Hasta La Gadget!

It’s a little shocking to think about the impact that Microsoft’s Kinect camera has had on the gaming industry at large, let alone the 3D modeling industry. Here at SIGGRAPH 2011, we attended a KinectFusion research talk hosted by Microsoft, where a fascinating new look at real-time 3D reconstruction was detailed. To better appreciate what’s happening here, we’d actually encourage you to hop back and have a gander at our hands-on with PrimeSense’s raw motion sensing hardware from GDC 2010 — for those who’ve forgotten, that very hardware was finally outed as the guts behind what consumers simply know as “Kinect.” The breakthrough wasn’t in how it allowed gamers to control common software titles sans a joystick — the breakthrough was the price. The Kinect took 3D sensing to the mainstream, and moreover, allowed researchers to pick up a commodity product and go absolutely nuts. Turns out, that’s precisely what a smattering of highly intelligent blokes in the UK have done, and they’ve built a new method for reconstructing 3D scenes (read: real-life) in real-time by using a simple Xbox 360 peripheral.

The actual technobabble ran deep — not shocking given the academic nature of the conference — but the demos shown were nothing short of jaw-dropping. There’s no question that this methodology could be used to spark the next generation of gaming interaction and augmented reality, taking a user’s surroundings and making it a live part of the experience. Moreover, game design could be significantly impacted, with live scenes able to be acted out and stored in real-time rather than having to build something frame by frame within an application. According to the presenter, the tech that’s been created here can “extract surface geometry in real-time,” right down to the millimeter level. Of course, the Kinect’s camera and abilities are relatively limited when it comes to resolution; you won’t be building 1080p scenes with a $150 camera, but as CPUs and GPUs become more powerful, there’s nothing stopping this from scaling with the future. Have a peek at the links below if you’re interested in diving deeper — don’t be shocked if you can’t find the exit, though.

Microsoft’s KinectFusion research project offers real-time 3D reconstruction, wild AR possibilities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The lack of a universal standard for active shutter 3D glasses became painfully clear during our 3D TV shootout last year, and gave plenty of reasons for buyers to skip the pricey specs altogether. Nine months later we see that LG has jumped onto passive 3D and CEA is playing catch up on the IR glasses problem, but many of the new HDTVs for 2011 are using Bluetooth technology to keep their glasses in sync — again without any promise of cross-manufacturer compatibility. A day late and a few dollars short, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and universal glasses maker XpanD are announcing the “Full HD Glasses Initiative” which should lay down a standard for consumer active shutter glasses to communicate over Bluetooth or IR. The new glasses should be backwards compatible with this year’s TVs, although early adopters from 2010 have no such guarantee. The press release (included after the break) indicates we can expect the new models to arrive in 2012, assuming they haven’t lost more ground to the FPR army and can still convince buyers to even look at 3D by then.

Continue reading Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and XpanD finally team up for an active 3D glasses standard

Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and XpanD finally team up for an active 3D glasses standard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in September of last year NVIDIA pledged that the successor to Fermi, Kepler, would arrive in 2011. Since then, things have been rather quiet on the next-gen GPU front. In fact, rumors have started to circulate that the 28nm-based chip would be pushed back to 2012. Turns out those rumblings aren’t entirely inaccurate. While the latest polygon pushing silicon will start being churned out before it’s time to buy a new calendar, final products won’t start shipping until next year, as a company rep told TechSpot. Kepler’s descendent, Maxwell, is still expected to land sometime in either 2013 or 2014, but there’s plenty of time for that timetable to slide back a bit too.

NVIDIA’s Kepler GPU still (kinda, sorta) on schedule for 2011 debut originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is the world’s next showstopping Gingerbread smartphone seriously coming from Huawei? The same company that shocked us all with the S7 Slim tablet (and pulled a similar stunt with the MediaPad) has just taken the wraps off of its newest handset in Beijing, and the curtly-titled Vision offers quite the stat sheet. While it still falls short of Samsung’s Galaxy S II and HTC’s EVO 3D in terms of raw horsepower, it’s still more than capable of holding its own. Within the unibody frame, you’ll find a 3.7-inch capacitive touchpanel, a five megapixel autofocus camera (with LED flash and 720p video recording), 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8255 processor and a 1,400mAh battery.

Moreover, there’s 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of ROM, a microSD slot capable of holding 32GB, and a micro-USB 2.0 socket to boot. Per usual, A-GPS, an FM radio tuner, proximity sensor and light sensor are thrown in, and for those with varying moods, you’ll likely appreciate the availability of silver, gold and charcoal back covers. The chassis measures 9.9 millimeters at its thinnest point while weighing 121 grams, which Huawei curiously points out is “less than a bottle of perfume or aftershave.” We’re told that it’s loaded with a “3D interface,” but given that we’re not hearing anything about a “3D display,” it’s probably little more than spruced-up 2D. We’re still waiting to hear back on a price, but “select markets” can look for it to land in September.

Continue reading Huawei Vision smartphone: Android 2.3, 1GHz CPU, unibody construction

Huawei Vision smartphone: Android 2.3, 1GHz CPU, unibody construction originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still lookin’ for that perfect 3D display, are you? ViewSonic would be absolutely thrilled to make your short list, with the 24-inch V3D245 making its debut this morning. Unsurprisingly, this one’s arriving with a 1080p LED-backlit panel, and it’ll be joined by an inbuilt NVIDIA 3D Vision wireless emitter and a pair of 3D Vision glasses. You’ll also get a 120Hz refresh rate, two millisecond response time, HDMI 1.4 socket and 300 nits of brightness, and the three-year limited warranty should help quell any fears about longevity. Of course, NVIDIA would prefer that focused on the 550 (and growing) 3D titles available on its Vision Live website, but at least you’ve got until “mid-to-late August” to determine if the whole shebang is worth your $499.

Continue reading ViewSonic reveals 24-inch V3D245 3D monitor, ships this month for $500

ViewSonic reveals 24-inch V3D245 3D monitor, ships this month for $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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