a webcam and watch a three-dimensional avatar spring to life -- rotate the card and the figure rotates in full perspective. The technology provided by Total Immersion also allows collectors to drop the player into simple pitching, batting and catching games using the computer keyboard. The 3D live series will eventually feature video.<br />And actually this method has also been used in a PS3 game -- The eye of Judgment.<br /> <br /> <The eye of Judgment><br /> CITATION 3DbaseballCard \l 1028 (15)<br />3.4.b Transportation<br />- Passenger Scanner<br />A machine which takes \" naked\" images of airline passengers is being trialled in England as part of a new high-tech security system. Manchester Airport is using the full-body scan machine which can instantly detect any hidden weapons or explosives without passengers having to remove any of their clothing for a search. A three-dimensional image is then created and assessed by an officer sitting in a separate part of the airport. However, some passengers fear the machine reveals a little too much, including breast enlargements, the outline of genitals and body piercings.<br /> CITATION 3DairportScan \l 1028 (16)<br />- E-passport<br />Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a \" slim and bendable\" OLED color display within a \" polycarbonate data page.\" Yet we still haven't seen video of its e-passport with flexible OLED display in action, 'till now. The 2-inch, 240x320 AMOLED displays a disembodied, rotating head in 260k colors and 10k:1 contrast when activated by an RF source reader. No details were provided as to when these might enter production but we have the icky feeling it'll be sooner than we want.<br /> CITATION Epassport \l 1028 (17)<br />- Navigation<br />AcrossAir, a nascent application builder for the iPhone, has conjured up a slickly executed digital guidance application-- Nearest Tube, which augments video with real-time distance and directions to the nearest subway station.<br />Nearest Tube application superimposes directional cues and signage on the iPhone's live picture image. Held flat, the screen actually shows the train lines underground; held vertically, you can see signposts with train station names. The functionality depends on the iPhone 3Gs GPS to determine your location, and to present appropriate images.<br /> CITATION navigation \l 1028 (18)<br />3.4.c Medical<br />About medical application of 3D display technology, I have mentioned a little bit in the software section -- Medical Image Illustrator (MIIL). So, except 3D image shooting and 3D image forming, can we observe human body and organ structure even more detail? Now MIT has some furthered research in this field.<br />- 3-D images of eye<br />In work that could improve diagnoses of many eye diseases, MIT researchers have developed a new type of laser for taking high-resolution, 3-D images of the retina, the part of the eye that converts light to electrical signals that travel to the brain.<br />\" Within the last few years optical coherence tomography has become a standard diagnostic for ophthalmology. New techniques are now enabling dramatic increases in image acquisition speeds. These advances promise to enable new and powerful three-dimensional visualization methods which could improve early diagnosis of disease and treatment monitoring,\" said Fujimoto, who holds appointments in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics.<br />Future clinical studies, as well as further development, may someday enable ophthalmologists to routinely obtain three-dimensional \" OCT snapshots\" of the eye, containing comprehensive volumetric information about the microstructure of the retina. Such snapshots could potentially improve diagnoses of retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.<br /> CITATION eye3D \l 1028 (19)<br />- Monitoring Heartbeat<br />Doctors today actually have two ways to detect the fetal heartbeat: ultrasound and electrocardiography (better known as ECG or EKG). However, it is weak compared to the maternal heartbeat and surrounding noise. Further, it has not been possible to separate the three signals without distorting characteristics of the fetal heartbeat key to identifying potential clinical problems. Tiny fluctuations in a fetus's heartbeat can indicate distress, but currently there is no way to detect such subtle variations except during labor, when it could be too late to prevent serious or even fatal complications. While only a minority of pregnancies suffer from fluctuations in the fetal heartbeat, the issue is nonetheless critical because those that do can result in bad outcomes. These problems include certain infections and a loss of oxygen to the baby if it is strangled by its own umbilical cord.<br /> <br /> CITATION ATh \l 1028 (20)<br />Now, a new system developed by an MIT scientist and colleagues including an obstetrician could allow much earlier monitoring of the fetal heartbeat. To use the system, which the team believes could be deployed during the second trimester of pregnancy (around 20 weeks) and perhaps earlier, a woman would wear a wide belt around her abdomen fitted with several ECG electrodes. (The prototype has 32, but that number will be lower in the final device.) The data collected from those electrodes are then fed to a monitor and analyzed with the new algorithm, which in turn separates the different signals.<br />This system could also cut the rate of Cesarean deliveries by helping clinicians rule out potential problems that might otherwise prompt the procedure. Finally, the device used today to monitor subtle changes in the fetal heartbeat during labor must be attached to the fetus itself, but the new product would be noninvasive.<br />3.4.d Education<br />- Virtual reality exhibition<br />Imagine visiting a museum which is nothing more than a blank room. Seems pointless, doesn’t it? And yet, people from Canon estimate that half a million people will visit such an exhibit at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. Dinosaur 2009 – Miracles of the Desert is a dinosaur exhibition where you need to wear a pair of virtual reality glasses, when a whole new world opens up to you.<br />In the exhibition, there had a technology exhibit area, which offered a new experience by using the virtual reality technology in order to show augmented reality. That is accomplished with the usage of video technology and a fancy blend of real time real world and virtual world. The scope and look through the site-wide viewing angle is possible with the usage of high-resolution cards developed by Canon, the CG and real space where 3D dinosaurs emerge.<br />So, visitors will be able to experience dinosaurs walk around them and the other visitors, as their virtual reality glasses project these creatures in 3D right before the viewer.<br /> CITATION Canon \l 1028 (21)<br />- Educational 3D Biology Video Game<br />Immue Attack is a high tech 3D computer game that teaches how the human body and the immune system work. In this game, you program a nanobot to teach all cells in the body how to fight bacterial and viral infections. It is a great game for high school science students.<br />The player assumes the role of a pilot remote-controlling the nanobot Explorer. With the help of advisors, the player must learn about the different cells and environments in the human body in order to determine how to train the immune system. Visual and audio clues in the game provide the information needed to accomplish this goal. Each subsequent level of Immune Attack features a different infection, and a different cell type the player must train. Cells trained on previous levels are available for deployment as well, allowing the user to make use of a wide range of agents to accomplish their mission.<br />However, immune Attack is quite a large download, about 0.5 GB, so players must have a fast internet connection and sufficient disk space to play.<br /> CITATION educationApp \l 1028 (22)<br />3.4.e Others<br />- 360-degree 3D display<br />In Tokyo's Digital Content EXP0 2009, Sony showed a 360-degree 3D display prototype. After the break for a quick walk-around to see how Sony hopes the device can be used both commercially and in home. <br />The 13 x 27-cm device packs a stereoscopic, 24-bit color image measuring just 96 × 128 pixels viewable at 360-degrees without special glasses. If the prototype ever hits the assembly line then Sony envisions its commercial use in digital signage or medical imaging -- or as a 3D photo frame, television, house for your virtual pet, or visualizer to assist with web shopping in the home.<br /> CITATION Sony3D \l 1028 (23)<br />Actually not only Sony is developing this technology, but also Pioneer has shown its “<br />Pioneer 3D Floating Vision” in the exhibition. <br />It doesn’t require you to wear glasses (yawn) to view 3D images. User can connect the Floating Vision to a PC via USB 2.0 to view images or videos “floating” over the display (5.7 inches, 640 × 480 VGA resolution). User even can “interact” with the image, as the device detects user’s hand movements. It’s also possible to “control” an image with voice (the device has a microphone on its front). CITATION Pioneer \l 1028 (24)<br />1778021590<br />- Business Card<br />Many business cards are boring to be honest. Most, if not all just show your name, rank and how you can be contacted. James Alliban has decided to use augmented reality to create his business cards. The cards were printed at moo.com and on the back contain a graphic which is then captured on to a computer. Via a webcam, when the camera picks up the little graphic a cool 3D grid of colored planes pops up, each extruding towards the camera depending on the brightness of the pixel, and then a video can be played back with the business card owner being seen talking with a message about himself. The only downside is that the receiver of the business card needs a computer to see the content on it. Of course you can simply print the graphic on one side and then your usual name and address on the other side.