Cleaner space, purer hearts, + what’s new in 3D and energy
By Susanna Camp and Elana Spivack
Welcome to the Investors Lab from Science News. This week’s issue is brought to you by our small but mighty team: our founding content curator Susanna Camp, new addition to the content team Elana Spivack (give her a warm welcome!), plus our fearless editor Carmen Drahl. Like what you see? Subscribe today, share with friends, or reach out if you have feedback or content suggestions. Thank you for reading!
🖥Beyond the Screen: Investing in the Immersive Future of 3-D Displays
Science News’s Maria Temming highlights an exciting step toward a sci-fi staple: 3D displays that allow users to reach out and touch virtual objects.
✋Fantastic Elastic
A volumetric display renders a true 3-D image that viewers can marvel at from all angles without assistance from specialized glasses or headwear. However, these displays prohibit interaction, because they’re in a rigid frame and so attempting to touch them could harm the user.
Enter FlexiVol, a volumetric display spearheaded by a team at Spain’s Public University of Navarre. FlexiVol uses a matrix made from rows of elastic strips that are similar to what’s used in the waistbands of comfy pants. Users can stroke or press the bands or slip their fingers between them. By oscillating up and down, the strips render a full 3-D image. Cameras following hand movements allow users to interact with and manipulate the projected graphic display. In a user study of 18 participants, interacting with FlexiVol was faster and more accurate than using a 3-D mouse.