ARHT Media Inc. (Toronto, Canada) has developed and is commercializing a display system that the company has named Augmented Reality Holographic Technology (ARHT).
The first point to note is that the term holographic is used in the product name, company literature and in articles written about the ARHT product. As is so often the case in matters relating to 3D, this is not correct.
Based on the limited amount of information that has been made publically available, the ARHT display creates an illusion of depth through the use of a “multiplane visualization technique.” More specifically, by projecting several synchronized images on stacked, slightly separated, semi-transparent screens. User worn glasses are not required to see the depth effect.
This description suggests a product that, although not necessarily competing for the same display applications, may be based on the same psychological/physiological principle as the two transparent LCD approach pioneered several years ago by PureDepth Inc. If this is the case, then a primary difference between the two is that the physical size and hence the cost of the display in the ARHT approach is not tied to the size of the LCD.
None-the-less, implementing the ARHT technology is not necessarily inexpensive in that it requires several high brightness projectors. As a result, the first customers for ARHT technology are likely to be retail and entertainment professionals rather than private consumers. More on that in just a minute.
The company’s ARHTengine is used to power the ARHT display. The ARHTengine “integrates network, wireless and interface technologies into a seamless and powerful user experience, allowing for a single point of interoperability for all the related technologies.” The ARHTengine can be controlled directly from a user’s smartphone – even when the user is remote from the system.
The company also offers a presentation technology called surfaceARHT.
The next component in the display system is called ARHTos. This is “a low level operating system and tool chain that runs on the ARHTengine.”
The company reports that a SDK, API and app library are available for use by developers.
One application being actively pursued by the company for the ARHT display system is the presentation of live performances. It is envisioned that a performer could eventually use an ARHT system to perform “live” in several venues at once.
Another target for ARHT display technology is to produce so-called HumaGrams. The name derives from the fact that the image displayed can be of full sized people. The ARHT system enables direct interaction between HumaGrams and a user’s smartphone. That is, the use of “the ARHTengine as a scalable media streaming engine to enable an integrated proximity marketing platform.” In this use case, interaction with the display is not just a one-way experience.
A Microsoft Kinect camera and/or other sensors allows the ARHT system to collect information and feedback from the viewer. Analytics built into the ARHT system make it possible to take this information and determine the number of people that engaged with the display, whether they are male or female, or young or old. It is also possible to determine if a coupon offered by the system leads to a purchase.
A video is appended at the end of this article that demonstrates the capabilities of the ARHT display system. In a second video that can be found here, a company spokesperson states that it may take a few minutes for a user’s eyes to fully fuse the images such that they can properly see the depth effect. This may be acceptable in a lengthy user engagement such as an entertainment application but it seems a disadvantage in advertising applications in which a potential customer may spend only a few minutes interacting with the display.
The ARHT system’s interactive and analytical capabilities as described above also served to direct the nature of ARHT’s business model. Rather than sell retailers a kiosk or a system to be used at an event, ARHT installs it at no charge. The company then takes a share of ticket sales or a share of the profits that result from user engagement with their kiosk.
It is a high risk venture for any company to undertake commercializing new products based on a new technology. Having said that, it would seem that, by choosing to offer a complete integrated display system, the company has acted wisely and enhanced their chances for success. -Arthur Berman
ARHT Media, 800-490-9210, [email protected]
