The most common method of immersion in virtual reality at the moment is the use of special glasses or helmets. However, there are other ways of immersion — for example, projecting an image directly onto the retina of the eye or the use of creating a three-dimensional image displays. The last method is rarely used, as these screens need to look strictly at a certain angle, but researchers from Canada has eliminated this disadvantage — they have created a spherical display with 360-degree coverage.
The diameter of a crystal ball with a straightforward name “Crystal” is equal to 60 inches. To create a spherical image uses four precisely calibrated projector. Look at the projected image can two people at once — thanks to easy points, each of them showing a different picture. Users can walk around the ball and see the image from different angles as glasses constantly monitor the position of their bodies relative to the spherical display.
It is believed that the technology will be used in multiplayer games, 3D modeling and video conferencing. As the person is likely to use only one camera, his face will spin around its axis depending on the position of the user — to look at the back of the head of a man will not work.
One of the founders of the ball Sydney Fels explained that releasing such a ball they don’t want to compete with virtual reality glasses. Their technology cannot fully replace, and will be interesting only for certain tasks. These include, for example, include the above-mentioned video conferencing and collaboration on the creation of 3D objects.
Imagine that your home is such a ball — how would you used it? Your ideas write in the comments, and to discuss the invention more in our Telegram chat.