Light swords, droids and holograms - how real are the technology of "Star Wars"? Hologram Star Wars

But one classic scientific fiction technology seems to be on the threshold: real 3D displays capable of projecting images right into air.

The physicist from the University of Brigham Yang (USA) Daniel Smallley (Daniel Smalley) dreamed of creating a peculiar 3D hologram, inspired by scientific fiction films. But observing how the fictional inventor Tony Stark stretches his hands through the ghost 3D-armor in the 2008 film "Iron Man", Smallli realized that he would never be able to achieve the same thing - today's standard high-tech 3D display. The reason is simple: the hand of the start should block the light source, creating a hologram.

"It just brought me out of myself," says Smallli. And he immediately tried to figure out how to get around this obstacle.

The research team under his leadership took advantage of the so-called method of the Volumetric Display to create moving 3D images that people could see from any angle.

Some physicists say that such technology is much closer than others approached the recreation of the 3D projection of the princess lei, which appears on help in the film "Star Wars" of 1977.

And now, in the article published in Nature, reports a breakthrough of scientists who have developed a projection system that creates small full-color images soaring in the air. The device does not require any projection surfaces or special braids, and the image can be seen from any angle.

Essentially, the result of the work technically refers to a three-dimensional volumetric image in free space. This is a scientific term for a kind of "hologram", which was popularized in the "Star Wars", "Avatar" and "Iron Man". From a scientific point of view of holograms, there are a completely different type of technology in which the 3D image appears from a flat screen - for example, already familiar brilliant logos on the credit card.

According to Smallli, eliminating confusion around the hologram and volumetric displays is the first step towards understanding the new technology.

"The motivation in this case is that we want to create the projector of Princess Lei, and in our understanding it is a hologram. But on the very actual, the true hologram is not able to create such an image," says Smallli in an interview with Seeker. There are a number of restrictions.

"I was disappointed, like everyone else, when I understood this," adds a scientist.

The new method develops photophoretic optical capture technology (Photoophoretic Optical Trapping). The device captures and suspends the tiny solid particles in the air, using special projection lenses. They actually create a "hole" of cold dark air inside the circle of warm light air. When the particle approaches the border of warm air, it is discarded back to the center. "This is a kind of attracting beam," says Smallli.

Using very accurate projection methods and very small particles (about 10 microns), the system may essentially control the movement of each individual particle.

Then these soaping particles become "screen" for the second set of laser projectors. Particles directed exactly focused laser beams disperse light in all directions. The particle movement is fast enough, and specialists can draw luminous lines in the air.

The system can create various optical effects, colors and images using various types of particles material.

"They can be almost anything. Glass beads, diamonds, cellulose, tungsten - the most diverse materials. What we found the most effective is a substance called a black cloth, which is a by-product of the paper production process. This is essentially there is Paper - Cellulose. There is something in its density, form, porosity, which makes it really work well, "says Smallli.

Optical capture - not new technology, adds a scientist. It has existed for a long time and is applied in different areas. "It is suitable for insulation of particles and moving something dangerous from one place to another. We are trying to find a new application," says Smallli.

On the this moment The authors recognize that the technology is still very limited. Projectable 3D images are very small (less than the nail of the mother's maiden). But the system is able to create and larger images of "paper dolls" that seem to be two-dimensional, although technically have a thickness of several dozen microns.

"This is a technological triumph. I would like it to be mine," says the physicist engaged in optics, Miles Padgett from Glasgow University.

Smallli hopes to improve the system in the next three or four years. But at the moment the Small will be pleased if he forces people to stop calling his images of holograms.

"I hope that this can be changed. Because ultimately we spend the first 15 minutes of each conversation, trying to distinguish these terms," \u200b\u200bhe concludes.

Long ago in a distant-distant ... Studio film director George Lucas created one of the most original and iconic works of science fiction - the critic franchise "Star Wars". Almost 40 years later, the ideas presented in his films are still the foundations of this genre, and even more so - some scientists are trying to embody them in life.

1. Light Sword

The most sign technology " Star Wars"It is a light sword, but the experts always believed that it was impossible to achieve this simply. Photons, of which the light consists, have long been considered particles without mass, not interacting with each other, which makes the prospect of the collision of light beams during the battle on light swords unlikely. However, in 2013, researchers from Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated that when pairs of photons pass through the cloud of overcohole atoms, photons overlook it as one molecule.

Nevertheless, Eric Davis, a physicist from the Institute of Perspective Research in Austin, Texas continues to assert that recreating such an effect in real life through the use of a number of devices and cryogenic equipment for the production of quantum gases at a distance of 0.5 m from the end of the light sword is simply inappropriate .

