Game2CAVE
The project seeks to enable efficient and effective cross-platform production of videogame content, intended for home game systems, for multisensory (audio, visual, multi-axis movement, smell, atmospherics) immersive 'CAVE'-like (a 360-degree structure on which computer rendered imagery is projected) experiences, as would be installed in theme parks and other venues. This is a future compatible superset of current "4D" rides. The commercial objective is in order to both exploit the potential for game IP in new markets, and expose it to new audiences; and also to enable more cost effective production of content for these out-of-home experiences by utilising videogame content. As such the project would enable better returns on investment both for game IP owners and developers and also for owners of theme parks and other live entertainment venues. The innovation entails extending the capabilities of game technology in order to render 360-degree versions of computer rendered environments, and in enabling multisensory outputs from game experiences.
University of Lincoln and Seeper Limited
Knowledge Transfer Partnership
Awaiting Public Project Summary
Seeper INNERLIGHT
Digital displays are ubiquitous in everyday applications including home entertainment, mobile
devices, advertising displays & vehicle navigation systems. Their use is, however, almost
entirely limited to flat, rectangular shapes.
Current state of the art display technologies (LCD & LED) cannot be used on irregular shapes
(e.g. shapes based on a Coca-Cola bottle, a plane, a human figure). As such, many potential
commercial & creative applications in, for example advertising, theme parks and education
are not currently achievable.
3D projection mapping can be used to overcome this to some degree. 3D projection mapping
is the technique of projecting video or computer-generated visual content onto irregular
surfaces such as building facades. Seeper were leading pioneers of 3D projection mapping and
have completed many high-profile projects for clients such as Google, the BBC, MTV,
Microsoft, & Nike. We also develop enabling technology (seeserver.com) to enable other
companies to undertake similar projects.
3D projection mapping can be used to economically create extremely compelling experiences
but it too has major drawbacks. It is very difficult to project content onto highly irregular or
moving objects when light will often hit the target surface at angles which distorts content
beyond acceptable levels. There must be a clear projection field (e.g. no people getting in
between the projector and the surface onto which it is projecting) - so objects cannot move far
from the fixed projector. Finally, projections are only visible when it is dark.
This R&D project aims to investigate the technical feasibility and commercial potential for a
proof of concept of a new technology that can overcome these challenges. This will require
novel software capable of rendering video content on the fly combined with the use of
miniaturised projection equipment and dynamically controlled optics to project onto internal
surfaces from within semi-transparent objects.
Project Immersion
Small Business Research Initiative
Project Immersion will transform learning and community spaces into interactive multi-sensory environments for learners aged 8 – 25 with support needs (particularly learning disabilites and autism). Learners benefit from experiences which promote and enhance learning outcomes around social engagement, collaboration, more confident communication and challenge learners' perceptions of their own abilities to exercise choice and control through digital technology. Individuals can then develop transferable competencies, leading to greater independence and employability: enhanced communication, working with others, personal creativity, social engagement and coping with change and anxiety. The Immersion ‘Box’ will contains video projector, speakers, camera, sensors, and bespoke software to project applications onto walls in a darkened room, to create multi-sensory immersive experiences controlled through user gesture or touch. The Box is designed for ease of use by individual learners and educators and to support inclusive educational practice which is democratic in nature and supports 'discovery-based' learning.
seemove
SeeMove is a gestural interface SDK which can see intricate detail from a distance, enabling
tracking of objects as well as people, whilst not being limited to the desktop, a specific
camera, operating system or device.
It is a next-generation middleware solution developed by experts from the games & camera
vision industries. It has the potential to transform the user’s relationship with their computers
across a range of industries, by giving programmers the tools to integrate a completely new
type of user interaction into their applications, utilising our advanced tracking engine. Built
with everyone in mind, seemove can be used with any operating system and nearly any
camera. We provide the toolkit, so end users can decide how, and what to make.
Using a range of supported depth-sensing cameras, SeeMove is unique in allowing users to
train the system to recognise any gesture, pose or object. These can then be turned into actions
within computer applications. The system is not limited to the desktop, a specific camera,
operating system or device. It can be trained for any number of new users, who can
personalise application responses to their own data and develop bespoke software. The more
the system gathers data the better it becomes at distinguishing between gestural input, making
SeeMove an adaptive application.
Seeper would like to release SeeMove as a Middleware product, allowing developers to create
their own experiments and applications. The range of different applications that will arise
shall depend on the developers who embrace the technology.
Straws Development of Prototype
GRD Development of Prototype
Current 3D display system are ‘virtual’ and all rely on optical illusions and tricks of the eye. This means they often cause fatigue, in most cases require glasses and vary widely in how effective they are. Arguably none of these systems appear real. Imagine a system that allows real physical 3D dimensional display. Quite literally real physical pixels that you can see and touch. These pixels act like a 2D screen, displaying a matrix of RGB colour, however this system is very different, each pixel can extrude outwards towards the viewer, sculpting itself on mass to take on the form a 3D object. Many film makers have imagined things coming out of the screen towards the audience, with the straws system 3D content quite literally comes towards you, or in the case of a particular interactive application you can push and pull at the pixels without even touching them. This is real physical 3D.
The resolution currently demonstrated with the straws system is akin to that of an LCD or LED wall tile. These tiles are used in the pro AV markets for large scale festivals and other outdoor events. As the straws systems evolves and scales it will continue to mirror this market, increasing in resolution and reducing in price to a point where it is accessible to the consumer market. Further advancements in the technology will enable the production of a range of straws systems, from the original wall (proposed here) to increasingly complex and infinitely flexible forms such as a spherical or cube version. There is not question as to whether this programmable volumetric technology will happen, it really is a case of who is first and when. Straws we believe is positioned to be the first to realise the potential of this inevitable future.
This project will build on initial tests and the market viability research conducted as part of a SMART Proof of Market project.
Straws
In the last ten years, 3D has risen to the forefront of consumer interaction with technology. In
2010 Avatar became the biggest grossing film of all time. 3D TV in the ordinary home is on
the horizon. Cameras, gaming and even youTube are embracing 3D. Brands, advertisers,
artists and technologists are seeking innovative, immersive consumer experiences from
stereoscopic, holographic, parallax and other 3D and gestural technologies. With a huge
increase in the quality and amount of 3D content produced comes a need for new systems of
display which can meet public expectations for advancement and innovation.
The Straws System is a completely new approach to 3D. A modular display system, it
proposes a new, true 3D display technology. The system is made up of independently
programmable, physically moving colour pixels, which rapidly sink back into the screen or
extrude out of it. Each pixel's colour and position is controlled individually and updated at 60
frames per second (though as the pixels continue to move between frames it can be thought of
as an "analog display"). The display will be able to visualise true 3D depth from moving
images and is designed to be an ideal system for interactive content, integrating depth tracking
technology to enable user responsive interaction for a variety of potential applications
including digital signage, responsive architecture, gaming, education, telecommunications and
many more. The Straws System has the potential to create a paradigm shift in display
technology, bringing creative, cultural and economic benefits.
This project will analyse potential market applications for this technology focusing on three
likely early adopters. These will include Digital Out Of Home Advertising, a growth industry
in the UK. The identified markets will be thoroughly examined and a strategy will be
developed to develop the product for acceptance within these markets, as well as fully
exploiting the markets' potential and minimising risk.