The era of holodecks approaches!

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Zachstar

I personally feel that the ST way with a way to project "force" and "energy" within a local environment will be more like it. In 2050 or so.

That stuff you posted seems to be a GREAT idea for industry tho. I hope they get that going quickly as just about every industry could benefit from it....

Think about about it this way. You can create a virtual scene out of utility fog that will fool your brain into believe it is real. On top of this, as you wank, the ground under you can simply move so you physically do not change much actual location though it will feel as though you are. Physical objects that you can touch see and feel as a plant or a tree or a road or a house or even other people could be created out of thin air and act in a manner that will fool you into believing it is real.

Energy however? How would that work exactly? You couldn't build a holodeck out of it. Utility fog is already thought of as the means to build a holodeck. It will be reality.

An example:

Utility Fog: The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of is a theoretical building material developed by John Storrs Hall, a pioneer in the field of molecular nanotechnology. Capable of functioning much like Star Trek�s Holodeck, Utility Fog explores the hypothetical possibility of using tiny, self-replicating robots to create a 'material' that can make any desired shape or object tangible. Dr. Hall describes Utility Fog as "a kind of universal substance, programmable matter, that can simulate everything from air to solid rock." In the exhibition, Utility Fog is presented as a video loop that imagines the infinite ways that this remarkable �material� could be used.


John Storrs Hall is the author of Nano-Future: What�s Next for Nanotechnology, chief scientist of Nanorex Inc., Fellow of the Molecular Engineering Research Institute and Research Fellow of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. His research interests include the theory of self-reproducing machines, design of macroscopic machines and molecular manufacturing.

More info because this is how a Holodeck will be made. It is based on energy, but that energy powers the tiny robots that can manipulate reality:

Utility Fog -The Future is Foggy!


Imagine living in Star Trek's holodeck, a three-dimensional space that can simulate virtually anything in the physical world, which responds to your every command and changes to meet your desires and needs at any given moment. It can create your home, your car, or an imaginary space in which you play. It can be a stationary place: your apartment or office, filled with furniture, appliances and tools. You can have it looking like an English manor one moment and an IKEA showroom the next. And if you suddenly feel like riding the Tour de France, it can create a bicycle for you to ride and a winding road in the Pyrenees to ride on.

It'll feel like you're really there, with the wind in your face, the sun in the sky and the pavement under your tires. But in reality, it will just be an elaborate treadmill and this despite the solidity of the illusion. In one sense it will be real, but only insofar as it is composed of trillions of tiny robots that assemble and disassemble in myriad ways, configuring and creating a three-dimensional simulation that occupies physical space and feels close enough to the real thing to fool you. At other times, it will be entirely real, embodying physical objects and spaces that you would use as any other everyday objects.


The technology that will make this possible does not yet exist, but in 1993, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing fellow and Nanorex Inc. founder, J. Storrs Hall designed a hypothetical nanotechnology-based system that may one day provide such functionality. Called Utility Fog, it consists of a swarm of twelve-armed nanobots that link together in a lattice to form "robot crystals" that replicate the physical properties of solid matter (texture, tensile strength, reflectivity, etc.).


A network of such foglets can be used to create a city whose entire landscape may be altered from one moment to the next. Foglet-generated cars can travel on foglet roads that create instant overpasses when vehicles intersect. And if you feel like travelling light, foglets can simulate an air current and, despite traveling in a cocoon of swarming nanobots, you'll feel like you're floating on air.


This potential marvel is not without its limitations and Hall lists several things that utility fog can't do. Unlike Star Trek's replicators it cannot create food or anything else that must be broken down chemically. And it can only simulate air to the touch, but not to the eyes. Therefore, living out your Superman fantasy will require the use of holographic glasses or contact lenses that will hide the visual artifacts left by the fog.



Utility Fog can also make the virtual real. Instead of jacking into a virtual reality simulation for a telepresence system (e.g. through a computer brain interface), an individual can be shrouded in such fog, which can record and instantly transmit his/her actions to a remote location where a fog-based avatar can reproduce such actions in the real world.


It's an amazing future and Hall is working toward making it a reality. His company, Nanorex is developing NanoEngineer-1, an open-source CAD (Computer Aided Design) application that uses a familiar interface that enables mechanical engineers to create models of molecular machines at the nanometer scale and to test them for functionality and structural integrity. This multi-platform toolkit places especial emphasis on structural DNA nanotechnology (which uses DNA molecules to make new materials) and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS. It includes a series of pre-modeled components designed and is designed to help counter any lacunae in theoretical and practical chemical knowledge that mechanical engineers may have.

Starting to see the reality of how it will actually work yet? It is your future Holodeck. The technology is right around the corner. And this one will be real - literally. Though it won't be perfect for some time unless you can get the nanoscale down.

