Looking Glass Portrait – Holographic Display(lookingglassfactory.com)
lookingglassfactory.com
Looking Glass Portrait – Holographic Display
https://lookingglassfactory.com/portrait
54 comments
What could this be useful for?
Games, 3d modeling, novel UI - better than 1080p resolution and 60hz refresh means the experience could actually be good, and not feel like a cheap hacky "pepper's ghost" type trick.
That price feels right, and the product is pretty damn cool, imo.
That price feels right, and the product is pretty damn cool, imo.
3D modeling and novel UI implies there's a new way to interact with the content on the display. Aside from the shallow depth effect, the input is still perfectly 2D. You can't touch and manipulate a 3D object here any more than you can on a tablet.
The fact there's no killer app here and potential uses fall flat upon closer inspection will likely mean this technology has more of a future at entertainment venues, maybe museums, I don't know. But not as personal mainstream devices.
The fact there's no killer app here and potential uses fall flat upon closer inspection will likely mean this technology has more of a future at entertainment venues, maybe museums, I don't know. But not as personal mainstream devices.
This doesn't have better than 1080p res does it? I didn't see mention of a refresh rate anywhere either but the screen this uses is 2048 x 1536 and it purports 100 views so the actual image resolution is likely on the order of 200 x 150. I imagine it feels a bit better than that since you're seeing multiple images. Also note that the hologram only appears 3D in one plane, if you move above or below the plane the illusion is lost (correct me if I'm wrong on that I haven't seen one in person). It's not useful in this form, but lenticular displays are neat and I might try and build one sometime.
The Portrait is the smallest one they make. There's also a 15" version with 4k inputs for $3,000 and a 32-inch version without a listed price.
The illusion doesn't have multiple vertical layers, but it still looks 3D if you are off-angle. You just see the same image(s) up there that you would if you bent down. Turning your head flattens the image though.
The illusion doesn't have multiple vertical layers, but it still looks 3D if you are off-angle. You just see the same image(s) up there that you would if you bent down. Turning your head flattens the image though.
I would like this as a digital photo frame on my desk. If the portrait mode conversion works as well as I hope.
Product display, art display, companion to a 3D modellor.
But, most important, this is very interesting future tech, which means it is prime HN material even if we cannot find a good use for it.
But, most important, this is very interesting future tech, which means it is prime HN material even if we cannot find a good use for it.
Art?
3d pr0n for sure!
Recently received the new Portrait version and was amazed by how much lighter it is compared to the original horizontal one that looked more like a glass case.
I was pretty excited by this, so I went to pre-order. On the add-ons page, there are some nice additions like a leap motion controller. But there's also this:
Instead of excited I'm now disillusioned and irritated.
Imagine Adobe tried to charge you every time you converted an image format in photoshop. Is the conversion process so complex that you need to upload a sample image to their servers or something? Why on earth can't I do that locally as many times as I like? It totally stymies experimentation.
2D-to-3D Conversion: 1000 Credits
Convert 2D images into 3D depth images for holographic display.
+$150.00
2D-to-3D Conversion: 100 Credits
Convert 2D images into 3D depth images for holographic display.
+$20.00
Instead of excited I'm now disillusioned and irritated.
Imagine Adobe tried to charge you every time you converted an image format in photoshop. Is the conversion process so complex that you need to upload a sample image to their servers or something? Why on earth can't I do that locally as many times as I like? It totally stymies experimentation.
There's a bit more info about the process here: https://lookingglassfactory.com/3d-photos
It is a cloud-based service, Owl3D. They use AI to deduce depth info from photos. You can subscribe to Owl3D directly, for $8 a month, and get 300 uploads per day for that (so, 9,000 a month for $8, vs 20 for $100 Looking Glass). I don't know if that direct Owl3D subscription can take advantage of depth info though: https://www.owl3d.ai/faqs
It is a cloud-based service, Owl3D. They use AI to deduce depth info from photos. You can subscribe to Owl3D directly, for $8 a month, and get 300 uploads per day for that (so, 9,000 a month for $8, vs 20 for $100 Looking Glass). I don't know if that direct Owl3D subscription can take advantage of depth info though: https://www.owl3d.ai/faqs
This is only for converting 2d photos to 3d. If you have photos shot using portrait mode on Iphone/Galaxy/Pixel, they have a local tool that extracts depth info. AFAICT that is free, although it requires at least a GTX1650 for some reason.
The iPhone captures depth when you take the photo. So the data just needs to be extracted, not generated from scratch.
Yeah that's why I can't understand why they need a dedicated GPU.
