According to Moore’s Law, “since the invention of the integrated circuit [...] the number of transistors [...] placed on an integrated circuit [is] doubling approximately every two years.” (Moore’s Law, 2009) This means that we only have about ten to twenty years before we reach fundamental limits of miniaturization at an atomic level. With the computers getting smaller, the demand for big and bulky input devices with decrease, raising the importance of holographic and laser input devices. We have laser keyboards already.
I called my technology that will take on the role of a graphic tablet in 2059 a Digital Immersion Module or DIM. It is a device consisting of two parts: wearable part, a glove (Manipulator) and a cylindrical object, no more than 3 inches in radius, the H-Projector with unlimited power supply. This device can be used by anyone. DIM will allow creative people to create and manipulate high complexity holographic objects in real time in real world, at the same time making them tangible and realistic, as they can inherit the qualities and properties of other objects. When operating the DIM, the user will have the access to various pallets for adjusting object’s properties in a similar way a painter is holding his tablet. In more places the DIM is used, the richer are its pallets and object properties tables get, as it learns from things surrounding the work area. After the initial creation and a small rendering process are complete, the object is ready for display or further animation.
One of the milestones in developing of DIM was the inspiration of a little girl Sati from a movie Matrix: Revolution, released in 2003. She was able to paint colourful sky scenery at the end of the movie. This and many similar examples continue to inspire artists to create beautiful virtual worlds, where people would escape simply because it is so unlike the reality. So the mission is to bring those people back to reality. Another key element that played in favour of development of the DIM was the continuous price drop on Wacom products after the year of 2009, which resulted in the technology of graphic tablets being available to everyone. Yet, it still stays within the interest of a small group of people, who mainly interested in design, painting and engineering. In 2015 Wacom Co., Ltd. is on the brink of bankruptcy. The next year, the merge of funds with Holomaniac Ltd. saves both companies from the bankruptcy and results in the creation of a new company Holocom Ltd. For the next fifteen years Holocom is not known for providing any products to the consumer market, it is also notable that the source of their research funds is unknown as well. In 2020, another well-known company, Fujitsu Inc., starts developing hologram displayers, based on the laser technology. Half a decade later, the market is flooded with cheap 3D image displayers. In 2031, Holocom shakes the world’s market with its revolutionary advancement in holographics and introduces its first product the Enchanter. Enchanter was a little add-on device to be mounted to the existing hologram generators in order to make holograms more realistic. After tremendous sales, in less than two years Holocom is able to buy out the developer of those hologram generators, Fujitsu Inc. The next two decades Holocom spends developing its product in secret, trying to bring virtual world into reality. Digital Immersion Module sweeps into the market in 2059.
As it always happens, people manage to get Alpha, Beta versions way before the product is released. Five years prior to the release of DIM, a group of young enthusiasts get their hands on a Beta version of DIM. They call themselves digital punks and with minor modifications to the DIM start their digital legacy. Like cyber punks, digital punk is an underground society with a set their goal to open general public’s eyes at the beauty of the virtual creations. They set their mission to bring the most beautiful peaces created digitally inside the virtual worlds into the reality, and with DIM’s unlimited power supply they will make sure that their monuments will stand for ages to come.
I have based the future concept of my technology on couple of things. The main concepts are taken from two science fiction movies, a Visual Scrubbing technology from The Minority Report and a holographic transmitter from the Star Wars. In the Minority Report, the protagonist operates a video with a special glove, being able to resize, rotate and transform images in real time. In the Star Wars, the holographic transmitter is used as a communication device that transmits person’s voice and his/her image. The current trend in the development of laser input devises is such that soon enough we may not need any input devices at all, special systems will be in place to recognise eye movement. However, holograms are something different, seeing them we apprehend them as real, which they are not. The objects shown are frozen and lifeless and the latest developments are dedicated to making these images tangible and dynamic. (Three-Dimensional Holographic Imaging, 2002) Considering all these aspects, I have imagined that the graphic tablet itself will eventually cease to exist, but the idea of digital manipulation it will carry on through years.
References.
Moore’s Law. (April 4, 2009.). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law
Three-Dimensional Holographic Imaging. (2002.). In C. J. Kuo, M. H. Tsai. (Eds.), Tangible, Dynamic Holographic Images, (pp 77-98).
doi: 10.1002/0471224545.ch5
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