<br /> CITATION 3DnameCard \l 1028 (25)<br />- Real View-3D Scanner<br />RealView-3D Scanner looked a bit like a sci-fi toy. The RealView 360 scanner has a platform for object that rotates while a turret-like device with dual cameras scans in all the object's surface data. The result is a single 3D image that you can import into any application. And it makes models that scan in VGA, HD and larger-format resolutions. <br />One of the intended uses of the machine is to create more realistic depictions of consumer products. For example, if you have a beaten-up Star Wars Bobba Fett action figure you’d like to sell on eBay and want to make sure every deep gash is accurately portrayed, this might be a fine option. Even though it seems like a fun idea, it’s hard to see how the scanner will be that much of an improvement over an HD video on YouTube when selling a small product. <br />However, it might actually prove useful for larger scale 3D scans. For example, a full 3D copy of your body might help you find better fitting clothes for online retail stores that provide super-specific measurements. According to Real-View, there is a kiosk version of the tech available.<br /> <br /> CITATION RealView3d \l 1028 (26)<br />- 3D display cell phone<br />At the Nokia World event in Stuttgart the Finnish phone maker is demonstrating a Nokia device that boasts a no-glasses-required 3D display. Running on a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - not the planned launch platform for the tech - the display (pictured, but obviously not captured by the camera) offers rudimentary 3D on a handheld device. <br />This cell phone has a special screen made by a secret third party manufacturer and has proprietary software to run the content.<br /> CITATION NokiaN810 \l 1028 (27)<br />4 Home Entertainments<br />As new technologies are introduced, people's habits are changing. And also economy is impacting consumers at home. The housing market is forcing many consumers to stay in their current home for longer than previously planned. Additionally, some consumers have chosen to spend more time at home to reduce spending. Even though some of the consumers made a concerted effort to cut back in the past few months, many consumers are likely to splurge on home entertainment or improvement items because they are spending so much time at home. So it's no surprise that consumer electronics companies are keen to tempt us into buying new home entertainment technology.<br />As to these following two tables, 53% consumer research and purchase online for home entertainment, 65% purchase online. The percentages of home entertainment are averagely higher than kitchen appliances, laundry appliance and home furniture. And 33% of homeowner would like to make an online purchase of home entertainment products in the next 12 months, 36% non-homeowners also would like to purchase home entertainment products. <br />Please indicate where you will most likely research and purchase the following products:<br />Given the current economic climate, in which of the following categories would you likely make an online purchase in the next 12 months?<br /> CITATION PriceGrabber \l 1028 (28)<br />Generally speaking, home entertainment is just about home theater. However, as technology develops, consumer’s needs increasing and lifestyle changing; nowadays home entertainment is not just about home theater. Except the traditional home theater, internet, gaming, 3D TV…etc are the main trend for future life. Following, I will try to sort some new and developing trends in categories.<br />4.1 3D TV<br />One thing is clear, TV manufacturers need something new to get people buying TVs. Over the last couple of years, TV manufacturers have experienced a sales boom as consumers upgrade to digital TVs in anticipation of the government's mandated switch to digital TV broadcasts in February 2009. Eager shoppers have also been upgrading to high-definition TVs as movie studios, cable and satellite operators, and TV broadcasters have begun offering more programming in HD. But as the economy worsens, the forecast for the TV market is looking grim. The LCD TV market is only expected to grow about 17 percent in terms of units shipped in 2009, according to research firm DisplaySearch. This is down from growth of about 29 percent in 2008. Plasma TV growth is also expected to suffer with the market only expected to grow by about 5 percent in 2009 compared with a 24 percent rise in 2008, DisplaySearch said.<br />As a result, TV makers are looking for the next hot thing to attract new consumers. And some are hoping 3D TVs could be it.<br />Continuously, four of the top selling TV manufacturers--Samsung Electronics, Sony, LG Electronics and Panasonic--showed off their latest versions of 3D TVs. Panasonic set up a mini-home theater where its 103-inch, plasma 3D screen showed clips from New Line Cinema's Journey to the Center of the Earth and Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Bolt. They also showed high-definition 3D footage from NBC's broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. While some manufacturers have already begun selling 3D-ready TVs, the top four manufacturers plan to have new, advanced 3D TVs on sale toward the end of 2009 and into 2010. <br />But the big question is whether consumers, particularly American consumers, will be willing to upgrade to a new TV just because it has 3D. Pricing for today's 3D ready TVs is comparable to other flat-screen HDTVs.<br />Three-dimensional movies have been around since the 1950s. And for most of its lifespan the technology has been seen more as a gimmick than something that truly enhances the movie-going experience. But newer technology and advanced special effects are helping 3D movies break into the mainstream. TV makers believe that much of the demand for 3D will come from Hollywood, which is pushing 3D in a big way. Last year, DreamWorks announced that all its films will be produced for 3D production beginning in 2009. The company has partnered with chipmaker Intel to build processors that will help make 3D in the home a reality. <br />NBA basketball fans watch a live 3D broadcast of Game 2 of the 2007 NBA finals. Sports leagues have also been experimenting with 3D technology. Both the National Basketball Association and the National Football League have broadcast events and games in 3D to movie theaters. <br />From a technical standpoint, the technology is available and mature enough today to make 3D TVs available at a reasonable cost to consumers. But there are still a few drawbacks that could prevent 3D TV from becoming the next big thing in home entertainment.<br />For one, to get the really cool, immersive 3D experience without getting a massive head-ache, consumers will have to wear special glasses when they're watching TV in 3D. The glasses are needed because 3D imaging requires sending a different image to each eye. And the glasses help merge the images in the mind and trick the brain into thinking that it's seeing a single 3D image.<br />However, in a perfect world, consumers should be able to have the immersive 3D experience without wearing glasses. But Keisuke Suetsugi, a manager for the audio visual center at Panasonic, said that it will be at least 10 years before the technology is advanced enough to provide a similarly robust 3D experience without glasses. \" Glassless 3D would be ideal,\" he said. \" But it's just not possible to do that now and get the same quality experience. You would need at least 50 times more pixels to get a display to provide the same 3D experience that we provide with our TV. We are still 10 years away from that kind of technology.\" <br />\" Glassless 3D is available today for digital signage and advertising,\" Taesoo Park, a chief research engineer at LG, explained. \" But the technology is not ready for TVs, because it would hurt people's eyes or give them a headache to look at today's 3D displays for any length of time. It will be at least a decade before we can get the technology to make glassless TV a reality.\" That said, some manufacturers claim they have developed technology that doesn't require glasses. Phillips uses a technology it calls WOWvx. 3M and Toshiba also showed off glassless 3D screens at CES. 3M has created a thin film technology that can be used to beam light selectively to the viewer's right and left eyes.<br />But glasses aren't the only thing that could hold back 3D adoption. Currently, there's no standard way to get 3D footage from the movie studios or from a live broadcasts to the home. Companies, such as Panasonic, are already working on developing a standard. But industry watchers fear that competing standards could emerge and spur another \" format\" war like the one that pitted HD DVD and Blu-ray against each other. Panasonic's said they are hopeful that a common standard for 3D Blu-ray hardware, software, and TVs will emerge sometime this year, paving the way for 3D TV sales to pick up in 2010.<br />4.2 3D Home Cinema<br />3D becomes an obligation, not an option in the cinema. 3D fascinates everyone, young and elders. And 3D looks like to be the trend of this period, the key word used to determinate many stands in the IFA Berlin fair and is the technology on which many companies are researching (and spending) on. As 3D grows in popularity at movies, interest in the technology from the television sector will grow. In 2009, a growing number of 3D television sets are going to be available. An increasing number of DVDs offering 3D content may also become a mess market.<br />Creating a 3D image is quite simple, much more than what you imagine. It just needed to film or take a picture with the same distance of the human eyes (I have mentioned this in REF _Ref245472275 \r \h 3. 3D Technology Nowadays). At this point to visualize a 3D image you just need to show to the left eye what has been recorded by the left camera, and to the right eye what has recorded the right camera. Here comes the hard part: to do this has been realized many techniques, some are now obsolete some are modern and they even require active glasses.<br />4.2.a Anaglyph, the red and blue glasses<br />The most diffused – and old – technique for the 3D vision is the one of the Anaglyph, in few words the typical glass built with paper with different colors lens (usually complementary colors). Watched without these glasses an anaglyph is an image composed by two overlapping images, recorded with the same distance of the human eyes.<br />But when you wear the glasses the eyes perceive an image slightly different: with anaglyph with red filter the left eye that is watching through the red filter, it will see the red components of the image as white and the components green and blue as black. In the same way the right eye, that has a blue filter in front of it, will drop the blue and green components and will just see the red one. The brain unites two images and perceives the differences between right and left eye as a difference of distance and will elaborate a three-dimensional image. The components of brightness, the white and the black, will be perceived in the same way by both eyes.