Amazon wants to use holograms to turn your rooms into an augmented reality

Internet giant Amazon was recently granted a patent that visualizes holograms playing a central role in future living rooms. The patent, granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office on December 1^st , shows off a system consisting of computers, projectors, cameras, microphones, sensors, and multiple reflectors that will beam holograms and virtual objects into your living room to transform it into an augmented reality.

But this technology won’t just be targeting living rooms — it’s designed to be built into all kinds of rooms, whether for personal, business, or retail use.

In one patent document, Amazon stated, “Augmented reality allows interaction among users, real-world objects and virtual or computer-generated objects and information within an environment. The augmented reality may range in sophistication from partial augmentation, such as projecting a single image onto a surface and monitoring user interaction with the image, to full augmentation where an entire room is transformed into another reality for the user's senses.”

Hand gesture commands could be picked up by cameras mounted in the ceiling. Image source: US Patent and Trademark Office.

The idea is that users could walk into a room and issue a voice command, make hand gestures or snap their fingers, or tap the wall, and this would activate augmented reality functions, such as a 3D movie or video game on the walls, tables, and floors. Impressively, the projector could even be used to beam a ball onto your hands which you have to try to hit.

Amazon’s concept involves projectors mounted on the ceiling that cast images and holograms of virtual objects onto any surface, along with a projector resembling an extendible desk lamp.

Instead of sitting in a chair holding a physical e-reader or book, for example, the projector could be positioned so that the user could hold onto a tablet-sized projection screen, and the system would project the pages of the book onto the portable screen.

Amazon is envisioning users being able to interact with all surfaces in the room in augmented reality, while extendible desk lamp-like projectors beam virtual pages to replace physical books. Image source: US Patent and Trademark Office.

“User interfaces have traditionally relied on input devices such as keyboards, which require physical manipulation by a user,” Amazon wrote in a second patent document concerning object tracking. “Increasingly however, it is desired to detect and monitor the physical positions and movements of users within a scene or environment.”

Though this isn’t the first time Amazon attempted to create a 3D display, such as its Fire Phone, the concept is exciting. Watching modern technology transform the world as we know it will sure be interesting.

Source: IBTimes