-S

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by Zachstar

You know just to see what PS3's future is I went ahead and had a look around the various forums and blogs about the PS3.

Most are betting their hopes on a new cheaper "Slim" PS3.

The rumored photos show a nice looking console but what do they mean by cheaper?

There is no way the Slim will be cheaper than the original, unless Sony make it a digital download console only, aka no BR drive. Perhaps even dropping the upgradable HDD in favour of a SSD....

However, I wouldn't put this past them, considering they just announced the release of the PSP Go, which for all purposes is an original PSP with no UMD drive, so downloads only.

Sony, have for a long time now wanted to push digital content services and have recently made steps into this era by bringing BR donwloadable movies to the US, partnered with TV channels and recently (due for release June 11th) Vidzone, which brings every music video from Sonys umbrella, Independant studios and live concerts to the PS3's XMB for free, all in 1080p. I'll reserve judgment on Vidzone until I try it but so far it looks good.

Originally Posted by Zachstar

Just going down to 300 USD isn't enough. People don't have that kind of money to blow on just the console. Granted it is quite easy to do the same with a 360 but that is only if you are in a situation where you need to such as I and wireless as opposed to a well hidden ethernet cord.

250 USD needs to be the target. As that is low enough for someone to purchase a single quality game with. Or 300USD with the stuff needed for that moton control system. I will break and purchase the PS3 at that price.

Here we agree. The PS3 needs a price drop. Perhaps when/if the Slim gets released, dunno.

Although, price is always a tricky thing between consoles, especially on release. For example, I laid down £625 (approx $900) to get my PS3 on release day but I did the math between both the PS3 and 360. To get a 360 that met the PS3 standard I would have had to pay an additional £180, just for the Wireless Adaptor and HDD upgrade (M$ specific/branded naturally), there was also the fact that the 360 couldn't output to 1080p at the time and ontop of that I would have needed an annual subscription. The BR vs HDVD battle was still being decided then, so that didn't come into the decision. Glad BR won though. I accept that due to 360 price drops this is not the case now but even bringing the 360 to the PS3's default status will pump up the price to PS3 money.

When it comes to consoles, as with PC's, you need to decide based on what you require.

[Zachstar]

BD roms are not all that expensive anymore.

Matter of fact I saw an article that said that due to a recent change in the manufacturing of the diodes involved. The cost pre licence costs is dropping below 50USD a unit.

Its how they deal with the cell and RSX that will determine if they can drop it to a level that can compete with the 360.

Subman it is a possibility but it just seems more like something that happens in the 2100s. Besides there is lots of worries about nanomachines and ethics.

[CaptainHaplo]

Be smart - buy a PC - tweak it out will all the goodies - hook it up to your bigscreen in your living room - and play any game you want..... PS, 360, Nintendo, whatever.

Its called emulation - and it works great. Only issue with it really is I don't think they have one for N's Wii yet because of the different style of control input. Could be wrong. I don't stay on top of the emulation scene.

But do it wit an emulator, and you can run just about everything - with more than enough horsepower to spare. Just buy the game - don't worry about the platform.

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

Be smart - buy a PC - tweak it out will all the goodies - hook it up to your bigscreen in your living room - and play any game you want..... PS, 360, Nintendo, whatever.

Its called emulation - and it works great. Only issue with it really is I don't think they have one for N's Wii yet because of the different style of control input. Could be wrong. I don't stay on top of the emulation scene.

But do it wit an emulator, and you can run just about everything - with more than enough horsepower to spare. Just buy the game - don't worry about the platform.

That has to be the funniest POS I've read all day.

Prepare to be dumbfounded by stats and then tell me how a PC CPU can handle PS3 emulation considering the only way to emulate a PS3 BR game is by mimicking it's BIOS.

There are eight SPE's (Synergistic Processor Elements) - each of them is as powerful as a stand alone single core pentium P.C. - with one very large difference - they are vector processors, which allows them to do the work of a GPU as well. This is deliberate as the CELL was designed primarily for handling floating point calculations in order to produce HD graphics. Each SPE is also (clearly) capable of handling all the other types of calculations that are required.

In the PS3 CELL - 7 are active and one is redundant (Because they use a GPU).

6 SPE's are used for calculation - 1 is reserved for handling network traffic. That is the normal configuration - but all of that can be changed through software.

The 7 SPE's are assigned packets of work from the PPE - which is a 64 bit Power mac chip (basically). Its job is to split all Data down into individual packets and assign them to different SPE's who all work on them AT ONCE.

The GPU is also assigned DATA packages from the PPE (usually after an SPE has done something to it) - but as the program runs on each tick of the system's clock the GPU is working at the same time as the CELL - affectively the GPU is another SPE - so there are your eight again!!

