This is What a $50,000 3D Gigapixel Display Looks Like
3D display uses gigapixel technology to create an immersive visual experience.
Photo Credit: Evan Ackerman/DVICEOver the years, gigapixel photography has established itself as an efficient method to take insanely large photos. With 1,000+ megapixels of data jammed into single images which are then combined to form monstrously high resolution pictures, gigapixel photography isn't exactly easy to appreciate with the naked eye.
Of course, if you have $50,000 to make a 3D gigapixel display like this one, you can completely immerse yourself into a work of gigapixel photography. Called the KAUST display, this wall combines a massive display with two gigapixel images to create the ultimate gigapixel viewing experience- in stereoscopic 3D.
The massive wall features 14 3D displays placed side-by-side to form a sort of hemisphere. With additional hardware for head motion tracking, all you have to do is put on the pair of 3D glasses and optical tracking hat and you are good to go. As far as virtual reality goes, this sort of immersive experience is about as close as you can visually get to being in an entirely different place.
According to Dr. Steven Cutchin, the manager of the KAUST visualization lab, creating a KAUST display wall of your own could cost anywhere between $50,000 and $80,000. Ouch.
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On the other hand, $50k might barely cover the cost of building a room large enough to contain the cave's projection arrays.
The other visualization lab they have at KAUST is actually the one that I find much more immersive. It is a 10 foot by 10 foot cube you step inside of with rear projection screens on all sides plus the ceiling. It uses head tracking 3D glasses to create a full 360 degree experience. THAT is the lab I want to see working with an FPS.