4 ms·

Design company made illusion of ocean waves trapped in architecture

27 points by glitcher 6y ago

hermitcrab 6y ago
So does the illusion only work from some angles?
- goldenkey 6y ago
  Seems like it has to be the case since a screen can only show a single pixel to observers from all angles - but we know that pixel is supposed to actually correspond to the lightray from all those angles (the basis of raytracing.) The depth is statically set - so it appears the lightray started out within the chamber - and since the pixel is static - the angle of the observer also has to be set. Luckily the distance is a variable that scales just fine as long as the vanishing point is along the observers axis. And if I had to guess..it's all pre-rendered ray tracing on loop. Particle effects this good are near impossible to do real-time without some heavy duty equipment. Still, super impressive coordination of the physical positions of the screens and the effects, mapping from physical space to model space. If I had to guess how it is done? Each screen has 2 position sensors or transmitters (4 aren't necessary) in opposite corners. The simulation, when first installed, is calibrated by pulling all those positions in, to build the chamber model from the point position vertexes of the chamber screens. Then the simulation is ran and recorded, using raytracing, projected to an observer standing somewhere centered in front of the chamber. Generate a long enough loop (15 minutes?) to be unnoticeable. This footage is saved and now the screens just become dummy displays that just need to play a video file, that can even be on an SD card. Synchronization can be an issue but that's as easy as just using IR remote/trigger to start them all playing at the same time. Maybe they've just done a lot more but I'm just providing the low maintenance solution I would do if tasked with the project.
pintxo 6y ago
There is a linked article on how to start making anamorphic illusions: https://medium.com/@tqvinn/the-secret-to-anamorphic-illusions-853e3674209a https://medium.com/@tqvinn/the-secret-to-anamorphic-illusion...

27 points by glitcher 6y ago

hermitcrab 6y ago

So does the illusion only work from some angles?

goldenkey 6y ago
Seems like it has to be the case since a screen can only show a single pixel to observers from all angles - but we know that pixel is supposed to actually correspond to the lightray from all those angles (the basis of raytracing.) The depth is statically set - so it appears the lightray started out within the chamber - and since the pixel is static - the angle of the observer also has to be set. Luckily the distance is a variable that scales just fine as long as the vanishing point is along the observers axis. And if I had to guess..it's all pre-rendered ray tracing on loop. Particle effects this good are near impossible to do real-time without some heavy duty equipment. Still, super impressive coordination of the physical positions of the screens and the effects, mapping from physical space to model space. If I had to guess how it is done? Each screen has 2 position sensors or transmitters (4 aren't necessary) in opposite corners. The simulation, when first installed, is calibrated by pulling all those positions in, to build the chamber model from the point position vertexes of the chamber screens. Then the simulation is ran and recorded, using raytracing, projected to an observer standing somewhere centered in front of the chamber. Generate a long enough loop (15 minutes?) to be unnoticeable. This footage is saved and now the screens just become dummy displays that just need to play a video file, that can even be on an SD card. Synchronization can be an issue but that's as easy as just using IR remote/trigger to start them all playing at the same time. Maybe they've just done a lot more but I'm just providing the low maintenance solution I would do if tasked with the project.

pintxo 6y ago

There is a linked article on how to start making anamorphic illusions: https://medium.com/@tqvinn/the-secret-to-anamorphic-illusions-853e3674209a https://medium.com/@tqvinn/the-secret-to-anamorphic-illusion...