<br />However, the glasses make physically uncomfortable and for real 3D vision is not always the same. The anaglyph, with its paper made and uncomfortable glasses is the most used system in the home video world. Just three or four pair of glasses in the DVD or Blue-ray box is enough to have a 3D system ready to be used. The fact that no additional hardware is needed is the only good point of this technique that has lots of bad ones.<br />The first one of them is surely the fact that there’s no standard: the most diffused is indeed the one with red on the left and blue on the right, but in the home video sector now you can find different glasses with other colors (as used for Bloody Valentine in 3D), realized by Trioscopic and able to create a better color experience.<br />So, in the end, use this technique to watch a movie you need the glasses already packed with the movie. Another bad point is that the paper made glasses are really uncomfortable and in few words impossible to be used by persons that use glasses, but even worse is the aspect of the image quality: sure the 3D effect can be seen but the colors of the image are totally unnatural and wrong. The anaglyph 3D is easy, but surely is not the best way to show 3D; indeed most of the time take the will away. These are not the only problems related to the anaglyph system: the image of the left side is most of the times out of focus, this happen because the eye get on focus in different way the red and blue channels and this one has the priority for the human eye: a pair of glasses with different grade for the left eye would be a solution to obtain an image perfectly on focus and with a major realism.<br /> Better glasses with optical correction for the left eye and built with more comfortable material are available but the cost is really high. Last problem is the setting of the TV: the anaglyph system uses colors, a TV with not proper saturation, color or contrast setting might reproduce a not visible 3D effect or even disturbing one<br />4.2.b The polarized image<br />The most used solution for 3D in the motion-picture area is the polarized image. In the beginning were used two projectors perfectly synchronized with two polarized filters in front of each lens: the double image is projected on a screen (gray and reflective to don’t lose the polarization) and the audience, wearing polarized glasses , perceive with one eye the image of a projector and with the other eye the image of the other.<br />Today the situation has changed and the technology allows using one single projector. Indeed many theaters are using RealD technology, that with a particular filter transmit with a single projector 72 times for second the image for the right eye and 72 times the one for the left. The audience using passive polarized glasses (very cheap and highly recyclable) perceives distinctly the two channels, channels that the brain elaborates in a 3D image. This is a solution that could be used also for home video.<br /><The RealD system use a polarizing screen in front of the projector><br />In the recent IFA hold in Berlin, JVC showed a 3D TV based on this technology: every pixel is cover by a polarized lens, a row with vertical polarization and a row with horizontal polarization. The final effect is similar but there is a noticeable problem about resolution: using this 3D technique the image resolution is reproduced with half of the resolution.<br />Moreover, there is another technique “The 3D Dolby system”. A system similar to the polarization one is the one used by Dolby with its Dolby 3D. In this technique instead of using polarized light the two channels, right and left, are filtered chromatically with a disc placed between the projector and the lens. The Dolby system is as good as the other because is able to perform a nice 3D effect with an optimal chromatic scene and low operating cost.<br />< Dolby 3D system uses passive glasses and a circular filter inserted in the projector system><br />4.2.c Active Glasses solutions<br />It is the most advanced and functional solution is without any doubt the one using active glasses. The working process is quite simple: the glasses have two LCD shutters that quickly close the right and left eye. To do this the glasses have to be synchronized with the image and the synchronization is done using a transmitter, usually an infra-red one. The solution is used in theaters by XpanD and in consumer field by NVIDIA and some other companies. By now NVIDIA is the best choice for 3D home cinema, because is the best way to reproduce and watch 3D and the spectator just need to buy the glasses and the transmitter, the blue-ray player can be updated (via firmware upgrade).<br />The active system is without doubt the one bound to be successful in the home video area: Sony, Panasonic and other companies are betting on active glasses for 3D at home.<br />4.3 3D Display Game<br />The video game console market is not saturated yet. In a recent survey, 52 percent of consumers reported that either they or someone in their household owns a video game console system.<br /> Forty-three percent of consumers have a seventh generation console in their households. The majority of those households have Nintendo Wii consoles (22%) followed by Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles (12%) and Sony PS3 consoles (9%).<br />Below is a questionnaire of “In the past 6 months, which of the following have you done at home in your free time?” The 1st activity Generation X (1965-1979) -77%, Boomers (1946-1964)-79%, and Silent Generation (Before 1946) -84%, do in their free time is watch TV, closely followed by browsing the Internet. Generation Yers play games on a PC or console (66%) in their free time almost as much as they watch TV (70%).<br />2/3 Generation Yers have played a video game in the last six months. While that level of gaming does not begin to compete with browsing the Internet (91%), it exceeds the percentage of consumers who report talking on the phone (64%), exercising (64%) and reading (64%), during the same time period (bottom, left). And nearly half of consumers (46%) played games on a PC or console in their free time.<br />In the past 6 months, which of the following have you done at home in your free time?<br />In the questionnaire of “For what activities do you use your video game console?” Generation Yers (89%), Generation X (89%), Baby Boomer (83%) and Silent Generation (55%) use their video game console to play video games and the secondary use is watch movies. <br />However, thirty percent of consumers, in households with video game consoles, reported that they personally use the console to connect to the Internet – play games on the Internet (20%), download games online (11%) and browse the Internet (9%). And Generation Yers use the console to connect to the Internet nearly three times more than the average consumer, 80 and 30 percent respectively. Gen Yers play games on the Internet (34%), download games online (29%) and browse the Internet (17%) twice as much as any other generation.<br />For what activities do you use your video game console?<br /> CITATION VideoGameTrend \l 1028 (29)<br />Above are the behaviors of consumer who plays video game nowadays. Then I will introduce the equipment and games for 3D display mode.<br />4.3.a Equipment (NVIDIA)<br />3D, this is a term we have been hearing since the 1960's when cheesy paper glasses and mildly applicable 3D was introduced in movies and made things appear to be moving in your direction. In reality this entire concept is rather old, but technology is starting to catch up with the ideals of 3D and making it a viable application in the gaming world. The paper glasses have been replaced with some new cool plastic goggles and NVIDIA has incorporated the 3D aspect of gaming in these new goggles and their own drivers. NVIDIA always known as a trend setter and major player in the VGA game has taken stereo 3D to the next level and bringing it into our home by way of your NVIDIA VGA card a new pair of glasses and IR box that will be known as the GeForce Stereoscopic 3D Vision.<br />- The Technical Aspect<br />How does the brain translate the two-dimensional images represented by the retina into the three-dimensional images that we see? Like I stated in my opening words the idea and concept of 3D has been around a long time. The basic technology involved is taking an image and then splitting it into two various and slightly different parts and then using glasses to make our brain translate those images into one 3D image. Your brain takes these two images and combines them bringing depth to the entire scene you are viewing and tricking your brain into seeing the images in 3D Vision.<br />Creating 3D computer graphics and its process can be broken down to three various stages in its application: 3D Modeling which describes the process when shaping an object, layout and animation which describes the motion and placement of objects within a scene, and then the last phase the actual rendering which produces an actual 3D image of an object. These processes are the only available with the realization of the modern PC as the processing power needed to make this technology a reality is only know showing actual real time progress. NVIDIA takes this technology to a new level by adding an element to their driver package that works in conjunction with their NVIDIA branded VGA cards and Stereoscopic 3D glasses.<br />When 3D was introduced back in the 60s, they used paper glasses with red and blue lenses that helped trick the brain into seeing altered images that were called stereo 3D, but this had its limitations due to the older anaglyph technology, which was able to give each eye its own image by superimposing each frame of a video with a different color hue and eliminating the unneeded frames. Having a red and blue lens defined and filtered out various frames of a sequence that in turn gave each eye a different perspective of the scene. The main problem with this older technology was tinting of the image due to the poor processing of the image to your brain that resulted in only mild and slightly blurry 3D effect. This anaglyph technology has actually has a very long shelf life all things considered as up until the last decade this was the solitary way of translating 3D to the brain.