Vortex Assembly

[@ancientjames]

Why not run it in a vacuum? Why not use higher resolution screens? These are the two most frequent comments on this video. The low resolution is linked to the need for extremely high refresh rates. The panels need to sweep around fast enough that persistence of vision turns them into a single image, and as they sweep around they need to light up a different pattern of light at every position in the volume. The panels have a resolution of 128x64, so to get an even density in 3D they need to be able to generate 2πr = 400 dots around the circumference - they need to update 400 times per revolution. At 25 fps for the volume, shared between two sceens, that's 400 x 25 / 2 = 5000 fps. These panels can handle this, in part because they allow very low level control and you can trade colour depth for refresh rate. If you increase it to a 1920x1080 OLED, it now needs 3000 slices - 37500 fps. The fastest gaming monitor is 500 fps. This is no longer the realm of a cheap hobby project. As for a vacuum - it's a very appealing idea. The shiny dome is reminiscent of a piece of CRT era technology, and the thin wide screens rotating at high speed look very unaerodynamic. But inside the dome the air quickly ends up rotating at the same rate as the rest of the mechanism. It's reaching its design speed with the motor at less than half duty cycle. Even if it were practical to make the whole thing airtight, it doesn't solve a problem that I currently have. The sound it makes doesn't come from inside the dome but from the motor in the base, and soundproofing that has a lot in common with soundproofing a PC. Isolate moving parts from the case, apply sound deadening materials, use a lower rpm motor. Don't block up the vents and prevent any airflow inside it.

[@Zuluknob]

The feet will also be passing vibration into the table, you could try adding speaker isolation feet (the cone and disc type), though it might not be stable.

[@freefallden]

Amazing project! I've heard you can get close to 20000 fps depending on the panels, with a wide gamut colour space. The demo I saw was for virtual production, the pixel pitch appeared quite high. The company in question did the dome in Vegas if you are looking to get some (free) sample hardware :)

[@Alex-wx4lp]

Where and how did you find the panels that support this high refresh rate? Do you have a AliExpress link?

[@freefallden]

@@Alex-wx4lp The panels are made in Canada, I visited the assembly plant. Probably not available on Aliexpress!

[@AuxiliaryPanther]

Also, putting rotating electronics in a vacuum means they will no longer b cooled by convection, but by radiation, which will be less efficient than designed, probably.

[@al3k]

Doom looked awesome in that.. with a bit of tweaking, like perhaps getting rid of most of the walls, that'd be a great mode to play.

[@nubmyr]

I think you can just look from a top down perspective if you want to since you don't have the limitation of looking from one angle.

[@ErakkoPapu]

​@@nubmyr There's no display to physically look from above. And besides, isn't it a bit silly to make this illusion and then play from top down perspective to see everything in 2D lol

[@eestaashottentotti2242]

Maybe isometric games would work nicely. Correct viewpoint.

[@londonnight937]

Usually volumetric displays look like crap. Yours is the first one I see that actually looks quite pleasing! Wonderful project, you should be proud of yourself.

[@Krilium]

People are harsh on screen companies for making things like 500hz monitors but after reading some of your comments, that's gonna be super useful for volumetric stuff. Perhaps they should bring that technology into low(er) res small screens so we can get more dense volumetric tech! Great work!

[@ShahZahid]

those already exist but are super expensive, people get angry at 500hz cuz on a monitor it doesn't make sense but for other stuff like R&D it does.

[@labbit35]

People kinda forget monitors aren’t just for entertainment n such

[@Lettuceman8135]

@@labbit35 but aren't monitors to display info to people? I can't think of any reason you would need a 500hz monitor more than a 120hz monitor, for human eyes at least, not to mention the increase in resource use for a computer to display things is 500hz. What non-entertainment use is there for 500hz monitors? I can't think of any.

[@labbit35]

@@Lettuceman8135 engineering n stuff? Like the one shown in the video?

[@Lettuceman8135]

​@@labbit35 I'm talking about full size monitors, the resource use would be a bit excessive, I'm not seeing any 1080p vortex displays, nor do I expect to for a good while. It would be very hard to spin something that big, fast enough, and safe enough. are there any engineering uses for a 500hz 1080p monitor? the only use I'm aware of is for gaming, which is excessive imo. Also, in ancientjames' pinned comment, he explains why you can't do this with a 1080p monitor, because the Hertz needed would be 37500hz, so the 500hz full size monitor market is definitely not aimed at volumetric display enthusiasts.

[@patrickcarpenter6258]

This is the MOST future looking display I have ever seen. I love the lower rez of the screen too. Makes it feel like something out out Star wars. Playing a game on it would be incredible.

