Thursday, April 8, 2010

3D video from 2D video

Augmented Reality and Google <span class=SketchUp" style="border: medium none ; display: block;">Image by WangXiang via Flickr

This is one of those blog posts that seem to have nothing really to do with teaching with Technology... but if you think about it --- it just might have some implications after all.

With the release of Avatar and other 3D Movies there has been a bit of a revival in the 3D in all it's guises. This is nothing new to our students who have been playing 3D games from Castle Wolfenstein to Virtual worlds, in fact they are probably wondering why it hasn't hit cinemas sooner.

I often demonstrate Google sketchup using an eBeam interactive whiteboard system to show teachers that it doesn't have to be just 2D. Edu-Sim is another great white boarding program that works in a 3D environment.

Augmented reality is also coming into it's own with cereal packs containing card that your computer (with web cam) reads and then displays as a 3D image on your screen. Even my iPhone has a bevvy of apps that augment the real world it sees through its' camera.

All of this is getting the digital content into the real world... how do we get real world 3D objects into the computer as 3D objects? The hard way is through modeling, using complex software to draw the object in 3D vectors and planes. It is tedious and can be difficult to get right.

A group of students and teachers from Adelaide University have developed a way to get 3D information out of 2D video. The proof of concept video is amazing, and they are looking for beta testers. So if you have some students who are champing at the bit to try some bleeding edge technology, this just might get them excited. http://punchcard.com.au/wordpress/




1 comment:

Mrs. Tenkely said...

Now that is pretty darn cool! It is times like these that I wish I taught older students. I don't think my 8 year olds are quite here....although, I have a few who would probably surprise me. Maybe I will put the bug in their ear :)