Introduction – 1.5 Volumetric Reality VMR ™

In 2007, while I was visiting my family in Europe, my nephew got me an avatar on his Nintendo Wii. The interactive experience through the virtual-reality aspect of the Wii was simply amazing. I tried the bowling game, but because I was a complete disaster my nephew got me into a boxing game, which was a lot of fun and, of course, had me out of breath within a few minutes. Wii has become a worldwide phenomenon, attracting gamers/players of all ages. Now, at the end of 2008 one can join Wii fitness clubs and programs, join multi-player games and competitions, and much more. But can you imagine how it would be if the Wii concept goes further than this two-dimensional virtual reality? Welcome to the world of Volumetric Reality™.

I personally believe that there are many amazing developments coming up, although most of the technologies have yet to be developed. I dare to make the statement that while 1 Gigabit per second (1 Gbps) transmission speeds seem too much today, we will eventually need 10 Gbps services for our ever-growing, ever-increasing thirst for data within the next 15 years. While the majority of today’s broadband subscribers cannot even enjoy a decent streaming video online, within fifteen to twenty years we will be able to have presentations from sales reps, classes from teachers, lectures from professors, even visits from family, colleagues and friends through Volumetric Reality (VMR)™[1]

To go a bit further than “on-screen” communications and interaction, I believe that within the next twenty years, VMR systems, which go beyond volumetric display, will be common in our homes and offices as well as on our handset/mobile devices. VMR services will enable people to interact with others who are virtually present, in 3D and holographic form, while physically being at a distance of thousands of miles.

Somehow, inventors, technologists, scientists, corporations or institutions will develop the technologies needed for VMR display systems so that we can transceive these Volumetric Reality images from one point to the other. I think that the transmission of High-Definition Volumetric images will only be possible over end-to-end fiber-optic connections because Volumetric Reality images will be transmitted in quantities of multiple-gigabyte data packages, maybe even as much as a few terabytes per hour.

The VMR display system at home or office will include interactivity. People will be able to play a volumetric game of bowling or boxing, individually, or with a partner or a group of people who are physically present or somewhere at a distance. The movie “Disclosure”, with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore, has a virtual reality scene that comes close to Volumetric Reality.

A person trying to lose weight will join a VMR fitness class and someone wanting to learn to cook will join a VMR cooking class. NASA will be able to train astronauts in a volumetric environment that combines stimulators with volumetric displays. International travel may be less necessary for busy executives; board meetings will be organized by the CEO’s assistant in a matter of hours or minutes, and with multi-media application-sharing executives will make their presentations. Volumetric Reality will not only give us new ways to entertain and inform ourselves, it will also help to reduce the greenhouse effect by significantly reducing the need for travel without the rearrangement or compromises of today’s schedules.

Volumetric Reality over wireless networks may become a possibility where the data-throughput is compressed, and the wireless device will work as a Mobile Volumetric Display system. Yes, “Beam me up, Scotty” could become one of GigaSpeed’s commercial themes.
 

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[1] Volumetric Reality (VMR) is a term coined and registered by Neal S. Lachman.