[@hemmet2]

Kind of reminds me of some of the displays from the game Myst

[@HfLuo]

This is a cool project, and I'm astonished that you could get the rendering, processing and LED driving using only a Raspberry Pi! I've done a similar project back in 2013 (yes, that's more than 10 years ago!). Back then there's not much good LED panels like today, so I made my own panel using 74HC595 and red+green dot matrix LED modules. The finished device has a 48*48 panel driven by an Altera DE0 FPGA board, capable of displaying red/green/yellow point clouds. Your project brings me so much memories, and congrats for getting so far!

[@ancientjames]

I'd love to see that - are there pictures of it anywhere?

[@DheepanPillai]

Oh, this tempts me to build one with an FPGA. But I think display is the limiting factor these days as well.

[@Marcus-jt2ff]

I literally was thinking “yeah but can it play Doom” 1 second before you popped it on there. That messed with my head. I felt magic

[@TheMagneticDude]

On top of just how insanely cool this thing is, whats even more insane to me is how well balanced you managed to make it!

[@thisisaduck]

This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

[@Theo4871]

came here to say this, absolutely magical

[@DLaPorta]

This should absolutely be commercialized for gaming. Even at the ‘lower’ res it is spectacular. Wow. Awesome work.

[@hudsoncraftworks]

17:17 the burning question we were all asking. This is awesome. Well done on the design and execution. Looking forward to where you take this next!

[@wolkaiserdrake9946]

a semi true holo display, now this is beautiful

[@maciejgarlicki742]

looks like a ready commercial product, great job

[@Boboche]

This is a very well executed project and way cool. I worked with holographic tech back 25 yrs ago and I can fully appreciate the effort behind that project. Kudos! ❤

[@LolingStaz]

Ah this is using the same principles of those portable LED minifans but 3D! Thank you for making my dream come true 🎉

[@tomlouie2855]

Thank you for the ambient soundtrack. Very minimalist and soothing.

[@tsp706]

This is one of the best volumetric displays I’ve seen, well done! It kinda gives an atompunk/retro futuristic vibe! The glass, while mostly serving a functional purpose adds to the visual appeal too, I love the way some of the light gets reflected/refracted

[@WillDa713]

That man is a wizard. All this from a few circuits and plastic. I'm in awe.

[@rabbitrampage]

1 week after I plan my own one, start writing software, and order parts, you release yours. I got the same motor, same Rpi, P2 panels (but only enough for 1 side), different bearings, and a smaller slipring. Now I gotta decide do I just build it to your spec or keep going with my own. Thanks for the tutorial anyway, this should be really useful. Would you mind sharing your code or how you rendered/prepared content for the display?

[@ancientjames]

Honestly, keep going as you are. So many decisions in my design were informed by what I happened to have lying around. If I build another one, it'll be different. I'm planning another video to go with the software release.

[@Yabbo06]

@@ancientjames dreaming about it

[@thomgizziz]

No you weren't.

[@eaglenebula9080]

@@thomgizzizyeah he was, i was there too

[@SiriusBernd]

Definitely so your own version. That's the beauty of KZbin, that people do their own stuff. That's what makes it interesting to see, how other people do it You can still mention that in your video. And I mean, interestingly this happens quite often, that KZbinrs work randomly on the same thing 🤷‍♂️

[@janienwright3895]

Wooow, this has to become a real gaming interface.. Like playing games in actual 3D. That looks awesome!!

[@blackandwhite124]

this project is a stepping stone for humanity, seriously

[@mcjaggertyson6444]

I'm just about to start my Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. I just wanted to say, projects like this is what inspired me to do so. Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspiration👍

[@aserta]

Keep in mind that you can handle lead safely, and alter its shape to whatever you may wish (to make it more efficient than balls - in terms of space occupied) if you follow the two golden rules. 1. don't vaporize it (this means that after you have melted the lead, you don't want to make it reach its boiling point) 2. don't eat it (use a tuna can, on a camping stove). I printed a 3D squirrel cage fan with an OD of 30 cm and it was pretty unbalanced, followed the rules and cast thin lead air foil shaped prisms that fit inside the air foils of the fan. Perfectly balanced now. I cast them in silicone (which can take even hotter melting point metals than lead). Other than that, amazing project. Clearly a lot of your brain power went into it given just how polished it is. Good work!

[@unconcernedsalad2]

this is such an ingenious solution, truly a masterpiece

[@Magnymbus]

This feels so much like original trilogy star wars that I felt like a child again for a few minutes. Thank you. This may be the coolest thing I've seen this whole year.

