10-25-2011, 03:35 AM
It's already possible to make 3D models out of a set of photographs. And it's already possible to determine the location where a picture was taken from if you have the 3D model.
Some cool things could be done by combining these two technologies. Imagine taking a bunch of webcam pictures of a room and making a 3D model. Now, take a still picture and apply the 3D model to it. But don't display the model: instead, use it for physics simulation and object clipping. Now you can add whatever you want to the picture and have it simulated realistically.
But the real power of this lies in virtual reality. Replace the computer screen with VR goggles and attach a camera to your head, then use this with the 3D scene, but compute the camera position in real time. Now what you have is basically Garrys Mod in real life. Simple motion tracking could make it even cooler: imagine painting ribbons of light with a laser pointer, or putting a brightly colored dot on your finger and sticking it up to spawn a sphere at your location.
Or you could just use a traditional artificial virtual reality environment, but with the camera location system, you could do it without needing a special room and expensive motion tracking equipment.
I've already started coding this.
Some cool things could be done by combining these two technologies. Imagine taking a bunch of webcam pictures of a room and making a 3D model. Now, take a still picture and apply the 3D model to it. But don't display the model: instead, use it for physics simulation and object clipping. Now you can add whatever you want to the picture and have it simulated realistically.
But the real power of this lies in virtual reality. Replace the computer screen with VR goggles and attach a camera to your head, then use this with the 3D scene, but compute the camera position in real time. Now what you have is basically Garrys Mod in real life. Simple motion tracking could make it even cooler: imagine painting ribbons of light with a laser pointer, or putting a brightly colored dot on your finger and sticking it up to spawn a sphere at your location.
Or you could just use a traditional artificial virtual reality environment, but with the camera location system, you could do it without needing a special room and expensive motion tracking equipment.
I've already started coding this.