InteVol combines two methodologies to develop the project: short-term prototyping and long-term development. In the short-term prototyping, we do an incremental adaptation of existing technology, this involves modifying commercially-available devices to create a prototype that supports a limited but sufficient set of features in which interaction techniques and applications can be tested. On the long-term development, a ground-up development of new technology is done. Developing a new technology can take several years, but with our double approach, applications and interactions can be preliminary tested until the full technology is available.
In the short-term prototyping, we explore the benefits of direct interaction, emulating volumetric displays in virtual reality environments (Ardaiz, 2024). We modified a traditional laser pointer (Fernandez, 2024) for being able to point to 3D position inside a volumetric display by adjusting its timing. This is not considered direct interaction but it is a simple device that makes easier interacting with existing applications for volumetric displays, thus facilitating the demonstration of the concepts towards InteVol. We are exploring the use of elastic diffusers that allow the user to get the hand inside volumetric displays.
On the long-term development, we have shown how time-multiplexation of acoustic fields can lead to higher quality of acoustic patterns (Elizondo, 2023). In a master thesis (Aldea, 2023), we explored the combination of phased-arrays with static modulators to enhanced the resolution of the amplitude patterns that will be used to shape the light scatterers. We are focused on understanding how the acoustic fields can shape aerosols, fog or mist (small particles in general); we have detected a mechanism to do this based on the temperature of the air. Different scatterers are being studied in combinations with strobe, light-field and high-speed projection.
