True 3D Technology Emits 50,000 Dots In 3D Space.

On 14 November 2011 the EU-funded Support Action EMC² is holding a one-day industrial workshop on the future of 3D media at the premises of the world-famous Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin. EMC² is the first pan-European competence centre in Media Computing and Communication. The workshop draws together leading players from industry, research and government to explore trends, developments and future directions for 3D industry and research.THE FUTURE OF 3D MEDIA is an international event. It is designed to catalyse new thinking, new strategies and new partnerships in an increasingly important field of innovation. The event represents a unique convergence of media and communications industries, world-class research and European government.

This True 3D display technology, developed by Burton, uses a laser to creates luminous points of light at desired locations in air or underwater.

This system is an evolved version of technology co-developed by AIST and Keio University, first announced in 2006. It works by focusing laser light, to produce plasma excitation from the oxygen and nitrogen in the air. The researchers state that this is the world's first technology to show pictures without the constraint of a screen.

"Most current 3D devices project pictures onto a 2D screen, and make the pictures appear 3D through an optical illusion. But this device actually shows images in mid-air, so a feature of this system is that it enables 3D objects to be viewed naturally."

"This system can create about 50,000 dots per second, and its frame rate is currently about 10-15 fps.

The system works by focusing laser light to produce plasma excitation from the oxygen and nitrogen in the air, which allows it to display images mid-air. Since the images are in mid-air, it is also possible to create 3D objects that can be viewed as though they were real, floating 3D objects.

Could the idea of Star Wars style 3D holographic messages beamed out from R2D2 turn into a reality? Well, this new True 3D technology from Japan seems to suggest that it can.