Content creation for Mixed-Reality Particle Based Display Exhibitions

诸如《星球大战》或《复仇者联盟》等科幻电影描绘了体积系统的视觉，在这个系统中，角色不仅可以看到漂浮在半空中的3D内容，而且他们还可以感觉和听到它，用他们的裸眼、耳朵和手与它互动，就像他们对周围任何其他真实物体所做的那样。目前的显示方法，如VR，允许我们一瞥这种体验，但用户需要戴上耳机和其他设备，如VR控制器或数据手套。这些设备产生视觉、触觉和听觉刺激，欺骗我们的大脑相信我们所看到的内容是真实的。基于粒子的显示器(PBD)不是创造错觉，而是采用一种更接近科幻小说中的视觉的方法，直接控制现实世界中的物质来创造我们可以直接看到、听到和触摸的内容。PBD系统利用超声波捕捉和移动半空中的小颗粒。通过在3D空间中快速移动和着色这些粒子，PBD系统可以创建肉眼可见的彩色体积形状。在这个为期3年的项目中，我们的艺术家和研究人员团队将利用PBD在英国和上海创造公共艺术装置，展示沉浸式混合现实装置，其中虚拟内容(由PBD创建)和真实内容(风景、真实道具、照明)将无缝融合，为娱乐、讲故事、零售和数字标牌创造新的神奇体验。该计划还将利用与英国、上海和全球媒体艺术家和行业的合作，创建一个合作网络，与我们一起或独立探索PBD展示的潜力。与此同时，我们将致力于开发工具，使PBD体验的创建变得更容易，让更多的人能够访问我们的技术，并将其作为将我们的PBD显示器从我们的实验室和展览带到我们的工作场所和家庭的必要步骤。

Science fiction movies, such as Star Wars or The Avengers portray the vision of volumetric systems in which the characters cannot only see 3D content floating in mid-air, but they can also feel it and hear it, interacting with it with their bare eyes, ears and hands, just as they would do with any other real object around them. Current display approaches, such as VR, allow us to get a glimpse of such experiences, but users need to wear headsets and other devices such as VR controllers or data-gloves. These devices create visual, tactile and auditive stimuli as to trick our brains into believing that the contents we are seeing are real.Instead of creating illusions, Particle Based Displays (PBDs) take an approach which is much closer to these visions from science fiction, directly controlling matter in the real world to create contents that we can directly see, hear and touch. PBD systems make use of ultrasounds to trap and move small particles in mid-air. By quickly moving and colouring these particles in 3D space, PBD systems can create coloured volumetric shapes visible by our naked eyes. Making use of the pressure delivered by the ultrasound acoustic waves, PBDs can also create points of high pressure that our bare hands can feel, or induce air vibrations that create audible sound.During this 3 year programme, our team of artists and researchers will make use of PBDs to create public artistic installations in UK and Shanghai, showcasing immersive mixed-reality installations in which virtual content (created by the PBD) and real contents (scenery, real props, illumination) will merge seamlessly, creating new and magical experiences for entertainment, story-telling, retail and digital signage. The programme will also exploit collaborations with media artists and industries in UK, Shanghai and across the globe, creating a network of collaborators to explore the potential of PBD displays, either together with us or independently. At the same time, we will work in creating development tools to make the creation of PBD experiences easier, allowing our technology to become accessible to more people, and as a necessary step to take our PBD displays from our labs and exhibitions and into our workplaces and homes.