by <unknown>
Qian Wenhuan declared, "As an alternative product, the V.1 Haptic Shock Helmet doesn't utilize a holographic projection setup but instead uses two traditional independent 2.1-inch LCD screens. The full screen dimensions are 3200 x 1600 pixels and reach up to a maximum of 1058 PPI, built with interpupillary distance adjustment function.
"Also, there are sliders for both screens. After proper configuration, users with myopia prescription within a range of 700 degrees can still see everything on the VR screen without the need for glasses!"
As Qian Wenhuan said this, he suddenly paused to build suspense again. "I know, this isn't all that impressive since most VR glasses can achieve the same functionalities as well. In that case, why does it have to be a helmet instead of easy-to-carry glasses?"
Everyone seemed to have caught his meaning when he said this.
"That's right, the V.1 Haptic Shock Helmet is fitted with our company's brainwave manipulation device — BWMR external nerve electrode. This means that just like the Haptic Shock Chair, it accepts the user's thoughts as input. The only thing it needs now is to be connected to a computer!"
The audience erupted with cheers as Qian Wenhuan said this. Compared to the pricey Haptic Shock Chair, the helmet was more reasonable.
"The price for the V.1 Haptic Shock Helmet is set at 1,888 U.S. Dollars. The V.1 Haptic Shock Helmet can also be used in combination with the V.1 Tactile Suit. This means that users can put on the helmet along with the tactile suit and lay back on their couch to play VR games. You can immerse in your own where nobody will bother you!"
After that, Qian Wenhuan called for some representatives for some demonstration on stage just like previously. After a brief round of tests, they expressed that they were pleased with its performance.
"Alright, next up is the final highlight of the conference."
Qian Wenhuan checked the time before informing, "Looks like we'll need to speed this up."
The mood in the venue that had seemed to wind down a little suddenly tensed up again. It was only after the host said this when they realized the helmet was not the third product mentioned. Just as the host claimed, it was merely the substitute for the Haptic Shock Chair.
If even the Haptic Shock Chair was not the highlight, then just what was the highlight of this conference supposed to be?
The major tech companies were about to lose their mind when they heard this announcement. Some of them already had despair written across their faces.
Surely enough, the dramatic entrance of Blackwatch into the fighting ring that was the VR market had disrupted whatever balance there was. Blackwatch had utterly imposed its will on all of the combatants.
If the VR market was a fine cuisine set on a table in a restaurant, then the people fighting at the table were the many competitors in the VR market. The sudden entrance of Blackwatch was akin to someone suddenly barging in and telling the waiter to pack everything to go for him to take home. To add insult to injury, he even flipped the table before leaving!
Everyone was drowning in despair at this moment.
"Did nobody notice? If the central technology implemented in the V.1 Haptic Shock Chair was our company's patented 'BWMR external nerve electrode' technology, then what would be the product that fully utilizes our holographic projection technology?"
As Qian Wenhuan said this, the five platforms silently descended below the stage again. Meanwhile, he held his breath and motioned for the crowd to quiet down.
A ringing silence immediately took over the venue.
Qian Wenhuan's stage presence was certainly something to behold.
Everyone fixed their gaze on the part of the stage behind the host as a cylindrical object even larger than the Haptic Shock Chair slowly rose from a platform and presented itself before the audience!
This entire object took on a translucent form. Inside it, there were clouds of mist that constantly emitted a blue glow. The diameter of the object was approximately fifty-centimeters only but it stood more than two and a half meters tall.
"This cylindrical device you are seeing here is the true spotlight of today's conference — HP 3D Simulator!"
Qian Wenhuan announced at the top of his voice, "HP here stands for Holographic Projection. Its official name is the 'Environmental Holographic Simulator'. Its functionalities are simple and elaborate, let us take a look at an introductory clip."
As he said this, the display above flickered…
The clip started with a piece of brisk and melodic music as the display showed a standard Western-style home. A team of workers was then seen carrying four pearly white Environmental Holographic Simulator.
After that, the video was sped up. It became a montage of the workers erecting these pillars on all four corners of the room. This was also when the audience noted that these pillars could perfectly attach themselves to the floor as well as the ceiling of the room.
After that, when the device seemed to be connected to a power source, their originally milky white texture immediately transitioned into a cloud of sky blue. They immediately painted their magnificent blue luster over the canvas, which was the room.
After that, a young lady stepped inside, stretching lazily as she entered. She came to the center of the room and seemed to mouth something that was muffled by the music. While she did so, she also lifted her index finger and thumb and quickly swiped to the side!
The background music paused abruptly and at the same time, something wondrous happened!
Inside the video, something that was unmistakably a computer display manifested out of thin air in front of the young lady. The translucent display was floating mid-air. There was no doubt in the audience's mind that this was a holographic projection!
