RePro3D lets you touch 3D characters

If you’ve always fantasized about the idea of interacting with video game characters using your own hands instead of a video game controller, that idea is not so far away. At CEDEC 2011, a research group from Keio University presented RePro3D – a naked eye 3D display which viewers can touch a 3D character that’s floating in mid air. The RePro3D is made up of a mechanically-controlled model environment, a tactile interface and a glasses-free 3D integral imaging display.

Users look through a full-parallax 3D display system that uses “retro-reflective projection technology” to show stereoscopic 3D images without the use of special glasses. An infrared camera is used to detect the position of the user’s hand, which then lets the on-screen character react accordingly. A tactile device worn on the user’s hand gives the sensation of touching something physical.

The technology is far from perfect right now, as evident in the video, but it’ll eventually get there someday. Check out the demonstration video for yourself to see the RePro3D in action: