An interactive
swarm of flying 3D pixels (voxels) developed at Queen's University's Human
Media Lab is set to revolutionize the way people interact with virtual reality.
The system, called BitDrones, allows users to explore virtual 3D information by
interacting with physical self-levitating building blocks. BitDrones is the
first step towards creating interactive self-levitating programmable matter --
materials capable of changing their 3D shape in a programmable fashion -- using
swarms of nano quadcopters. The work highlights many possible applications for
the new technology, including real-reality 3D modeling, gaming, molecular
modeling, medical imaging, robotics and online information visualization.
Researchers at
the Human Media Lab created three types of BitDrones, each representing
self-levitating displays of distinct resolutions. PixelDrones are equipped with
one LED and a small dot matrix display. ShapeDrones are augmented with a
light-weight mesh and a 3D printed geometric frame, and serve as building
blocks for complex 3D models. DisplayDrones are fitted with a curved flexible
high resolution touchscreen, a forward-facing video camera and Android
smartphone board. All three BitDrone types are equipped with reflective
markers, allowing them to be individually tracked and positioned in real time
via motion capture technology. The system also tracks the user's hand motion
and touch.
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