But everything is not so bad if we remember the weapon: scientists are close to the development of weapons, similar to blaspherry guns presented in "Star Wars". In fact, the US Navy has already demonstrated a ship laser weapon, capable of shooting down unmanned aerial vehicles and small ships. And this summer, the US Air Force began testing another laser weapon, which is five times more powerful than the VF version, and quite small so that it can be installed on fighters and military jeeps "Hamvi".

2. HyperProst

In movie spaceshipsSuch as "Millennium Falcon" Khan Solo is able to fly between star systems that are from each other in dozens of light years. In "Star Wars", the power plants "Hippritic" allowed intergalactic travelers to jump into the dimension called "HyperProst", in which you can quickly get from one place of real space to another. Although in the films it was not described in detail about this engine, the idea of \u200b\u200bhyperspace and movement faster the speed of light has a scientific attack, according to scientists.

Although it would seem that it would be impossible to travel faster speed of light, the nonlinear nature of the space-time in Albert Einstein's theory assumes that the space can be distorted to reduce the distance between the two points. Theoretically, it would be possible to create a device that squeezes the space in front of the ship and expands it for it. Another task would be to create a wormwort or section of the space that bends itself in order to create the shortest "pass" between remote points. Creating such distortions would require exotic matter with the so-called "negative energy".

This phenomenon was already demonstrated in a laboratory using the Casimira effect (the mutual attraction of two uncharged parallel mirrors located on a short distance from each other in vacuum. The reason for this is quantum fluctuations in vacuo. Earlier this year, the laboratory called Eagleworks, based in the NASA Space Center "Johnson" in Houston, stated that it was created by WarP drive, which uses this effect to create spatial distortions in vacuo, but evidence has not yet proceeded.

3. Speedters

Another type of transport shown in "Star Wars" is likely to be embodied in reality much faster. A number of firms are currently trying to create the working versions of "Cherovebiki", known as "speeds" in films. Aerofex, California Startup-Company, developed Aero-X car. It is described as a "air cushion aircraft, which drives like a motorcycle and can fly at a speed of 72 km / h at a height of 3 meters."

Hoverbiik, developed by the British company Malloy Aeronautics, is projected to accelerate to the speed of more than 275 km / h. Both "air motorcycles" from Aerofex and Malloy Aeronautics use standard gasoline, but the eco-friendly fans of "Star Wars" will soon acquire a futuristic alternative to electricity, which is being developed by the Hungarian State Research Institute Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd.

4. Exoplanets

The central place in the plot of "Star Wars" is the existence of a huge number of planets associated with a galactic trading network. But only in 1995, after almost 20 years after the release of the first film in 1977, the first exoplanet was discovered - the planet of the earth's type, located outside the solar system.

More than 2000 exoplanets have already been found, and in 2011, the NASA space telescope "Kepler" opened the first planet, rotating around two suns, just like the fictional homeland of Luke Skywalker Tatooin. The planet, called Kepler-16B, is a lifeless gas giant. In 2012, the telescope was used to detect two more planets in binary star systems, which are very close to the so-called residential area (this area around the star in which liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet).

5. DROIDA

Another feature of the "Star Wars" Universe are droids - robots that act in the role of personal servants, pilots, technicians and even soldiers. Today, the real world is growing the number of analogues, ranging from automated military unmanned aerial vehicles to Goose from Google and robotic surgical assistants.

This summer, robots competed in the Robotics Challenge contest conducted by the Department of Prospective Research Projects of the US Department of Defense (DARPA). Manoid robots Solved complex tasks, including the driving of the vehicle, opening the doors, walking on the stairs and closing the crane. It is worth noting that these cars were only semi-autonomous, that is, the man operator almost constantly controlled the robot. But robotics does not stand still.

6. Traction Loose

Light can also help reproduce another interesting technology from the "Star Wars" franchise: a traction beam, which is an invisible energy field that can capture and move objects. Since the beginning of 2010, scientists have created lasers with unusual ray intensity profiles, which allowed them to attract and repel the tiny particles.

But only last year, researchers from the Australian National University broke a distance record for traction rays using a donut laser to move hollow glass balls to a distance of 20 cm, which is about 100 times more than in previous experiments.

And just a couple of months ago, a team from Bristol University in the United Kingdom showed that the sound can compete with light as a source of future traction rays. The researchers used a precisely selected sequence of sound waves from the array of tiny loudspeakers to create a low-pressure region, which effectively counteracts gravity, levishing tiny balls from polystyrene in the air.