After that, the room began to shift constantly with the young lady monitoring it. The edges of the wall and the tiles below her feet morphed into the pouring sea, there were even little fish seen swimming under the tiles. Within moments, it turned into the clouds thousands of miles above the sky. Large clouds floated everywhere in the room. It was a shocking sight.
With moments, the wall turned into a wall portrait, then into a field that stretched on forever, then it turned into a mass of skyscrapers…
In thirty seconds, the young lady continued to swipe her fingers across the air while the environment continued to shift around her. What was most shocking was that only the scenery inside the room changes, but the furniture was barely affected at all and was still visible.
The young lady seemed to still be unimpressed with all these.
The young lady continued scrolling until in the end, a dream-like sequence appeared in the room. The sky was filled with radiant rainbow colors while the ground below was an open field with hundreds of thousands of flowers blooming. Off in the distance, a mid-century castle stood mightily.
Alice in Wonderland?
This was the first thing everyone watching thought of.
The background music was building up to its chorus at this point. The lady seemed to be finally content as she laid back on her bed with a satisfied smile. It felt as if she was lying on a bed of grass!
However, the young lady did not go to sleep just yet. When she blinked again, a tiny vertical screen appeared in front of her, it was a holographic phone.
After that, the screen began moving on its own. One second, she was chatting with her friends on messaging apps and the very next second she was watching a movie on another app.
The venue was bellowing with excitement and enthusiasm with what they were seeing. People launched themselves up from their seats and cheered and applauded. Everyone was dumbfounded by what this holographic device was capable of.
"Fantasy? No, this is reality…"
The promotional clip did not contain any narration, it was only after the clip ended when Qian Wenhuan spoke, "Environmental Holographic Simulator. It allows the user to manipulate and craft a desired living environment suited to one's preference while also receiving broadcasted holographic signals from all
over the world. This is the holographic era!
"Congratulations everyone, you're now entering the holographic intelligence era!"
Chapter 388: The Calm Before the Storm |
"As you all may know already, holographic technology is a technology that uses the principle of light interference and diffraction to project the true three-dimensional figure of an object."
After the audience had finally settled down, Qian Wenhuan started to explain.
"The term holographic technology isn't a new term. As early as 2010, artists such as Hatsune Miku used holographic technology to present themselves at concerts. This type of holography is known as 'Stage Performance Holographic Technology'.
"The technology holds wide appeal to singers, actors, magicians, politicians, and many companies. The best example of the application of this technology is during the victorious campaign of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"However, holography is not without its disadvantages. Not only is there a strict set of requirements for stage lighting equipment and setup, but it also loses its effects drastically when observed from a specific angle or from up close. Scientifically speaking, this technique wouldn't qualify it as a true holographic projection.
"If we're talking about the principle of the technique, 'Stage Performance Holographic Technology' is only one of its many aspects. There's also the 'Material Media Holographic Technology', the practical application of this technology is the usage of smoke projectors in conjunction with underwater holographic projection. With a proper projector inside a monitored environment, the fog that rises from the smoke projector with holographic projection cast upon it creates a realistic holographic image.
"There's also the more elaborate 'Fan Blade Holographic Technology' although strictly speaking, it wouldn't count as holographic. These devices are fans with assembled RGB light sources embedded on the blades to create a 2D holographic image when activated."
As Qian Wenhuan narrated, the hexagonal display above provided reference images to reflect the types of holographic technology he was describing.
"Again, strictly speaking, the techniques mentioned earlier wouldn't qualify as a natural holographic projection. Proper holographic imaging is composed of aerial imaging, laser refraction, and high-precision prism. What our 'Environmental Holographic Simulator' utilizes is aerial imaging!"
As Qian Wenhuan said this, he made a signal which summoned a panel of notes right beside him that consisted of a large amount of data written atop it.
"What we use here is a form of 'Laser Plasma Holographic Technology'. There are millions of pinpoint-sized laser generators embedded inside the simulator. By running low-frequency power into femtosecond lasers, it focuses the lasers into a singular point via 3D targeting. Through this process, molecules in the air become ionized to produce low-temperature plasma, which controls the three axes which are x, y, and z to produce a three-dimensional image."
Qian Wenhuan smiled as he read from the data above, "The reason we named it non-invasive laser is because the laser generators maneuver around the furniture in your home as well as your eyes and body. Moreover, the laser irradiation frequency is extremely brief, no more than one-millionth of a second. The lasers only activate 144 times within a second.
"Remember computer displays? What the environmental holographic simulator does is essentially transforms your room into a 144Hz computer display, except this display is three-dimensional. Something even better… Not only can you see these images, but you could also even touch them!"
"What?"
The audience below gasped.
Qian Wenhuan poked the sign next to him several times. "Since this laser is a femtosecond laser, it can ionize the air at specific points to produce sporadic tiny plasma vibrations. This way, we can feel its natural texture when touching it."