<br />Now polarization is the most common way of translating stereo 3D to your brain and it has many of the same technological aspects that the older anaglyph technology. The main difference in this technology is that instead of using read and blue colored lenses transparent lenses are used that polarize, or filter out the images and allow each eye to see its own image clearly. Polarization technology is nothing new; it's been in your sunglasses for years filtering out various color patterns form the sun that can harm your eyes. It works in the same way with stereo 3D only in a slightly modified way. This as well has its limitations as well as you must be facing the monitor at just the right angle to see the picture correctly translated in 3D. The reason for this factor is that there is not enough power in a normal monitor to correctly change the view accordingly with your heads position to the monitor and although IZ3D did solve most of this problem by placing one monitor screen on top of another in conjunction with polarized glasses, it still gave you that headache associated with your retinal translation of 3D and slow framerates.<br />NVIDIA has gone a different direction entirely with this process, but this idea is not new just redefined by them and reintroduced as 3D vision, as technology in monitors has advanced to a new level by way of 120Hz refresh rates, which play a major role in this application. The major problem with any of the older passive or active technology using 3D glasses in conjunction with a monitor has been poor framerates, as most monitors at their highest resolution only offered 60Hz refresh rates, which translates into barely thirty framreates per second, per each eye of a pair of stereo 3D glasses. When playing games 30 framerates a second was the minimum requirement to keep games playing without the games playing sluggish, so take that and apply it to the 3D environment and you can understand why older monitors and glasses never quite worked right. But alas now come along monitors that have a refresh rate of 120Hz and new possibilities can be realized as now each eye of the new powered glasses can now give you the same refresh rate per eye in stereoscopic 3D as your old monitor did in standard gaming.<br />The key to an active glasses solution is that the lenses must be properly synchronized with the display requiring some form of communication between the two devices to function properly. When the left eye frame is shown on the screen then the left lens must be completely open and during the time the screen refreshes with the next frame for the right eye the glasses must also switch lens opacity. This communication could be done by way of a cable of or using infrared signals, as the NVIDIA solution we are looking at today uses. Each lens in the glasses is effectively a 1 pixel LCD screen that is turned off (black) or on (clear) depending on which eye should see the image displayed on the screen. An infrared box that connects by way of a USB cable is the communications hub of the Stereoscopic 3D Vision technology and the new glasses are constantly updated and refreshed with the proper information to each eye that translates through your retinas 3D imagery that does not cause headaches due to poor framerates. Using this technology also allows the user to move their head and angle to the monitor with little effect to the translated 3D image. NVIDIA is ahead of the curve and as monitors improve so will the ability of technological advancements in NVIDIA's Stereoscopic 3D Vision.<br />- NVIDIA 3D Vision Hardware<br /> <br />These are some shots of the box and the glasses as they come in the retail package. This will also be what the package consumer will be buying when it hits the retail shelves.<br />In the shot above it is all the cables and driver CDs that come inside the retail box, the USB cables can be use to connect to either 120Hz LCD Monitor or the S-Video connection on TV. The glasses are also charged off the USB port of PC.<br /> <br />The glasses are made of a plastic polymer with dark lenses that translate the information to each one of eyes. They come with an additional nose piece if consumer happens to have a small nose that the standard fit might slip off of during gaming.<br /> <br />The glasses connect via an included USB cable and are turned on by pushing a button on the side of the glasses that turns green when turned on. The glasses stay powered for almost ten hours of game play before needing a recharge.<br /> <br />Above is the IR or infrared communication box that constantly updates the glasses to the game while consumer is playing on PC. This unit also connects via another USB cable that provides power to the unit. On the back of the IR unit is a scroll knob for the depth amount of the 3D immersion. Consumer can use this knob to either pull in an image or create more 3D depth to the game environment.<br /> CITATION NVIDIAco \l 1028 (30)<br />4.3.b The Evolution of Video Game (before real 3D vision game)<br />The video and computer game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world. The two main sections of the games market are that of computer and video games. Computer games are games that are played on Personal Computers (PCs) whilst video games are played using<br />a television and a games console (a cheap mass produced computer).<br />The hi-graphic 3D video games that we play today are certainly a result of inventions in the past. Most of the people play video games, but don't know what has enabled them to enjoy such entertaining technology. There have been several ups and downs in the evolution of video games, and their advancements were not quick, as there were many challenges involved in making them better. Below I will introduce a bit the evolution of video games (before real 3D vision game).<br />The first video game was released in 1958. In the 1970s, video games became widely available in arcades and on home computers. Early video game graphics consisted mainly of geometric objects. <br /><The game \" Pong\" , released in 1972><br /><The game \" Speed Freak\" , from 1977><br />For the first time, graphics were not generated programmatically but created by an artist and saved to an image file. Sprites often consist of a series of images that are played in sequence to create an animation. Even today, many games used sprite-technology.<br /><\" Space Invaders\" from 1978><br /><\" Pac Man\" from 1980><br />3D-Engines had been \" faked\" before, mostly in racing games but never without major flaws. The technology used by these games created a realistic 3D-environment that you could walk through. All objects and characters excluding the walls were 2D-sprites.<br />As the video game technology evolved in the early 1990s, several action and first-person shooting games were bought into the scene, like 'Wolfenstein 3D' and 'Doom'. Looking at the popularity of such games, the companies decided on providing free 'demo' game versions to the public. During these years, computers became well suited for handling such 3D games. The 'doom' game had certainly set a standard for action shooting games along with good 3D graphics.<br /> <br /><\" Wolfenstein 3D\" from 1992> <\" Doom\" from 1993><br />With increasing processing power, it finally became possible to create \" real\" 3D engines where all (or at least most) objects and characters were 3D. In the Doom age you were restricted to moving forwards and to the side, now it was possible to also move upwards and downwards. CITATION Lay09 \l 1028 (31)<br /><\" Max Payne\" , released in 2001><br />In addition, an interesting aspect of the change in the industry is the way that games are controlled by the players. Early designs used simple mechanisms, whilst the latest consoles have state of the art motion sensing controls. Some of the most substantial changes in the control schemes of games came about during the transition from 2D to 3D games. That is the change from flat 2 dimensional games to fully 3 dimensional environments. Lately there has also been a change to more immersive control schemes.<br />4.3.c 3D Virtual Video Game Nowadays<br />Nowadays, there are many advanced 3D games available in several genres such as shooting, sports, puzzles, action, horror, racing, etc. These games also include a high-quality surround sound and highly advanced graphics, and can be played on advanced gadgets such as the 'PS3' and 'Xbox 360'.<br />Because of now real 3D vision game is in the beginning of development, almost every big console or gaming companies (like Sony, Microsoft) are presenting their now 3D gaming technology and games on the market. So below I will introduce them by company.<br />- Sony<br />a. EyePet<br />EyePet is a game for the PlayStation 3. The game uses the PlayStation Eye camera to allow a virtual pet to interact with people and objects in the real world. Using augmented reality, the simian, gremlin-like creature appears to be aware of its environment and surroundings and reacts to them accordingly. The player can place objects in front of the animal and the game will interpret what the object is and respond to it. For example, if the player rolls a ball towards it, it will jump out of the way to avoid being hurt. It will also react to the player's actions and sound allowing the user to, for example, tickle the animal or clap their hands to startle it. <br />This game also has a drawing system, which involves drawing basic sketches of cars and planes and other objects comprised of basic shapes. You hold your sketch to the camera, and the pet then grabs a crayon and re-draws your sketch virtually. In the demonstration video, a drawing with the proper constituent parts will transform into 3D objects that combine into pet toys. So the pet winds up flying on the plane or driving the car. Players can pick the textures for any of the objects. So imagine making the car from wood or stone, for example.<br />One of the other things is the ability to give your pet a check-up. You hold the card up to the pet as if it's an X-ray scanner and wand over where the pet is virtually standing. This provides clues to its mood and its needs. Maybe it's sad or hungry. CITATION EyePet \l 1028 (32)<br /> <br />b. PlayStation Home<br />The concept of PlayStation Home is simple: You log in, create a character and roam about the world, interacting with other users and various entertainment outlets (movie screens, arcade games, etc.)<br />Inside PlayStation Home there are 4 areas:<br />1. Your apartment. It's about 15ft x 40ft.<br />2. The Lobby. This area is quite large, about the size of a football field. There are places to sit and chat, and large screens to watch.