7. Hologram

When the starship falls into the trap of the traction ray of the imperial linker, then latest hope A SOS signal will be sent using a hologram. Although specially designed glasses were used to create an illusion of 3D images for decades, the full-fledged holographic video was quite difficult to reproduce. In recent years, the old stage trick was revived, invented by John Pepper in the XIX century to create the illusion of the ghostly vision on stage.

First of all, it was done to "resurrect" the deceased Raper Tupak Shakura at the Coachella Music Festival in 2012. Based on this method It is a top-thin foil sheet, suspended at an angle of 45 degrees from the scene, invisible to the naked eye, but reflecting images from the projector. The trick gives the illusion of 3D images, if you stand in front of this sheet of foil. Even closer to the "Star Wars" technologies are Voxiebox - a "volumetric area with a bulk surface", made by the Australian-American Voxon company.

3D models are "cut" on hundreds of horizontal cross sections, after which the ultrafast projector demonstrates them on a flat screen that quickly moves up and down. The human eye blends these projections together, creating a three-dimensional image that can move and viewed at any angle (approximately as it was in the message of Princess Lei Obi-Vanobi Kenobi in "Star Wars: Episode IV - New Hope").

8. Strength

The key in the "Star Wars" Universe is the concept of force that gives the magical powers to knights-jamyam. Earlier this year, researchers of a large hadron collider stated that they discovered the first unambiguous evidence of this phenomenon. However, as it turned out later, it was a primarial joke.

Fans of this franchise, and not only them, it will be interesting to know.

Light swords, droids and holograms - how real are the technology of "Star Wars"?

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The rental of the "Recent Jedies" - the eighth episode of the cultic science fiction saga "Star Wars", noteworthy, not only in a detailed world, but also technologies on the verge of reality and fiction.

Is it worth saying that in "Star Wars", the plot of which is built on several protracted conflicts, technology in most cases is shown in a military context - but there are many "peaceful" inventions. Rusbase tells how far we are far from the level of development of one distant-distant galaxy.

Light Sword

It is worth starting, of course, with the icons of "Star Wars" - the light sword, "elegant weapons of a more civilized era," as said in the "new hope" Obi-Van Mobi. The lighting sword during activation produces the "pure energy" blade (the misconception is widespread that the sword is laser), repeatedly increasing due to the kaiber crystal - the main element of the weapon, which gives the blade with color. Subsequently, large kyber crystals were used to create a superlaser for the infamous star of death.

What in reality? The light sword is trying to do for a long time, but no one has achieved fully success. Since the nature of "pure energy", which consists of a sword's blade, remains secret for us, all attempts are reduced to the creation of a laser-based sword. And the main reason for failures is that there is still no technology that can fix the laser in space: it just will last to the nearest obstacle, gradually losing its power. Well, of course, there is no such source that would fit in a small handle of the sword, but allocated enough energy so that the laser could burn solid matter.

DROID

In the "Star Wars" droids so much that soon literally cease to notice them. Most of them have a very strong artificial intelligence, moreover, part is endowed. high levels Autonomy and even self-consciousness. And although they still belong to the droids as more as things, some sympathize much more than living beings.

In the real world, we do not have such a generalizing term as a droid, but there are various robots, drones and drones, domestic robots (for example, a robot vacuum cleaner) and more hundreds of various robotic units intended for quite narrow targets. Their artificial intelligence consists of algorithms aimed at solving certain problems, and deprived of autonomy and creative component. The design of robots in the usual understanding is also not in place, which is constantly reminded by a well-known company.

A more curious is the problem of artificial intelligence and his perception by man. We have the opportunity to give them to computing capacities, but much more important (and more difficult) to introduce him the ability to nonlinear thinking. Successes in this part, of course, is enough to recall the development of neural networks.

Polygon for testing the possibilities of AI are including various games. In 1997, Harry Casparov lost to the Deep Blue supercomputer developed by IBM. In 2015, the Alphago artificial intelligence created by Google Deepmind won the Fan Hueya's three-time champion of Europe, and in 2016, one of the strongest players in Li Sedol. In both cases, computers were recognized as stronger than living players, which actually puts the point at the confrontation between the AI \u200b\u200band the person in these disciplines.

After that, Deepmind developers turned out to look at computer games. Created to neural network should now learn to win a person in Starcraft II - this is a real-time strategy that combines management of economics and various troops, from Blizzard. And here the AI \u200b\u200bis far behind, because the player needs to act partly blindly: the opponent is constantly hidden by the so-called fog of war. It is necessary to predict the actions of the opponent, which I cannot do with the lack of source data. This Starcraft is different from chess or go, where AI can see and analyze the whole picture of what is happening. According to the developers of the game, Starcraft II is the ideal environment for the development of artificial intelligence, since the complex rules of the game reflect the "versatility and chaoticness of the real world."

