Living Globe

Creating the illusion of dynamic textures on a spherical object

Origins of Design Concept

• Interest in 3D modelling & texturing, and how to bring it into the real world

• Use of projectors as more than just a rectangular display medium

• xBlocks

• Shaderlamps

• Dynamic Shaderlamps

• BeHere

• Omniglobe

• Office of the Future

Background Reading

• Shader Lamps: Animating Real Objects with Image-Based Illumination - R.Raskar, Kok-Lim Low, Greg Welch

• Dynamic Shader Lamps : Painting on Movable Objects – R.Raskar, D.Bandyopadhyay, H.Fuchs

• Projector-based Three Dimensional Graphics - R.Raskar 2002

• The Office of the Future: A Unified Approach to Image-Based Modeling and Spatially Immersive Displays – R.Raskar, G.Welch, M.Cutts, A.Lake, L.Stesin,H.Fuchs

• Cartoon Dioramas in Motion – R.Raskar, R.Ziegler T.Willwacher

• Direct Rotational Interaction With a Spherical Projection – S.Kettner, C.Madden, R.Ziegler

Empirical Work - interviews, observations, etc.

• Researching similar projects

• Interviews of class mates

• Threads and conversations on maxforums.org

• Early Prototypes

• Studying the Shaderlamps project

• Ronan Tighe Thesis

Projector

• Shaderlamps, Ramesh Raskar

• A light projector is a 3D perspective projection device.

• Using an analytical projection model, e.g. a pin-hole model, various projector-based problems can be recast.

• Traditionally, a light projector is treated like any other two-dimensional display device e.g. a CRT or a LCD screen to create flat and usually rectangular images.

• The work exploits the notion of projector as dual of a camera. This leads to new research directions in Computer Vision and Image-based Rendering

Textures & Materials

• Replace an object’s normal texture with a new projected skin

• Ability of the skin to move, transform, morph, etc.

• Create an illusion of a living material

• Dynamically adjust to the environment and interact with and respond to a user

Objects and Surfaces

• Real Physical objects

• Replace an object’s real texture

• Preserve its form

• Illusion that the object is something more than what meets the eye…

• Give life to the object – Wall Prototype

illusions

• Normal grey vase could look like a Ming vase

• Extra Window or door – interior design

• Stereoscopic display – Texture itself looks 3D when viewed through Colour Anaglyph glasses

• Transparency – Chameleon the background

• Illusion that the object is spinning/changing/moving created only by the animated texture. see prototype

Sphere

• Challenging – to texture & project on

• Viewable from all angles

• Approachable from all angles

• Allows for the most interaction

• Novel and interesting

Reflection, Reaction Interaction

• Dual state textures react to sensor feedback

• Reflection mode – response to its environment

• Reaction mode – response to user interaction

Reflection Mode

• Reflects the environment the object lives in

• Relatively smooth texture transitions – ebbs & flows, gradual

• Sensors:– Temperature– Light– Sound– Time– Oxygen

• Relatively Passive

• Could also reflect another environment

Reaction Mode

• Reacts to the users actions

• Sensors: – Touch– Movement– Gesture– Proximity– Vibration– Sound

• Much more dynamic and rapidly changing

Two Main ideas

• Earth’s evolution projected onto a sphere– continents drift, ocean currents, mountains rise, etc.

• Weather ball– Outside weather conditions projected onto a sphere or

hemisphere– Portrayed in an abstract way, not video feeds

• Both ideas could incorporate Reflection, Reaction interaction– Changes in colour, movement, speed, resolution, opacity(illusion)– Touch interaction could be amazing– Play around with illusions

• Other– Interior Design - changing a whole room– An xBlocks type game– Virtual pet living on an object

Hardware Requirements

• 5+ Projectors

• Large sphere 1m in diameter

• Grey Diffuse material to absorb light

• A base to place sphere on and hide the technology

• PC with enough video cards to output to the projectors

• Various sensors depending on what interactions will be possible

Software Requirements

• Depends on whether the textures will be pre-rendered or produced in real-time

• Pre-rendered– 3D Studio Max– Adobe Premiere

• Real-time– OpenGL– Various Game engines– Director– MaxMSP & Jitter, PD & GEM

• Other– Resolume– Photoshop

Schedule

Major Concerns

• Finalizing a definite application

• Real-time vs. pre-rendered

• Complexity of the surface – flattening a sphere to a plane - distortion

• Technology Required

• Number of projectors needed

• Overlapping and aligning projector images

• Time

Issues for Discussion with Group

• Earth Evolving vs. Weather Ball

• Suggest other suitable objects?

• Which interactions would be most suitable? Touch, Gesture, Movement...

• Favourite textures? Textures you find interesting?