<br />3. Movie Theatre. When you walk in there is a large screen playing movie. There are 10 theatre rooms which currently show a variety of game and movie trailers.<br />4. The Game Room. The game room is about half the size of the lobby, which is more than big enough. It's easily the most popular room. There are 6 pool tables, 4 bowling lanes, and 10 arcade machines.<br />The face creation system is very detailed. It's sorted by things like: eyes, nose, etc. and goes all the way down to things like: Upper face symmetry, lower face symmetry. These facial features are adjusted by a slider that can be moved in both the x and y axis. For example, while adjusting \" eye location\" the y axis controls the height of your eyes, and the x axis controls their distance from the centre of your face. There are about 20 of these sliders, which give you about 40 different ways to adjust your face alone. <br />Recently Sony claimed, Sony has already developed 3D face scan technology. Player can use PlayStation Eye camera to scan his/her own face in some way, then his/her avatar in PlayStation Home will be exactly like him/her.<br />And about hair style and clothing soon in this game will have cooperative partners provide their own products. Just try to imagine, what if Sony also has totally 3D body scan, players can try on real shoes, clothes or underwear by their own avatar. If they really like it, they even can buy the real one in this game and this makes PlayStation Home also become a e-shop.<br />This game supports Bluetooth headsets as well as keyboards. Player can hold R2 (control) to speak. The audio volume depends on the proximity of player’s character to the source. This works well in allowing player to have one-on-one conversations while still being able to hear people chatter around. <br />PlayStation Home is like a virtual reality on-line community. In the game players can chat with their friend, walk around or even watch a movie with their friend. Actually, Sony has also presented a prototype version that players no more need control to play this game. Players walk or turn in front of the screen (with PlayStation Eye camera) their avatar will act in the same way.<br />And the latest version of this game (Version 1.30, released on October 1, 2009) included key features such as Universal Game Launching, 3D item previews in the shopping complex, a camera that lets users take in-Home pictures and save them to their PS3's HDD, new emotes, an advanced targeting system, and users can now determine their cache size to make navigating Home a smoother experience. CITATION PlayStationHome \l 1028 (33)<br />Besides these two games, when it came to the idea of 3D gaming, Sony was implicit but never explicit. <br />January 9, 2009 - At Sony CEO Howard Stringer's keynote address, he underlined a keen interest in developing 3D technology -- specifically, RealD 3D -- and its potential future with Sony. While the discussion primarily concerned the box office, Stringer did allude to its possible use in videogames, as evidenced by a flashed image of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Inside the CES expo hall, though, Sony is going a step further with RealD and the PlayStation 3 by showing off three different technology demos of games using the stereoscopic effect: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, WipEout HD, and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift these games.<br />Racing games, such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Wipeout HD, were used as examples of how 3D technology can be used to enhance the gameplay experience, with Sony representatives explaining that driving games in particular can benefit from an enhanced level of depth perception. CITATION Sony01 \l 1028 (34)<br />- Microsoft/Xbox<br />a. Project Natal<br />Microsoft's Project Natal will “reinvent the industry and revolutionize home entertainment”, according to the company's corporate vice president for Xbox Shane Kim.<br />Project Natal is Microsoft's 3D camera for Xbox 360. It tracks people's motions in three dimensions and has a microphone capable of voice recognition. It is to be used as a controller-free method of playing video games, tracking the player's body movements and voice and transferring that information directly to the gaming console. Project Natal uses an RGB camera, an infrared projector and a monochrome CMOS sensor. The RGB camera tracks basic colors and enables features such as Natal's ability to recognize faces. The infrared and CMOS sensors work in tandem to create a 3D image of the room. Microsoft claims that it is this combination of several sensory arrays that allow Natal to work in any light condition.<br />This data is then combined with proprietary algorithms to map a wire-frame skeleton of the player in real-time. It is this extra layer of processing that allows Natal to continue working even if something wanders between the player and the camera. This wire-frame system also allows Natal to recognize four players at once without getting overlapping limbs confused. In addition to its visual sensors, Natal has a multiarray microphone that can \" locate voices by sound and extract ambient noise.\" This will allow for individual voice recognition and headset-free chatting in online games.<br />As of today, Microsoft has only presented Natal as an Xbox 360 peripheral. However, there is reason to believe that it will also be usable on your PC at some point. Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that the Windows group has \" latched onto\" Natal's technology and is eyeing it for use in home entertainment and office applications.<br />Microsoft has said that it plans to treat the Natal launch like the release of a new console. That usually means that a dozen or so games will come out alongside it. So far, six games have been shown using the camera. Not everything that is shown will necessarily be released to the public when Natal launches and older titles won't get Natal upgrades.<br />Below are two example of how does Natal work.<br />Milo<br />This game from Lionhead Studios is a bit like a virtual friend -- Milo (an unassuming school boy), it pulled the rug out from under us, resetting our preconceptions about the limits of this technology. For the first time, having a logical, meaningful exchange with an AI character is possible, thanks to a combination of speech recognition and the use of the camera on the Natal bar. Milo could “hear” and interpret the tone of your voice to determine your mood and “understand” your words, replying with logic and reacting physically on-screen.<br />What really blew me away, however, was when the Milo routine broke through the Augmented Reality barrier, allowing you to “pass” an object into the game world and have Milo interpret that object. In the instance of the demonstration, I watched an illustration on a sheet of paper get scanned and passed into the game world, where Milo grabbed hold of it. It’s really amazing.<br />Ricochet<br />Richochet challenges players to get up off of the couch and swing and kick at balls flying towards them. The goal is to hit balls back and break targets using your hands and feet. This is a bite-sized mini-game powered by Unreal Engine 3 that perfectly demonstrated the technology's capabilities, putting up a translucent player avatar up on screen and then hurling a flurry of balls for them to deflect. The tracking of movement is astounding, the detail of the recognition even more so. In the demonstration, I saw while player waving his arms around, at which the avatar promptly followed, and then to highlight its accuracy he began to thrust his hips around wildly, his moves again captured perfectly on screen.<br />Such precision is possible thanks to quick-fire mapping and instantaneous creation of a virtual skeleton comprising of 48 separate points. We're afforded a quick look under the bonnet with a glimpse at what Natal sees - infra-red images help detect the player, and combining this data with set algorithms helps map a wire-frame skeleton. These same algorithms help Natal predict what certain limbs are doing based on the position of other body parts – so if a hand or arm drops out of picture it will still accurately represent your motions.<br />It's this same principle that means even if something wanders between the player and the camera the experience is uninterrupted – a fact that the demonstrator by running a chair between himself and Natal, during which time the image onscreen remains intact. It's this principle as well that supports up to four people, and it's this that ensures that Natal won't get confused when the flailing limbs are overlapping. <br />On the game front, this device opens the door to true first person shooters, where your arm is the weapon and your movement actually propels you forwards – negating the need for sticks and buttons. Just imagine the potential in a stealth simulation where your character on screen actually responds exactly to your movement, posture and even sounds you make. It's drool-worthy stuff, we think you'll agree. We just hope that this gaming revolution comes sooner rather than later.<br /> CITATION NATAL \l 1028 (35)<br />For players, Sony EyePet and Xbox Project Natal may have come upon the Mario and Sonic for this generation.<br />More than a decade ago, Nintendo and Sega waged a console war with Mario and Sonic as the figures around which fans rallied. Neither was an expression of what a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis was technologically capable of. But they served as shorthand for their companies and their fans. Mario embodied a certain all-ages joyfulness and quality of game. Sonic represented attitude and verve that his company would want you to think Nintendo didn't have.<br />The EyePet and Milo might prove to be better representations of what their host systems and corporate backers are capable of concocting. Better than Mario and Sonic ever were. So they're worth watching. They're worth debating. And the success of one or the other may yet prove whether it is Sony or Microsoft that has the better ability to harness horsepower, gadgetry and developer ingenuity.<br />One of the commenters commended the demonstration on youtube “Natal is cool, pet is cool. Plus Natal and Pets these is very cool. But natal needed new xbox 360 I don’t like these part\" <br />People are drawing comparisons because EyePet and Milo are both camera-supported convergences of software and video game hardware designed to simulate a lifelike being -- and to do so with the minimal involvement of a game controller. EyePet does it with an already-released camera, the PlayStation Eye. Milo does it with Microsoft's Project Natal, an elaborate mechanism that has no price, no release date but is intended to work with the current Xbox 360. They are both demonstrations of what ambitious creators can wring out of video game technology or even other nice application in the future.