At left is an example
of Radio Frequency
Identity and
Geometry, a system
that projects images
onto physical objects
while connecting to
tiny identification
tags with photosensors that are
embedded in the
objects themselves.
Objects can be
located quickly with
a handheld projector
that activates the
radio tags.
Below right, the
pocket projector can
connect to various
devices, such as digital cameras, PDAs
and cell phones. The
projector lets you
project an image
onto a nearby
surface, below left,
making it much more
viewable than on a
device’s tiny screen.
duction into a commercial product is
seven years. Which is why Raskar remains
in motion. In numerous papers and presentations, he continues to probe the outer
edges of light. A Raskar design for a modular projector for cell phones or PDAs is
already on sale. It can take a photograph
stored on the device and project it onto a
nearby surface, surmounting the limitations
of tiny screens. Another Raskar project:
projectors that adapt to their surface,
whether slanted, rough or painted, canceling out distortion to deliver a perfect
image.
One of the challenges the young scientist presents, say those who work with
him, is simply keeping up the energy that
makes moving between concepts like these
so apparently effortless. Paul Dietz, who
works with Raskar at MERL, has supplied
ideas and hardware for projects involving
multiple, adaptive projectors, work that
extended from aligning images on projection surfaces to RFIG. “Team Ramesh,”
said Dietz, “is an intense experience,”
recalling the researcher’s habitual push to
complete work for upcoming conferences,
a ’round-the-clock marathon that sometimes starts a month before deadline.
If Raskar might be called a driven man,
he’s also a bit of a showman, given to projects that enable eye-catching demonstrations at trade shows, as attendees of the
annual SIGGRAPH computer graphics
conference learned in 2004. “Ramesh
came to me saying we needed to do
something memorable,” Dietz said. “I
joked that we could dress up like the Village People and sing ‘R-F-I-G’ to the tune
of Y-M-C-A.” Next thing I knew, I was in
front of 5,000 people, wearing a cowboy
hat and showing why I’d never make it on
American Idol.”
The world as painted scene
A fascination with the creative uses of
projection goes back to Raskar’s childhood
in India. Growing up around technology
— his father was an electronics engineer
— he became entranced with mathematics
and recalls thinking of the world in computer graphics terms before he ever saw a
PC. “I really believed the world was just an
illusion,” he said, laughing. “I think many
