"Star Wars Chess on the Holodeck"

Ken Perlin
Director, NYU Media Research Laboratory
Director, NYU Center of Advanced Technology
Department of Computer Science
New York University

12:00 Noon, Reception at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, January 17, 2002
102 Pettit Building (MiRC)

Abstract:
In Star Wars we all saw Animated Chess pieces cavorting on a chessboard, and Princess Leia projected in nothing but a beam of light. And on some level we realized what a profound impact such technologies would have. But are they possible? If so, how and when? And what about building that Star Trek Holodeck (at least the visual part)? Well, that turns out to be somewhat easier.

A good start from the display side is to display 3D stereo images (in which each of your two eyes can see a different viewpoint), without requiring the use of special stereo glasses. Ideally, an observer of such an image should be able to move around and change position freely. In our lab we have built a novel display device that does precisely this.

I will also show some existing prototypes for the Star Wars chessmen (and for their near descendents - the chessmen of "Wizard Chess" in the Harry Potter books).

But what can we expect in five years? I will outline a research vision to get us closer to the Holodeck - in which different people in the same room can see different 3D scenes upon the same walls, without needing to wear 3D glasses.

I will also try to look forward several decades into the future, to ask the question: "What would it really take to see Princess Leia in that beam of light?" I claim that not only is it possible, but that we can and should start various research steps right now to make it happen sooner, rather than later.


Bio:
Ken Perlin is an Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the director of the Media Research Laboratory at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. He is also the director of the NYU Center of Advanced Technology, sponsored by the New York State Science and Technology Foundation.

He completed his Ph.D. in 1986 from the New York University Department of Computer Science. His dissertation received the Janet Fabri award for outstanding Doctoral Dissertation. He received his B.A. in theoretical mathematics at Harvard University in 1979. His research interests include graphics, animation, and multimedia. In 1991 he was a recipient of a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1997 he was a recipient of a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television.

Dr. Perlin was Head of Software Development at R/GREENBERG Associates in New York, NY from 1984 through 1987. Prior to that, from 1979 to 1984, he was the System Architect for computer generated animation at Mathematical Applications Group, Inc., Elmsford, NY. TRON was the first movie for which his name got onto the credits. He has served on the Board of Directors of the New York chapter of ACM/SIGGRAPH, has been a member of ACM and ACM SIGGRAPH, and has been a senior reviewer for a number of technical conferences.
  Last modified on . Email: gvu-webmaster@cc.gatech.edu.