<br />5 The Prospects – Medical Application<br />To me, gaming, or home entertainment certainly are interesting. However, I find that if we can use these technologies as a springboard to medical care, it would be a nice big jump.<br />Below I will use the theories and technologies that I have studied from above to describe my points of view for the prospects of 3D display technology.<br />5.1 Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy<br />5.1.a What is Physical Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy?<br />Fist, Physical therapy is a health care profession which provides services to individuals in order to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional ability throughout life. This includes providing services in circumstances where movement and function are threatened by aging, injury, disease or environmental factors.<br />Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation. This encompasses physical, psychological, emotional, and social well being. It <br />Involves the interaction between physical therapist, patients/clients, other health professionals, families, care givers, and communities in a process where movement potential is assessed and goals are agreed upon, using knowledge and skills unique to physical therapists. Physical therapy is performed by either a physical therapist or an assistant acting under their direction. PTs utilize an individual's history and physical examination to arrive at a diagnosis and establish a management plan, and when necessary, incorporate the results of laboratory and imaging studies. Electrodiagnostic testing (e.g. electromyograms and nerve conduction velocity testing) may also be of assistance. <br />Physical therapy has many specialties including cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, neurologic, orthopaedic and pediatrics to name some of the more common areas. PTs practice in many settings, such as outpatient clinics or offices, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, extended care facilities, private homes, education and research centers, schools, hospices, industrial workplaces or other occupational environments, fitness centers and sports training facilities. <br />Because the body of knowledge of physical therapy is quite large, some PTs specialize in a specific clinical area. While there are many different types of physical therapy, the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties list seven specialist certifications, including Sports Physical Therapy and Clinical Electrophysiology. Worldwide the six most common specialty areas in physical therapy are:<br />- Orthopedic Physical Therapy<br />Orthopedic physical therapists diagnose, manage, and treat disorders and injuries of the musculoskeletal system including rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery. This specialty of physical therapy is most often found in the out-patient clinical setting. Orthopedic therapists are trained in the treatment of post-operative orthopedic procedures, fractures, acute sports injuries, arthritis, sprains, strains, back and neck pain, spinal conditions and amputations. Joint and spine mobilization/manipulation, therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular reeducation, hot/cold packs, and electrical muscle stimulation (e.g., cryotherapy, iontophoresis, electrotherapy) are modalities often used to expedite recovery in the orthopedic setting. Additionally, an emerging adjunct to diagnosis and treatment is the use of sonography for diagnosis and to guide treatments such as muscle retraining. Those who have suffered injury or disease affecting the muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons of the body will benefit from assessment by a physical therapist specialized in orthopedics.<br /> <br />- Neurological Physical Therapy<br />Neurological physical therapy is a discipline focused on working with individuals who have a neurological disorder or disease. These include Alzheimer's disease, ALS, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke. Common impairments associated with neurologic conditions include impairments of; vision, balance, ambulation, activities of daily living, movement, speech and loss of functional independence.<br />- Pediatric Physical Therapy<br />Pediatric physical therapy assists in early detection of health problems and uses a wide variety of modalities to treat disorders in the pediatric population. These therapists are specialized in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of infants, children, and adolescents with a variety of congenital, developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal, or acquired disorders/diseases. Treatments focus on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance as well as cognitive and sensory processing/integration. Children with developmental delays, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or torticollis, may be treated by pediatric physical therapists.<br /> <br />- Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy<br />Cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation physical therapists treat a wide variety of individuals with cardiopulmonary disorders or those who have had cardiac or pulmonary surgery. Primary goals of this specialty include increasing endurance and functional independence. Manual therapy is utilized in this field to assist in clearing lung secretions experienced with cystic fibrosis. Disorders, including heart attacks, post coronary bypass surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis, treatments can benefit from cardiovascular and pulmonary specialized physical therapists.<br />- Geriatric Physical Therapy<br />Geriatric physical therapy covers a wide area of issues concerning people as they go through normal adult aging, but is usually focused on the older adult. There are many conditions that affect many people as they grow older and include but are not limited to the following: arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hip and joint replacement, balance disorders, incontinence, etc. Geriatric physical therapy helps those affected by such problems in developing a specialized program to help restore mobility, reduce pain, and increase fitness levels<br /> <br /> CITATION physicalTherapy \l 1028 (36)<br />Second, speech-language pathology is the study of disorders that affect a person's speech, language, cognition, voice, swallowing (dysphagia) and the rehabilitative or corrective treatment of physical and/or cognitive deficits/disorders resulting in difficulty with communication and/or swallowing.<br />Communication includes speech (articulation, intonation, rate, intensity, voice, resonance, fluency), language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), both receptive and expressive language (including reading and writing), and non-verbal communication such as facial expression and gesture. Swallowing problems managed under speech therapy are problems in the oral and pharyngeal stages of swallowing (not oesophageal). Depending on the nature and severity of the disorder, common treatments may range from physical strengthening exercises, instructive or repetitive practice and drilling, to the use of audio-visual aids and introduction of strategies to facilitate functional communication. Speech therapy may also include sign language and the use of picture symbols or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).<br />There are separate standardized assessment tools administered for infants, school-aged children, adolescents and adults. Assessments primarily examine the form, content, understanding and use of language, as well as articulation, and phonology. Oral motor and swallowing assessments often require specialized training. These include the use of bedside examination tools and endoscopic/modified barium radiology procedures.<br />Individuals may be referred to an SLP for any of the following: Traumatic brain injury, Stroke, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, Cranial nerve damage, Progressive neurological conditions (Parkinson, ALS, etc), Developmental delay, Learning disability (speaking and listening), Autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger syndrome, Genetic disorders that adversely affect speech, language and/or cognitive development, Injuries due to complications at birth, Feeding and swallowing concerns, Craniofacial anamolies that adversely affect speech, language and/or cognitive development, Cerebral Palsy, Augmentative Alternative Communication needs.<br />There are myriad Speech-Language Assessment tools used for chidren and adults, depending on the area of need.<br />Speech and language therapists work with:<br />- Babies with feeding and swallowing difficulties<br />- Children with mild, moderate or severe: learning difficulties, physical disabilities, language delay, specific language impairment, specific difficulties in producing sounds (including vocalic r and lisps), hearing impairment, cleft palate, stammering, autism/social interaction difficulties, dyslexia voice disorders.<br />- Adults with eating and swallowing and/or communication problems following: stroke, head injury (Traumatic brain injury), Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, dementia, cancer of the head, neck and throat (including laryngectomy), voice problems, mental health issues, learning difficulties, physical disabilities, stammering (dysfluency), hearing impairment, transgender voice therapy (usually for male-to-female individuals)<br />- Adults and Children with Cerebral Palsy CITATION Speechandlanguagepathology \l 1028 (37)<br />3683020955 <br />5.1.b Technology Application Nowadays<br />I think 3D display technology can be used to help or support people who need physical therapy. Why do I think of this is because when I was in university, I joined in social care club. And I had a chance to see and know how that cerebral palsy did and developmental retardation patients (especially kids) take their rehabilitation treatment, and how difficult could be for the physical therapist to help those patients.