SIGGRAPH’s Emerging Technologies area, located beside the Art Gallery, presented systems still in development or newly reaching the market. Two exhibits stood out.
Morphovision uses a small house model rotating at high speed. Precisely timed projection distorts the model’s apparent shape without lenses or curved mirrors. High-frequency interference effects are perceived by the eye as stationary or moving images. A touchscreen changes the live deformation pattern.
#Morphovision
Lancaster University showed a configurable control surface built from a foam-rubber mat about one centimetre thick. Two conductive metal-mesh layers run through the material. Controls such as buttons, sliders and joysticks are inserted using long pins underneath. Each pin has two poles, with its thicker upper section and tip contacting the upper and lower meshes.
A control module communicates with every element through these two signal lines. Electronics inside each module identify its type, report its current value and provide a unique ID.
#Pult
Placement on the mat is therefore irrelevant. Users can arrange sliders, rotary controls and buttons for applications such as a flight simulator or audio software, then assign functions through the accompanying software.
The planned production version was expected to connect to a PC over USB. The exhibitor anticipated low manufacturing costs because the system used standard electronic components.