See jaywalk's reply to you from earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27982727
It sounds like the discrete GPU is only needed for specific things which seem like they could reasonably need a discrete GPU
(We're both talking about the "Minimum Requirements" section on https://lookingglassfactory.com/product/portrait, in the bottom right of the page below the big blue buy button)
It sounds like the discrete GPU is only needed for specific things which seem like they could reasonably need a discrete GPU
(We're both talking about the "Minimum Requirements" section on https://lookingglassfactory.com/product/portrait, in the bottom right of the page below the big blue buy button)
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From the Minimum Requirements on the product page:
HoloPlay Studio works with PC and Mac.
To import, edit, process and convert depth photos, videos, and other holographic media, almost all PCs and Macs with HDMI and USB-C will work.
To run and create heavier-duty interactive applications with Unity or Unreal, we recommend a PC with a GTX 1650 or equivalent, CPU with Intel i5 or higher, and at least 8GB of RAM.
HoloPlay Studio works with PC and Mac.
To import, edit, process and convert depth photos, videos, and other holographic media, almost all PCs and Macs with HDMI and USB-C will work.
To run and create heavier-duty interactive applications with Unity or Unreal, we recommend a PC with a GTX 1650 or equivalent, CPU with Intel i5 or higher, and at least 8GB of RAM.
I bet it's a NN that they've trained to make their image quilts based on photos and it may be hard to ship to the end user. That being said SaaS is a cancer upon humanity.
> it may be hard to ship to the end user
just upload it to some publicly accessible website? It doesn't look that hard.
just upload it to some publicly accessible website? It doesn't look that hard.
Ship in this case doesn't mean "deliver an asset" but rather "deliver a user experience", nailing the latter consistently is non trivial. I do think people making SaaS products start by wanting to charge rent and then work backwards from there to a justification most of the time.
I mean, it's a 3D display. You need 3D things to use it. This is just a convenient service for converting your own 2D images.
You can always bring your own 3D models/videos/etc into it, you don't need to pay them to do that. I personally don't see anything wrong with this.
You can always bring your own 3D models/videos/etc into it, you don't need to pay them to do that. I personally don't see anything wrong with this.
There's no mention anywhere on their product page that you'll need to pay additional fees to convert 2d images to 3d to display them, or that you can perform this service yourself with a bit less convenience (which I'd be perfectly happy with).
They make the types of things that can be displayed on it pretty clear on their “Use Cases” page, IMO. I would not expect a 2D image to inherently show up on a 3D display; otherwise, what would the point be?
Maybe your mindset is more indicative of the general population, but I do think most people understand that 3D holograms and 2D photos are different and would not expect a photo to suddenly have 3D properties on the display as if by magic (perhaps that is hoping too much though).
Maybe your mindset is more indicative of the general population, but I do think most people understand that 3D holograms and 2D photos are different and would not expect a photo to suddenly have 3D properties on the display as if by magic (perhaps that is hoping too much though).
I don't have the expectation that putting 2D photos onto a 3D would magically work. I expect to need to convert them (it's a bit much to assume that I would think otherwise).
I don't expect to have to buy credits to convert them. There's no mention that I need to, until you get to the extras page when you go to purchase. That changes the entire set of assumptions I had (from "I can play with this and use it to explore whatever I find interesting", to "I have to pay to use it in a way they dictate").
Since then I've found that you probably don't need to do that. But that's not the impression that 'extra' gives. They don't mention anywhere that you don't need the credits to do the conversion.
I don't expect to have to buy credits to convert them. There's no mention that I need to, until you get to the extras page when you go to purchase. That changes the entire set of assumptions I had (from "I can play with this and use it to explore whatever I find interesting", to "I have to pay to use it in a way they dictate").
Since then I've found that you probably don't need to do that. But that's not the impression that 'extra' gives. They don't mention anywhere that you don't need the credits to do the conversion.
I think our difference is that you expected to be able to use 2D photos on this device at all. There is no third-dimensional information in a photo and to me it is amazing that there is a way to make them 3D. I never had the same thought you did because if something was not already 3D I would not have thought I could use it with this anyway. Perhaps this is why I am not bothered by them charging for the feature.
You can make your own 2D->3D conversion they’re charging to use their service to do it.
Anyone know what the SDK is like for this, especially for C++?
I'd grab one immediately to play around with, if (and only if) it's dev friendly.
I'd grab one immediately to play around with, if (and only if) it's dev friendly.
