Back in January I posted an observation about some new kind of display that was being used on ABC’s World News Tonight. It was a clear sheet of glass onto which video was somehow projected – I saw it for a week or so, and then it disappeared (ABC seems to re-jigger their set every month for some reason).
Today, I came across this article via Gizmodo which seems to be about this technology, called AirSho.
The system displays full-motion images—generated by a PC or DVD player—that give the illusion of appearing out of nowhere. It uses a floor- or ceiling-mounted projector that shines video onto a photopolymer-resinous Plexiglas display. The 40- or 60-inch diagonal screen sticks to the window’s surface with water—like a decal. “It’s similar to a screen, but you can actually see right through it while an image is appearing,” says Ray Soltys, a spokesman for Hitachi America’s Digital Media Division.
The system is a slick combination of cutting-edge materials and optical engineering. The screen consists of a 60-nanometer film of photopolymer resin glued to a piece of Plexiglas. The film itself is laser etched to create tiny prisms. Each prism must be angled precisely, and the Plexiglas must contain no air bubbles so that the projected light can follow a path directly into the viewers’ eyes.
So, can anyone tell me – is this what ABC News was using in a testing environment?
I think this was what the villans on Scooby-Doo used to create ghosts, if I’m not mistaken. Perhaps meddling kids foiled Peter Jennings plans.
Jinkies!