Friday, February 8, 2013
“Help me Obi-Wan. You're my only hope”
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| Back in 1977 stand alone holographic projections were just a dream. But now a company called iO2 Technology has turned that dream into a reality with their new "Mid-Air" holographic projector. |
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Did "Star Trek's" Communicator (left) inspire the design
of 1996's StarTACflip-phone? If not, then it's a pretty damn big coincidence. |
Next came the Tricorder, another “Star Trek” invention, which was a hand-held device used by the crew of the good starship Enterprise that was part computer, part scanner and part data recorder. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you now, you must not use a smart phone. There is even a free App for Android phones called “Tricorder” which uses your phone's real sensors to detect magnetic and gravitation fields and shows you environmental and geographic information. Add the multi-mega-pixel video and still camera on most models and a good sound-recording app and you’ve got a device that would even make Mr. Spock raise an eyebrow and utter “fascinating.”
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| It's obvious that Steve Jobs was a closeted "Star Trek" fan. How else to you explain how similar the iPad (left) looks to the PADD devices from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (center) and "Star Trek" the original series? |
But in my lifetime, I’d never thought I’d see any of the technology from the original “Star Wars” trilogy make it into the real world. After all, “Star Wars” was really more science fantasy than science-fiction, with space knights and laser swords and all that.
But the aforementioned e-mail proved me wrong.
Among the approximately 25 trouble tickets, 15 network traffic notifications and a dozen or so other business-related e-mails in my work inbox that morning was a message with this this subject line: “Help me Obi-Wan. You're my only hope.”
Naturally I was intrigued by the subject line, and since I recognized the sender, I opened the message immediately. Inside was a link to a company called i02 Technology, which appears to have a research and development division in a galaxy far, far away, because the link directed me to a page featuring the firm’s latest product under development: a “free-space” holographic projector that can be used “for full-size telepresence.”
If you are wondering what all that techno babble means, take a look at this clip from “The Empire Strikes Back” and you’ll get the idea.
According to the i02 Technology website, their new holographic projector “can be used under normal lighting conditions” and allows users to “reach out and truly grab, walk through, and engage real-time projections. IO2 systems allow life-size people to be displayed in free-space, and larger systems for greater sense of immersion.”
But what I really want to know is if they can shrink it down and integrate it into what should be their next obvious product, the Astromech droid. After all, you never know when you’re going to have to send an emergency message to a retired space knight after you’ve stolen the plans to some monstrous battle station.Even without an R2 unit, I’m anxious to see if this technology catches on and becomes affordable for the everyday person. If it does, then it means today’s video conferences will become as passé as making music mix tapes to play on your Walkman.
Just think, in a few years’ time, instead of your boss – or evil Sith Lord (who in some cases may be one-in-the-same) – video chatting with you to make sure you haven’t screwed up the plans for galaxy-wide conquest, you can behold his or her giant maleficent presence as if they were in the same room with you.
Which makes me think I should start practicing kneeling and humbly asking “What is thy bidding, my master?” right now.
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