Obake Create A 2.5D Display Prototype With Actual Pinch And Zoom
The new Obake elastic 2.5D display is sure to open the eyes of many tech lovers.
With touchscreens being the dominate user interface these days the new Obake prototype display gives a new element of user interaction which standard touchscreens just can’t give us.
As Gizmodo reports, Designed by MIT Media Lab’s Dhairya Dand and Rob Hemsley, Obake is what its creators consider a 2.5D interface. Formed from an elastic screen with an image projected on it from above, the Obake can detect push and pull input with a depth sensing camera and has a series of linear actuators under its surface that can alter the screen’s topography.
Obake’s Vimeo page reads :
Screens as they exist today are flat, 2D and rigid; even the 3D displays we have today are not true 3D – they are optical illusions. We created a 2.5D display that is shape changing with the help of actuators, depth cameras, projector and a silicone screen. ‘Obake’ (o-baa-keh) as we lovingly call it, imagines how we would interact with elastic display. We could literally pinch and pull them!
Create mountains by pulling them out of the screen, draw rivers with your fingers, elevate an entire terrain to see a cut section view. Make your data come alive. The video shows our working prototype.
Hardware built with – Wood, linear actuators, liquid rubber casted into a screen, Kinect, Projector
Software written in – openFrameworks
Dand and Hemsley’s research may influence how we interact with 3D displays in the future!
[vimeo clip_id=”63494095″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]
[Gizmodo, DhairyaDand]
