How To Play With Real Holograms

Interviewer: Hi everybody Texas 2007. I run in to my old friend Andy Wilson. Andy actually gave me a demo you can watch it on line and play anywhere, this was a few months ago and now that you guys, it looks like you made some great shows in progress. Why not tell me you guys are showing off today, Microsoft research. Andy Wilson: So this is some we call playing together and the idea really is to take two plays anywhere units and we have networked them. Interviewer: You got a piece of paper? Andy Wilson: Yes. Interviewer: And a chess board, and a projector? Andy Wilson: Right. So, we got the same unit with the projector and everything in it. Now, the piece of paper is basically track by the system, so, you notice as I move the piece of paper around things happen Interviewer: Yes. Andy Wilson: So, what is going to happen is like, one of you, like you are going to draw Interviewer: Yes, okay. Andy Wilson: aI am going over here and I am going to draw and notice like Interviewer: Am I going to draw now? Andy Wilson: Yes, go ahead. You see my hands over there. So, if you put your hands back in over there you will see that, so now, if you watch that scene. So, I can draw and so you get this nice and tangible qualities of you know, you can see my hands going in, you can see the stroke that I am about to make. And so, it is just completely unmediated right. Were most video conferencing system s you have this kind of funny cursors and icons and all this sort of trappings of modern UI. Here, we have none of that just completely natural. And so that is, and you notices I move the piece of paper around it, there is an alignment that happens, and so that happens all automatically using image processing techniques. So, that is the idea. Interviewer: And now, what do we got, what is this going on over here? Andy Wilson: This is a new demo and what we got here, is this little game. So, this is also a table top system, except now, now think 3D. Interviewer: Alright. Andy Wilson: Alright, what I have shown you here I played together is basically a 2D system but now, this is a 3D system. So, if you can hand me that controller, so, that is 360 controllers. This is a program written in X and A and what we got here is a graphical car, when you have notice is I drive around Interviewer: A piece of card board Andy Wilson: Goes up right the piece of cardboard so, it just behaves in a right way. So, there is nothing special about that cardboard. right. This is just construction paper I picked up somewhere and cut up and fold it this morning. Look over here on the Southern display; we can see little bit of howl this is actually happening. Interviewer: This display over the monitor? Andy Wilson: This display over here, right. So, that there is a 3D mash if you will, a graphic smash. Interviewer: Did I mess it up? Andy Wilson: It is okay. You took your hand out and now is gone. So, there is actually a 3D mash Interviewer: Yes, it seems. Andy Wilson: So, and that it works. We are using a camera that can actually sense depth that every pixel. Interviewer: And now will call over my hand? Andy Wilson: Yes, it should be able to dry it well. So, I have mentioned my card stock. Interviewer: There is over my risk. Andy Wilson: Right over your risk, yes. So, this is just a fun game but, you know, I know a lot of you were probably 8 years boy at some point and play with match box cars and Interviewer: Where do you see this progressing tune the future? How is this going to be use for something a little bit more purposeful than crawling up the nurses? Andy Wilson: Well, one interesting application would be severing an architect, architects still love to use real physical props and phone core and card stock is still use a lot and so the idea would be, you can still do all that sort of stuff and you can build like a lay out of building or a parks something like that and that is all reflected here and digitize and brought in the system, maybe some annotation projected on to it. Maybe, there is somebody in a remote location like and a play anywhere that connects and also adds, adds their various. Interviewer: Now, let us, this campier in an expensive piece of hardware, where I mean, it is not in the market yet but what are you using to create this 3D reading? Andy Wilson: Well, that is the magic of this camera that we are working with and it is a proto type camera. Interviewer: Is that right there? Andy Wilson: That is right there, yes. And so, this is definitely a piece of technology from the future. Interviewer: And how could people find it more about enter and track your progress and keep up with date with what you are doing? Andy Wilson: Well so I do have a website it is research.microsoft.com it is little aWilson and there are some papers there. There is nothing about this system because it literally starts working like a couple of days ago. Interviewer: Okay. I am sorry. Research Microsoft.com twitle awilson Andy Wilson: You know twitle, that sort of little thing. Interviewer: That sort of thing. Thank you so much. This is awesome. You have one of the wonderful and coolest jobs here in Texas, except for mine.