<br />By now for physical therapy, there is a nice example of combining gaming console with physical therapy – Nintendo Wii. <br />Nintendo Wii games console, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, it has already became a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. In fact, many patients say PT -- physical therapy's nickname -- really stands for “pain and torture”. The usual stretching and lifting exercises that help the sick or injured regain strength can be painful, repetitive and downright boring. <br />However, using the game console's unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. The Wii Fit game -- a white plastic platform motion detector operated through a Nintendo Wii console -- translates a person's real-time movements onto a screen and offers 40 activities in yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance, many appropriate for therapy. And with so many possibilities, therapists can tailor patient sessions, monitoring carefully to avoid the overuse common with Wii's simulated sports. Physical therapist is hoping that even patients who cannot walk or stand will also get in on the fun by sitting on the platform, called a balance board. That application has yet to be tested, though patients in wheelchairs already can use some Wii sporting games.<br />So, What are the actual medical uses of Nintendo Wii?<br />- Helps in Arthritis<br />Arthritis is an inflammation of bone joints which is accompanied by joint pain. People who suffer with arthritis are in need of physical activity in order to maintain a healthy and active life. Movement of the joints promotes strength by stretching tendons and muscles, thereby helps bone structure.<br />Many Physical Therapists are using Nintendo’s Wii Fit as a physiotherapy aid to encourage arthritic patients to do their crucial daily exercises. The Wii uses motion sensor controls, which means that the gamer has to move around in order to play the game. Not only it provides a fun way of doing some of the therapeutic exercises, but it beats the same aerobic step and joint exercise routines that can make patients bore.nintendo-wii-headset<br />- Helps in Stroke<br />A stroke occurs when a blood clot forms in a damaged vessel, which blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Doctors says that use of Nintendo Wii games like tennis, golf or boxing can help stroke victims recover more quickly without any harsh impact on the body.. Moreover, it’s fun. Doctors in the U.S. are now beginning to use the Wii to help stroke victims regain movement in their arms and legs. Furthermore, German clinicians have also been reported to use the Wii to speed up recovery in injured soldiers.<br />- Helps in Parkinson’s disease<br />Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease that impairs motor skills. Dr. Ben Herz, program director and assistant professor of Allied Health Sciences Department of Occupational Therapy, Georgia, US mentioned that the Nintendo Wii allows patients to work in a virtual environment like visual perception, eye-hand coordination, figure-ground relationships and sequenced movements that is safe, fun and motivational treatment tool.<br /> An 8 week study conducted on 20 Parkinson’s patients revealed that patients playing video games showed significant improvements in rigidity, movement, fine motor skills and energy levels. Dr. Herz stated that “Perhaps most impressively, most patient’s depression levels decreased to zero”. This is significant outcome as 45 percent or higher Parkinson’s patients are reported to suffer from depression.<br />Dr. Ben’s study also revealed that Wii exercise effects can increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in Parkinson’s patients. Dopamine helps in improving voluntary and functional movements.<br />- Helps in Rehabilitation process<br />Rehabilitation is the process of restoring and regaining physical strength and function. Such patients require intensive physical therapy for recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. Patients often complain that physical therapy is repetitive, boring and torturous.<br />The new approach called ‘Wii-habilitation’ or “Wiihab” is changing the dynamics of Physical Therapy. Wiihab allows patients to play Wii video games such as baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis as part of their physical therapy routine. <br />Doctors consider it to be an excellent alternative to traditional therapies as it not only helps to improve muscle movement, but at the same time, it exercises the mind. Patients are engrossed in playing the games to the level that patients ignore or forget the discomfort, which is very essential in the recovery process. Rehab centers across the country having patients with varying level of injuries, such as spinal cord, paralysis in certain part of body and so on are utilizing this fun way to treat their patients. Elizabeth Penny, therapist at WakeMed Health, NC says that Wii improved endurance, strength and coordination in the patients. <br />Wii comes handy even in occupational therapy and helps patients relearn daily living skills including brushing teeth, combing hair and fastening clothes.<br />Nintendo Wii has added new dimensions to the gaming industry. There is no doubt that Nintendo Wii is a “more active” form of computer gaming unlike traditional hand-held or TV video games, where users sit on the couch, exercising no more than their thumbs.<br />The Wii represents innovation in a way that players interact with games through the use unique motion sensor controllers, Wii also provides a more intuitive and interactive means of gaming experience, requiring body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. This might be the reason Nintendo Wii has not only taken place in various living rooms but also has become a part of various clinics and hospital settings. Apparently, it has proven itself to be a valuable resource in improving the quality of patients’ physique. CITATION WiifitMedical \l 1028 (38)<br />However, Nintendo Wii treatment is still under estimation. Because Wii is a gaming console and it was not created to be a physical therapy tool. And when a patient stands on the Wii fit board, if he/she doesn’t have a therapist by his/her side supporting he/she, the patient could lost balance , fall or happened some serious errors.<br />For speech & language therapy, “The Interactive Metronome” program provides a structured, goal-oriented process that challenges the patient to synchronize a range of hand and foot exercises to a precise computer-generated reference tone heard through headphones. The patient attempts to match the rhythmic beat with repetitive motor actions. <br />Today, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Physical Therapists, Educators, Athletic Trainers, Licensed Rehabilitation Medical and Mental Health Professionals Neurologists, Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Chiropractic Care Professionals are enhancing traditional therapy approaches with IM and achieving measurably improved outcomes. IM has been shown to improve: Attention & Concentration, Motor Planning & Sequencing, Language Processing, Behavior (Aggression & Impulsivity), Balance and Gait, Endurance, Strength, Motor Skills, Coordination.<br />5.1.c Further Technology Application Perspective<br />In the beginning, this is just an idea, a concept, but after I studied deeply, I think this application really can be implemented.<br />For improving physical therapy, I think a stroke patient who cannot act, speak and express himself well. He will need a therapist to train and teach his body and facial muscles and his brain.<br />By Microsoft’s Project Natal – Ricochet, we can develop and transform this technology to help the patients who has this needs. <br />As I mentioned before, Ricochet has quick-fire mapping and instantaneous creation of a virtual skeleton comprising of 48 separate points. So the tracking system of Ricochet is astounding, the detail of the recognition even more so. And it doesn’t need for sticks and buttons or a board to stand on. If combine this with a force feedback device (it can be a gloves or an arm/leg set) and real 3D vision, the patient can really see the object and feel the weight or force; at the same time the device also can memorize the therapy record for helping the therapist understand and evaluate the therapy level. Moreover, through 3D body scan and vision function, the program can be customized. Physical therapy training won’t be just like a flat activity. <br />For speech & language therapy, since Project Natal can track people's motions in three dimensions and has a microphone capable of voice recognition. I think it also can be nice to help or support teaching and learning sign language and some of the aphasia patients. Cause In fact, patient with aphasia is due to brain injury and temporarily lost original language ability. As long as the patient can have encouragement and support and professional speech therapy. Their language ability still have a chance to return to a certain extent. So, if the patient can have their first step to practice talking and interact with a virtual character (can be a little boy or a cute animal), it won’t be like “The Interactive Metronome”, you just can interact with a mono rhythm signal, this really will open their mind to try and learn.<br />Moreover, I think these patients do not only need teaching and training for their therapist, but also need to be encouraged and start having communication with people.<br />5.2 Telemedicine<br />5.2.a What Is Telemedicine?<br />Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred through the phone or the Internet and sometimes other networks for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations.<br />Telemedicine may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone, or as complex as using satellite technology and video-conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different countries. Telemedicine generally refers to the use of communications and information technologies for the delivery of clinical care.<br />Telemedicine can be broken into three main categories: store-and-forward, remote monitoring and interactive services.<br />- Store-and-forward<br />Store-and forward telemedicine involves acquiring medical data (like medical images, biosignals etc) and then transmitting this data to a doctor or medical specialist at a convenient time for assessment offline. It does not require the presence of both parties at the same time. Dermatology (cf: teledermatology), radiology, and pathology are common specialties that are conducive to asynchronous telemedicine. A properly structured Medical Record preferably in electronic form should be a component of this transfer. A key difference between traditional in-person patient meetings and telemedicine encounters is the omission of an actual physical examination and history. The store-and-forward process requires the clinician to rely on a history report and audio/video information in lieu of a physical examination.