[@ingusmant]

Dumb question but why not use higher res OLED screens? Just not bright enough? How many nits you need for this?

[@ancientjames]

The problem is the refresh rate. It's updating the volume 25 times per second to achieve persistence of vision, using 2 panels to do this so each one only updating at 12.5 times per second. Updating the volume means refreshing the panel multiple times as it spins. If you could update 4 times per revolution, that would let you display a thin cross, like the billboard grass in minecraft. Really you want the slices to be about the same density as the panel itself. These panels are 128 LEDs wide, so the circumference needs 2πr = 400 LEDs. 400 slices per revolution times 12.5 revolutions per frame requires a panel refresh of 5000 fps. This is achievable by these LED panels, but the fastest gaming monitor is only hitting 1/10 that.

[@grafja]

@@ancientjames You should pin this comment. I don't think many people are understanding that you're cycling through 400 cross-sections for every revolution of the screens, that are themselves rotating at 12.5 revolutions per second, necessitating the 5000 fps refresh rate. The fastest monitors are 360 hz (fps) right now? Not even close as you said.

[@ancientjames]

@@grafja huh, I didn't know you could pin comments.

[@haephaestus]

@@ancientjames can't you use 4 screens like sides of a cube ?

[@ancientjames]

This type of display works by lighting up points in space as the screens pass through them. With a four sided structure - or any arrangement where one of them doesn't pass through the axis - it can't reach every point in the volume. There would be a dark column up the middle. That said, I think there's a neat display that could be made with a 3- or 4- screen arrangement, for displaying a head in a jar. You don't need the central region or the back facing surfaces for that, and it would be a far simpler build mechanically.

[@jwsbruwer1276]

This is one of the coolest things i have seen forever, i wanna build something like this one day

[@I2ed3ye]

Pausing the video during the slimer super slow-mo demo is so cursed! I love it!

[@54l68l65l20l47l61l6D]

I love how it looks like the old vector displays except in 3D(!). Very cyberpunk. Great job.

[@schulzman1176]

I love the fact its so quiet where you are assembling you can hear the little wirs of the camera focusing very satisfying

[@njphill0119]

Holy hell this is impressive. You should make a video of the death star plans being shown like in a new hope.

[@RedRyan]

You're a master sir. This is amazing tech you were able to put together. Wonderfully done and very humbly

[@TheRealFOSFOR]

Amazing. It's truly incredible what anyone can make these days, if they just want to.

[@SubspaceWinter]

your design skills are insane i'm floored by how well everything fits together and how clean the prints and tolerances are and that huge display is beautiful! it really makes quite a sound as it spins up!!! I imagine it'd look even more wild in real life, but to see a volumetric display with this resolution is stunning even over video. Also that little OLED rotary encoder module is delightful :3

[@keshav2136]

That's a great lot of effort and a look into the future. Volumetric displays will soon find its place in the market. Awesome to see such tech.

[@tjf2939]

Such a simple technique, but amazing results! Very futuristic. I wonder when affordable volumetric displays will be on the market

[@hanif72muhammad]

Just amazing. It's been a long time since I'm amazed like this. And the fact anyone can make it at home is amazing

[@Y0n3z]

This is how i expected the nintendo vr headset to look back in the day. Sick work dude

[@technomaker777]

This is absolutely fantastic! Great display and great video!!!

[@benmakeseverything]

This extremely cool! And I know that it probably looks way better in person and is hard to capture on camera, as most persistence of vision devices are.

[@matt3gan]

Incredible construction and attention to detail! I particularly loved the UI you built for the balancing process - stunning work.

[@seancondev3321]

great project. so many technical domains to put together. The power brush bus is cool.

[@oldladmanmp4]

This is insanely impressive

[@antiphlex]

This is one of the most beautiful builds I have ever seen.

[@questionablerobots]

Can see the Vectrex being like this in some other timeline, love this project

[@Stevo_1985]

I don't think 10/10 quite represents the score required for the absolute effort you've put into this project. 1000/1000 might make more sense. You're quite the engineer! 🙂

[@southside_tactical]

Bro imagine what this could do if you scaled the Sphere up, and connected it to live medical/surgical cameras or even MRI's and LiDAR scans. 😮‍💨 This could have the potential to go from Hobbyist DIY to Life Saving and change history (archeologically speaking - would eliminate the need to physically interact with ancient sites while destroying them in the process) in a heartbeat.🔥 Keep going.🔥

[@happydawg2663]

Fantastic, I love your project. Thank you for sharing the process.

[@robb233]

Seeing how its built is just as enjoyable as watching the final product. Thanks!