As Qian Wenhuan said this, he paused briefly, savoring the moment. "Hm… This texture is very similar to sandpaper."
The audience enthusiastically waved their hands in the air, each wanting to go on stage to experience for themselves what the so-called holographic projection feels like.
After the people stepped on stage to give it a curious touch, they each reacted with great astonishment and were taken by how foreign it was. After that, Qian Wenhuan asked each of them how it felt like and obtained a large assortment of answers. Some said it felt like metal, others said it felt like plastic, most of them described it as a rough-to-the-touch substance.
In the end, Qian Wenhuan announced that the highlight of the day, the HP 3D Simulators, cost a million dollars per set. Each set came with four of the devices.
This was because a set of four had to be installed in four corners of a room to achieve a full holographic effect and to cover all blind corners.
Additionally, there was a set of restrictions when it came to the environmental holographic simulators. First, the room could not be anywhere larger than thirty square meters and the length and width of the room could not exceed six meters. If it exceeded the specified area and length, a holographic environment simulator with a larger diameter range and higher frequency was required.
Although this price range easily put it above what ninety-nine percent of the world's population could afford, many people were well aware that it was not designed for common household use in the first place. Its true value lay in boosting the market value of a commercial area!
For example, it could be implemented in conference rooms or wherever companies wanted to use to conduct floor plan meetings. It was in places like this where the environmental holographic simulator truly shone.
One way or another, the debut of the environmental holographic simulator ushered holographic projection technology to a new era.
After they drew the curtains of the conference, the people who had been paying attention to the conference started to boil over in excitement. Everywhere online, there were discussions about the three era-defining technology.
[Oh my God, that thing they showed in the end is what a real non-medium projection looks like! It's like the one from Iron Man. Is manipulatable holographic projection technology finally here?]
[The technology used for this environmental holographic simulator is known as a non-medium holographic technology. I never expected to see something like this in my lifetime. Did Blacklight Biotechnology just drop a nuclear bomb on us???]
[Holographic projection technology with supported textures? I suddenly have a bold billion-dollar idea (Dog Emoji)]
[I'll pay you fifty cents to delete your comment and let me post it instead!]
[With this insane bomb dropped, I think Apple's new product launch event is going to look silly in comparison…]
[There's no way anyone can afford the environmental holographic simulator unless that someone is already filthy rich. This product is strictly for business use only and you'd better wait a decade before you can expect to see it commercialized. By then, the technology should be more mature and the price will naturally decline. Shouldn't we direct our focus to the V.1 series instead?]
[Forget about it, even the V.1 helmet costs nearly ten thousand, don't forget the tactile suit as well. Can anybody who doesn't already own a gold mine even afford it?]
…
Regardless of the reception, keywords like Blacklight Biotechnology, V.1 Tactile Suit, and Environmental Holographic Simulator would crowd the Internet for the following days to come.
Surely enough, Blacklight Biotechnology was taking off while companies like Apple were in big trouble now.
In terms of price, the price set by Chen Chen was rather pricey. Even the working class in Western countries had to think twice before committing to this purchase. This went double, even triple for people in the Mainland. However, in the grand scheme of things, this was a rather affordable price tag. If not for Chen Chen taking the initiative to publicize this technology, it would take humanity another two to three decades before VR technology could naturally progress to such a point.
&nbs
p; Back to current events. Chen Chen was seated inside his office, going through the large arrays of comments and trends online. He shut down the computer with a smile on his face while instructing, "X, in addition to installing the environmental holographic simulator into each Spire laboratory, try to have several installed in the office buildings as well."
"Understood."
Little X's voice came from behind Chen Chen. If someone else was present at the moment inside Chen Chen's office, this person would notice an enchanting-looking Chinese girl standing behind Chen Chen.
Little X had changed into a fitted white dress with a pink hairband strapped atop her head. Her cheeks were puffed red as she gently thumped her little knuckles on Chen Chen's shoulders.
While Chen Chen was enjoying his afternoon filled with nothing but peace and quiet, Little X suddenly paused and interrupted. "The Central Continent Embassy contacted us just now."
"Which technology do they want to buy?" Chen Chen leaned into the chair and asked lazily.
"The BWMR external nerve electrode technology as well as the environmental holographic simulator technology in its entirety."
Little X informed, "Their offer was extremely generous. They said that if we authorize them the usage of the technology, the 1.3 billion U.S. dollars overseas investment loan we owed to the Central Continent Bank can be voided. There are also various policy incentives."
"They are only looking for authorization?" Chen Chen asked.
"Yes, they say that they'll only use our technology to further their research in similar sectors. They agreed that they'll not be using the developed technology for commerce and the only one allowed to monetize it in the Central Continent is our company."
Little X nodded.
"I like that attitude. In that case, tell Old Qian that these terms are agreeable and can be negotiated."