<br /> <br />- Remote monitoring<br />Remote monitoring, also known as self-monitoring/testing, enables medical professionals to monitor a patient remotely using various technological devices. This method is primarily used for managing chronic diseases or specific conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, or asthma. These services can provide comparable health outcomes to traditional in-person patient encounters, supply greater satisfaction to patients, and may be cost-effective.<br /> <br />- Interactive services<br />Interactive telemedicine services provide real-time interactions between patient and provider, to include phone conversations, online communication and home visits. Many activities such as history review, physical examination, psychiatric evaluations and ophthalmology assessments can be conducted comparably to those done in traditional face-to-face visits. In addition, “clinician-interactive” telemedicine services may be less costly than in-person clinical visits. <br />Telemedicine is most beneficial for populations living in isolated communities and remote regions and is currently being applied in virtually all medical domains. Monitoring a patient at home using known devices like blood pressure monitors and transferring the information to a caregiver is a fast growing emerging service. These remote monitoring solutions have a focus on current high morbidity chronic diseases and are mainly deployed for the First World. In developing countries a new way of practicing telemedicine is emerging better known as Primary Remote Diagnostic Visits whereby a doctor uses devices to remotely examine and treat a patient. This new technology and principle of practicing medicine holds big promises to solving major health care delivery problems in for instance Southern Africa because Primary Remote Diagnostic Consultations not only monitors an already diagnosed chronic disease, but has the promise to diagnosing and managing the diseases a patient will typically visit a general practitioner for.<br /> CITATION Telemedicine \l 1028 (39)<br />5.2.b Technology Application Nowadays<br />ECG or electrocardiograph can be transmitted using telephone and wireless. This was done by Barr (1958) who transmitted ECG tracings to about 40,000 feet.<br />Teletransmission of ECG using indigenous methods. One of the oldest known telecardiology system (teletransmission of ECG) was established in Gwalior, India in 1975 at GR Medical college by Dr. Ajai Shanker, Dr. S. Makhija, P.K. Mantri using indegenous technique for the first time in India. This system enabled wireless transmission of ECG from the moving ICU van or the patient’s home to the central station in ICU of the department of Medicine. Transmission using wireless was done using frequency modulation which eliminated noise. Transmission was also done through telephone lines. The ECG output was connected to the telephone input using a modulator which converted ECG into high frequency sound. At the other end a demodulator reconverted the sound into ECG with a good gain accuracy. The ECG was converted to sound waves with a frequency varying from 500 Hz to 2500 Hz with 1500 Hz at baseline.<br />This system was also used to monitor patients with pacemakers in remote areas. The central control unit at the ICU was able to correctly interpret arrhythmias. This technique helped medical aid reach in remote areas.<br /> CITATION Telemedicine \l 1028 (39)<br />5.2.c Further Technology Application Perspective<br />Below I will use two scenarios to describe my concept.<br />- Hospital Care and Family Communication<br />Patient Situation: Gestational diabetic<br />What can future 3D telemedicine technology help the patient?<br />Gestational diabetic usually onset from 28th week of pregnancy and lasts till the child birth. Women who have gestational diabetes can take the help of telemedicine to monitor and keep their glucose level under control. The patient needs to monitory their blood glucose level on the daily basis. Traditional telemedicine approach was to take the blood glucose reading at home. The patient sends the glucose reading using email or calls doctors’ office.<br />More advanced telemedicine systems allows the blood glucode readings to be automatically uploaded to the web server using the network at the patient’s home. Patient can also use iPhone or other data enabled cell phones to automatically upload the glucose reading to the server. The glucose reading is read by the doctor or nurse. The doctor or nurse then advises the patient with necessary instructions.<br />In the future by using 3D technology, the patient can scan herself with 3D body scanner at home then she can communicate with the doctor in real-time. The doctor not only can monitor baby’s heartbeat to prevent certain infections and a loss of oxygen to the baby if it is strangled by its own umbilical cord (For detail please check REF _Ref245289526 \w \h 3.4.c Medical), but also track patient’s gestational diabetic condition more precision. Except clinic time, this 3D system can connect to telephone line, Ethernet or 3G wireless system to upload the patient’s in time data. It may also have in built Bluetooth system that allows the blood glucose meter to communicate with the system.<br /> For patient, she also can share her condition with her family or friends. They can see her and her baby in 3D film. After the baby born, parents can keep updated on their infants’ condition and to view 3D images of their infants while they are in the neonatal intensive care unit. Parents also can share their happiness with some relatives far away.<br />1895218513<br />- Telesurgery<br />Telesurgery (also known as remote surgery) is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location. It is a form of telepresence. Remote surgery combines elements of robotics, cutting edge communication technology such as high-speed data connections and elements of management information systems. While the field of robotic surgery is fairly well established, most of these robots are controlled by surgeons at the location of the surgery. Remote surgery is essentially advanced telecommuting for surgeons, where the physical distance between the surgeon and the patient is immaterial. It promises to allow the expertise of specialized surgeons to be available to patients worldwide, without the need for patients to travel beyond their local hospital.<br />1841536830 Assistant professor of surgery Timothy Broderick (far right), medical director for UC's Center for Surgical Innovation, and his team perform robotic telesurgery in a desolate valley in California on a simulated patient five miles away.<br />Patient’s location: Africa<br />Doctor’s location: United Kingdom<br />This has made the possibility for a skilled surgeon to provide real-time guidance to less skilled surgeons across the country. So what if a patient who is located in North Africa needs help form the specialist in UK? From before the surgery until after, what can 3D telemedicine support the whole process? <br />Before the surgery, doctor can use 3D telemedicine to track patient’s condition constantly and specifically. Patient can be given a 3D laparoscopy check, where a small \" telescope\" was inserted into the body and the doctor can see the real condition inside the body. During the surgery the doctor will not be just see the patient through monitor like now, he can see the patient in three-dimension, through 3D display he can real do the surgery like the patient is in front of him on the surgery table and cooperate with the other doctors in Africa in real-time. After surgery, doctor can monitor and track the patient with 3D display telemedicine system. He can really see how the patient is recovering and does the patient have any infection. For this, not only can save the doctor a lot of traveling time but also shorten the patient's waiting time to see the doctor and surgical.<br />Moreover, what if this technology can be used on the battlefield in Iraq for army? Or in non-battlefield environments such as remote towns where major surgical centers are located at great distances or where a hospital has been incapacitated due to storms or other causes.<br />5.3 Teaching and Researching<br />Moreover, a real-time interactive teaching of techniques by an expert surgeon to a student not at the same site can be down with 3D display telemedicine.<br />By using 3D display telemedicine medical students won’t be just learning through look at the screen (like the picture above), they even can be in the surgery and stand beside the surgery table learn it in the real-time. <br />6 Conclusions<br />Technological changes our past and present. Technology surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology is building bridges between people on opposite sides of the globe; technology is a boundless horizon consisting of myriad fields, from the environmental conditions to the governance issue, affecting millions across the globe. Technology is also one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel.<br />In 1961, MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS). This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. This also shortened the distance of communication between people all over the world. With the development of technology, now we are having faster network, instant messenger, webcam ...etc such tools supporting our lives and the way to communicate.<br />Although some people may concern, technology has both positive and negative effects in our life including the possible improvement or declination of society. Technology shapes our society and has both positive and negative effects. But I think a good technology invention can be a great “tool” for us. It can help, support or make people have temporary satisfaction, and it will never replace any actual senses and needs as a human being. <br />So, I think about what is the next one to transform our live? I think one of them will be 3D display technology. Obviously, 3D display technology has been used in video/PC gaming and home entertainment field in the beginning. 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