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Tag: Disney research

  • Disney Research Makes 3D Models From 2D Photographs

    Disney Research Makes 3D Models From 2D Photographs

    Photographs are a lovely way to remember that trip to the beach. It would be even lovelier if we could make a physical model to remember that trip by. You may soon be able to thanks to Disney Research.

    The Zurich branch of Disney Research has revealed an algorithm that allows it to take multiple 2D photographs and convert them into a single 3D model. Before this, people would use lasers to capture 3D scans of the environment as the processing power required to render multiple high resolution photographs into a single 3D model was just not possible. With this new algorithm, Disney’s researchers were able to render a model using 100 21-megapixel images.

    As you can probably guess, this research could lead to the creation of high resolution 3D printed recreations of 2D photos. Some have already dabbled in the field of converting photos into 3D printed models, but Disney’s research could prove to be the most effective tool yet at creating 3D models of various environments.

    Of course, 3D printing isn’t the only technology that will benefit from this. Disney Research says that its algorithm will be used in movies and video games. Both are increasingly relying on 3D models for their environments and Disney’s new research will allow them to cheaply create high resolution 3D models based on real world photographs.

    If you want to know more about Disney’s 3D model research, you can read more about it here.

  • Disney’s New Tech Will One Day Let You Feel Holograms

    Holograms have remained firmly in the realm of sci-fi for years. It was only recently that scientists have been able to crudely replicate what we’ve been seeing in film for over 60 years. Now researchers at Disney have made another breakthrough in technology that lets you feel holograms.

    Disney Research recently announced a new project called AIREAL – a technology that allows the user to “feel” a virtual object. Here’s how Disney describes it:

    AIREAL is designed to use a vortex, a ring of air that can travel large distances while keeping its shape and speed. When the vortex hits a user’s skin, the low pressure system inside a vortex collapses and imparts a force the user can feel. The AIREAL technology is almost entirely 3D printed using a 3D printed enclosure, flexible nozzle and a pan and tilt gimbal structure capable of a 75-degree targeting field. Five actuators are mounted around the enclosure which displaces air from the enclosed volume, through the flexible nozzle and into the physical environment. The actuated flexible nozzle allows a vortex to be precisely delivered to any location in 3D space.

    One of the more interesting things about AIREAL is that it’s actually pretty cheap to make. Most of the components are made on a 3D printer so the researchers at Disney can instantly prototype at their lab instead of having the parts made somewhere else.

    As for uses, Disney sees AIREAL playing a role in its continued research into “large-scale computer augmented environments.” In other words, you might see the technology show up in an attraction at Disney World or Disneyland. It also sees the technology playing a role in the future of “gaming and story telling, mobile interfaces and gesture control.”

    If you want to see more about AIREAL, check out Disney’s research paper on the technology. You can also check out a video demo of the technology below:

    [h/t: 3ders]

  • Disney Lays The Foundation For An Army Of Robot Clowns

    What’s the scariest thing in the world today? Did a clown immediately pop into your head? Congratulations, you have a completely rational fear. That being said, a killer robot may have been your first choice. Even then, that’s also a completely rational fear. What would happen if you combined the two though?

    The folks at Disney Research apparently never learned to leave well enough alone. The Pittsburgh branch have invented a humanoid robot that can play catch and juggle. It’s the latter function that you should fear the most as robots are now learning the art of clowning. A robot clown is a special kind of fear that I hoped humanity would never witness.

    The robot can’t juggle by itself at the moment as it requires a human partner to exchange balls with. It’s only a matter of time, however, before this nightmarish machine will be donning clown makeup and juggling spiked balls of death. The robot ability to play catch only makes it more dangerous as it would be able to strike down puny humans from a distance.

    Regardless of my own rational fears of robots and clowns, this is actually pretty amazing technology. The human participants subconsciously react to the body language of the robot as if it were a real person. It won’t be long before robots are just another part of human society. Let’s just hope they don’t become killer clowns.

  • Disney Uses 3D Printers In Unexpectedly Awesome Ways

    Disney Uses 3D Printers In Unexpectedly Awesome Ways

    There are numerous proponents of 3D printing, but the really innovative movements are coming from small start ups. A lot of large companies use 3D printing in traditional methods such as rapid prototyping, but one large company is showing how innovation is done.

    Disney and the company’s research facility in Pittsburgh are creating something pretty extraordinary with 3D printers. They call it “printed optics” and it fits into their future of electronics that are created on the spot to fit the immediate needs of the situation. Here’s their description:

    Printed Optics is a new approach to creating custom optical elements for interactive devices using 3D printing. Printed Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to be directly embedded in the body of an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sensors, and robust embedded components can be digitally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, customized interactive devices.

    The team at Disney Research has also put together a short video that shows the potential for printed optics:

    The majority of the work done here isn’t thanks to 3D printers. Most of it is the amazing engineers at Disney who keep on dreaming up these kind of technologies. 3D printers do, however, serve the ever important purpose of rapid prototyping. Without 3D printers, the research into printed optics would move along at a painfully slow pace as they waited for a skilled manufacturer to create the optics for them.

    Disney may not have created the most elaborate 3D printing projects, but they are definitely working on one of the coolest. I can’t wait to see where it goes in the future.

    You can read more on Disney’s research here.