They have unity, blender, and unreal sdks available. Also a sdk for custom integrations.
https://lookingglassfactory.com/software
https://lookingglassfactory.com/software
Is this a hoax or for real?
It's real and quite trivial to DIY a shitty version. http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~mhirsch/byo3d/tutorial/lenticul...
Nice link, thanks!
It's real. Linus Tech Tips did a video about it yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTrfMHaI3Dk
I have an earlier version from this company and it's real.
bought during the crowdfunding and they delivered...
hardware was great but the software was a useless mess and I donated them.
once again, hardware folks trying to design software, is like fish trying to design bicycles.
(so many basic things wrong including proprietary software, lack of cross-platform support, etc etc etc, I didn't even bother trying to catalog them all)
(what did I expect? oh, I dunno... in 2021... WebGL and three.js and a bunch of flat file HTML demos that work right in major browsers on a raspberry pi, mac or pc laptop...)
hardware was great but the software was a useless mess and I donated them.
once again, hardware folks trying to design software, is like fish trying to design bicycles.
(so many basic things wrong including proprietary software, lack of cross-platform support, etc etc etc, I didn't even bother trying to catalog them all)
(what did I expect? oh, I dunno... in 2021... WebGL and three.js and a bunch of flat file HTML demos that work right in major browsers on a raspberry pi, mac or pc laptop...)
Why is HN spammed with looking glass auto stereoscopic (NOT holographic) spam since 2 weeks? Am I the only one annoyed by this?
Technically not holographic, but still a significant upgrade over autostereoscopic - there are way more views than 2, all without tracking, for multiple simultaneous viewers.
Autostereoscopic can be multiview. I’ve worked with 9 and 25 viewpoints, (on which you could also add eye tracking) without anything tracking, you could move left and right and still get some volume effect. Its repeating and somewhat limited but basically its the same thing here. More viewpoints, less resolution, better angular projection.
Because they shipped to a bunch of backers of their kickstarter over they last two weeks and people are excited?
I got one during the crowd funding campaign and received it a few months ago.
Played with it for an hour or two. It now sits unplugged on my desk. It’s too distracting to be always on, and too limited to turn on occasionally. I’m just not sure what to do with this thing.
Played with it for an hour or two. It now sits unplugged on my desk. It’s too distracting to be always on, and too limited to turn on occasionally. I’m just not sure what to do with this thing.
I get where you're coming from. Having said that my in-laws have an electronic photo frame that requires an actual monthly subscription (for mobile connectivity) which they have switched on permanently and seem to enjoy - we can send them new photos online. So I guess some people would love a 3D version of that.
What’s the frame? Asking because it could make a good NFT display
Pretty sure it's this one: https://www.au.com/mobile/charge/photoframe/photo-u2/ According to the notice on the page, it looks like they're dropping the CDMA service it relies on next year!
Oh sweet. Sorry if that’s nosy but is your family Japanese? Otherwise I’m surprised they could use this! Looks great
Displaying an NFT was my thought for it too. Gas fees were high at the time and so I never did anything there either.
I think you're supposed to ~~look into the future~~.
What is holographic about this? Can it display images at multiple depths?
Each of your two eyes only sees a 2d image, and your brain combining this information is what gives you depth. I'd say it's holographic in that each eye receives different information and you perceive depth when looking into it.
If you're asking whether you can see multiple translucent layers, like a hologram from a movie or tv show, then I'd also say yes. But I'd warn that there's a 58 degree viewing angle in front that you can see the images from. You can't look at the sides (or back!) of the display and see anything, for that matter.
If you're asking whether you can see multiple translucent layers, like a hologram from a movie or tv show, then I'd also say yes. But I'd warn that there's a 58 degree viewing angle in front that you can see the images from. You can't look at the sides (or back!) of the display and see anything, for that matter.
Was a backer and just got one and I am pretty impressed. It works as an external monitor so it seems quite easy to use. You plug in a USB-C (for power) and an HDMI and you are ready to go ... worked as a display for my linux and mac machine. Tried some unity demos and they worked like a charm. Will update you on how easy the programming is.
Super impressed. If you have some questions, ask I might able to try things tomorrow. Also ideas for projects welcome ...
we have some EDA and heartrate wristbands, so I first thought about displaying a pumping heart in sync with mine.
Super impressed. If you have some questions, ask I might able to try things tomorrow. Also ideas for projects welcome ...
we have some EDA and heartrate wristbands, so I first thought about displaying a pumping heart in sync with mine.
The astronaut in the looking glass in the main image is clearly not the same one as shown on the mac unity window.
Surprisingly inexpensive.