The MAJOR difference (other than the huge throughput of the system) is that the PS3 is a parallel processing system - a system that does multiple tasks at the same time. The Xbox360 and most P.C's (unless they have been configured and programmed differently - so NOT Windows) are sequential.

The CELL IS capable of 2.2 Tetraflops of Floating point calculations a second. When programmed to do one task sequentially it can kick out 256Gb/sec throughput.

Considering that you can pick up a PS3 now for about 240 pounds - that is extremely impressive. Just try and figure out how much you would have to spend on a P.C to get anywhere near that kind of performance. And then remember that even if the P.C. is capable of close to that performance - if it is a sequential system the PS3 will kick its ass all day long...

I have bolded the killer line. There is currently no PC configuration that comes close to the processing power of the PS3. Perhaps in 5-10yrs you may get a PS3 emulator.

[stabiz]

If its so strong ... a real shame its being wasted on all the silly games.

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by stabiz

If its so strong ... a real shame its being wasted on all the silly games.

Indeed.

However, one thing that goes against the PS3 is it's coding. Developers are finding it very hard to code their games for the PS3. Even with reduced SDK's and direct help/support from Sony, studios are reluctant to move form the easier 360.

That said, this happened last time around with the PS2. Now, this console is still outselling every other globally. The PS3 will catch up.

Also, unfortunately, as studios still perceive the PS3 as a home console and the mentality that comes with this, no serious titles have been developed yet.

Although, MAG, Ruse and GT5 are going to come close. I just wish that they would move away from the idea that console users only want a quick & fast fix with no depth.

[Zachstar]

If it drops to the 200 or 250 price range THEN it MAY have a chance to catch up. And only because its a reasonable blu ray player.

At 300 or more USD it remains out of reach for a great many people while 360s will start to sell like hotcakes with just a few changes.

#1 Halving the price of the HD and Wifi units.
#2 Keeping project Natal under 200 USD and insuring that lots of developers use the technology.

That is nowhere near as difficult as Sony's position. Where its ONLY advantage will come from being a good cheap blu ray player and potential game console. I say potential because many gamers have gone for the 360 and many movie folks have gone for the PS3 which is a bad situation for sony because that means even less games and assesories sold. Also this new sensor system has to be out in 2009 to have any chance of competing with Natal.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Wait till the Porn industry gets this figured out. !

With Force Feedback. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Zachstar]

Why does it always have to end up about the porn Industry.

The porn industry brought VHS to the masses. It will do the same for holodecks rooms or whatever. Who cares? Personally I am more excited about being able to take the controls of an X-15 holosimulation than having sex with force/energy projectors or nanobots. You?

Tho I will admit the latter will likely mean the end of civilization as every nerd can act out his/her fantasies.. OH THE HORROR!

[Zachstar]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/j...project-natal/

They set up the test unit on the Jimmy Fallon show and it worked well! Now before you go nuts about the red jumpsuits. Those were just a precaution as apparently they never tried it in a studio full of hot lights belching IR and a bunch of people behind it before. And after filming they played with it without the jumpsuits and it worked fine.

Of course that little tidbit of info is not stopping the Sony fanboys DESPERATE to discredit Natal.

[karamazovnew]

I really can't see that Fog thing happening this century. The computing power required for it is astronomical. Don't be fooled by the techological advance of the last 20 years. We're still using transistors and we've hit the end of the line. My current PC is 500 times faster than the one I had 10 years ago. But in 10 years, i'll be glad to have a pc 5 times faster. And there are many medical implications. What happens if you breathe in the fog?

The motion tracking system is nice buuuut:
1: how would we play Silent Hunter without a mouse?! we already have voice commands but how do you plot on tha map?
2: why flap my arms in the air like an idiot instead of using my current Steering Wheel in driving sims?
3: Try lifting your arms as if you're using a flight yoke and keep them up for say 4 hours....
4: let's say i'm playing a boxing game. I hit my opponent's guard and the 3d model stops there. But my real arm moves onward and a desync occures.
5: with no depth perception there is no way you can hit a virtual tenis ball, you can see that in Sony's demo. The Wii went as far as one can achieve.

Even Enterprise's holodeck is silly. What if I want to throw myself from a cliff and pop a parachute? The only way I see virtual reality happening is with a head device that acts directly on your brain and makes you hallucinate. The bonus on that is that you'd move by imagining that you move. And it has already been discovered that "mental" exercising actually fools the body so well that you can gain muscle mass by imagining that you lift weights. But again... not in this century.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by karamazovnew

And it has already been discovered that "mental" exercising actually fools the body so well that you can gain muscle mass by imagining that you lift weights.

*walks infront of a mirror*

"Get up... geeet up.... GET UP!!!"

*walks back*

It doesnt work.