So far, Deepmind could not beat even a weak bot, but the experiment only begins: Deepmind agreed with Blizzard about working together on AI, and also connected ordinary players to have a material to work.

In the star wars, the droids were also very successfully played games - R2D2 heats the Chubakka to the local analogue of Chess. Frame from the movie "New Hope".

If we talk about the self-awareness and emotionality of robots, then it is worth mentioning voice assistantsthat not only recognize human speech and can support an easy conversation, but also give replicas emotional color.

One of the most "humane" representatives of artificial intelligence is a robot "Sofia" , which also has both a physical form, thanks to which his replicas can back up with facial expressions and gestures.

Although the set of her mimic movements is very rich, looking at the rolling face of Sofia, unwittingly remember the effect of "ominous valley". It is noteworthy that in "Star Wars", humanoid droids are usually completely devoid of facial expressions and have schematic traits of the face, but it does not prevent them from quite accurately express their emotions.

Antigravitational engines

Most of the equipment in the "Star Wars" uses antigravitational engines, flying over the surface of the planets. Of course, this makes transport almost everywhere, and the average speed of movement increases much.

Tanks of the trading federation on anti-government engines. Frame from the movie "Hidden Threat"

In reality, this technology, unfortunately, is not, because the concept of the use of gravity is still over the boundaries of reality. The only analogue of such an engine can be considered technology based on magnets and superconductors coolaned by liquid nitrogen, which the LEXUS concern engineers embodied to create a hoverboard (such as in the film "Back to the Future") back in 2015. The device must often refuel with liquid nitrogen, and it is possible to use it only on a special surface, which in general makes technology very expensive, albeit viable. Also, several companies (including Russian Hoversurf) are developing a hoverbaika, which works at the expense of screws that create an airbag effect.

Force field

Power, or protective, field in "Star Wars" - usually the energy dome that protects all under it from the energy impact, fire or explosive wave - but not from physical impact. Since in star wars, almost all weapons are energy, the power field is a serious tread.

Because there are no blasters in service with the real troops, but there are conservative metal bullets and shells, the power field could not be able to become versatile method protection. Other situation with protection against explosive waves. So they decided in the Boeing Corporation and patented their own power field, which functions a little differently than the fiction. When the explosion next to the transport, the protective system instantly calculates from which side it occurred, and directs the pulse there, which ionizes the air, forming a field, partially absorbing and partially reflective explosive wave.

It is worth adding that patenting does not mean the embodiment of the idea of \u200b\u200blife. Technological corporations are often patented by high-profile inventions either for the PR, or to advance competitors in the future - and no longer one dozen futuristic projects are granted in the patent office.

Bact cameras

Bakt-cameras in "Star Wars" are filled with a bundled - jelly-like transparent substance capable of restoring tissues in a short time and heal serious wounds, as well as treat various diseases.

Luke is restored from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Bact Camera on Planet Hot. Frame from the film "The Empire is negotiated"

The image of the Bact Camera itself was created on the basis of an isolated sensory deprivation chamber - a dark soundproof tank with a dense solution of salt water, in 1954 by American psychoanalytic musician John Lilly.

As for the most miraculous substance itself, there are still developing synthetic leather, which repeatedly enhances the regeneration of tissues. The patent was included in the "Hall of Fame of National Inventors" in the United States in 2015 and later implemented by Integra Lifesciences Corp in the form of an Integratm product. And scientists from medical center Cedars-Sinai work on the creation of a special means based on bacteria, which will accelerate the splicing of human tissues, including bone.

Hologram

In "Star Wars", almost all images are transmitted in the form of holograms - and can be both static and dynamic. Images are projected and recorded through the hoprors, which are equipped with most vehicles, droids and premises; Also, projectors exist in the form of small portable devices.

Although holograms are still perceived as the technology of the future, in fact they are already on the threshold of our everyday life. Of course, they cannot be used as easily as shown in the film: as in the case of a light sword, the light that creates a hologram cannot be fixed in the air - it will not create an image if it does not reflect anything.

But there are holograms working on a different principle: back in 2012 Snoop Dog performed On the same scene with a hologram (and in fact the projection) Raper Tupak, which was created by the company Digital Domain Media Group.

Many startups are trying to create a bulk hologram in space, one of the most advanced at the moment you can call a startup with the Belarusian roots of Kino-Mo, which won in 2016 at the Pitch To Rich competition held by Virgin Media. It does not create a hologram in the full sense of the word, but rather an image with a 3D effect that, nevertheless, looks impressive.