[@PatrickHoodDaniel]

Nice work. What is the use of the accelerometer on the base. Is that for vibration in case the whole unit s not balanced?

[@DonChups]

This video is beautiful. Your device is beautiful. The images you display are beautiful. Thanks for sharing your work here.

[@askbatguy]

your quality of videos is amazing, cant believe i haven't been recommended you before, imma go binge all of your videos now

[@benmcreynolds8581]

This is the most amazing kind of creation of this sort. Seriously the visual quality and the way you can interact with the visuals is fascinating too

[@alamppmala]

That power cord solution is sooo satisfying

[@kamranki]

Lovely design! Looks like rocket science!

[@arceyplayz]

This has to look insanely mind-blowing in person.

[@elmikatv]

this is damn awesome! love the retro futuristic vibe, also the possibilities of high resolution etc, maybe samsung could hire you to develop this even further!

[@christophercook8]

After all the teaser clips, this answers all my questions. Thanks!

[@christophercook8]

Oh except image/video prep.. still curious on that

[@ancientjames]

I'm working on a more complicated video covering that. For the mechanical side you can just point a camera at the thing, but for software you need diagrams and explanations...

[@rohankalanje]

@@ancientjames I'm really keen to understand the software side of this. It seems simple in theory but complex to execute. I also really enjoy your work and think this is a great initiative that you are doing by publishing this! Keep up the good work!

[@Name_Pendingg]

feels one of those lego engineering videos but more advanced, i like it ^^

[@whereamigoing777]

I'm subbing purely for cool points. Your clever 3d printed "bowlcutter" and the project as a whole is so damn awesome!

[@themarsoff]

Шикарная, очень аккуратная работа 👍🏻

[@shirothehero0609]

Super rad. It gives a true 'volumetric display' vibe.

[@furankusama]

And it even ran Doom 👏😎

[@NoExplosionsMcgee]

r/itrunsdoom

[@theftking]

Could this render like a 3D volumetric fire sequence? Obviously a rather low res one? Adjust pixel colors based on the density and heat of each voxel? That'd look super cool.

[@Rodeo-vs2px]

Build quality & skill set EXCELLENT!

[@fl7977]

This is so insanely well done, both the project and the video

[@Chaos_God_of_Fate]

It'd be neat if these were common enough to make video games for. This would be great for strategy games.

[@maxsingh9770]

I've been following this project for a little while this is really nice, how did you record yourself clapping at 0:18 ? Keen for the follow up video you've mentioned replying to other comments.

[@the2bros693]

You can do it with a microsoft kinect

[@ancientjames]

I used an app called Record3D to stream from the depth camera on an iPhone. It’s really hard to get good footage of it - 2D video of a noisy moving point cloud on a pov display - and only that quick tease made the cut. I’ll upload a separate demo eventually.

[@erniecamhan]

Beautifully designed, amazing construction

[@Loochis]

this is SO cool! I really want to build one now

[@SnifferRiffle]

It looks so retro and futuristic at once.

[@paiggey]

This is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

[@lucasub360]

This is absolutely incredible!!

[@AnorexicPandas]

I like that you show all the parts

[@KPsTboy]

Beautiful build, you got some talent there 👍

[@hylapaprika3550]

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while!!

[@darth_dan8886]

Quite an amazing piece. Surprised the dots stay so consistently in the same spots - Wonder if the picture could be enhanced if the two sides of the matrix were offset by 1/2 LED spacing in both axis. But perhaps this is as good as it gets with premade grids and only custom PCB's would enhance that.

[@bbrockert]

Really neat! I particularly liked the bowl cutting tool. A quick tip for next time is that your CAD software can compute center of gravity, so if you include everything in the model (and weigh the parts to verify as you make them) then you can get extremely close on the balancing weights without having to try multiple approaches.

[@CZRWK]

This is amazing, but even if the resolution and refresh rate could improve to make it a feasible desktop display the physical footprint would be massive. I still love the project and I could see this being a commercial product. Way to go!

[@NestorCustodio]

I've seen garden hoses thinner than this man's veins. (Phenomenal job on the display, BTW.)

[@Ryan-lk4pu]

Is the completed build as quiet as it seems? You have made something incredible here. Well done 👏

[@DanielSpringwald]

Wow, this is amazing - and at the end a really simple construction principe for such an impressive machine...

[@helipilotuh1]

Huge 80’s sci fi vibes. Good job.

[@omargaray9457]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing this with all of us, I have read everybody in talking and asking about better panels but I have another very important question, THE CONTENT!!! HOW DO YOU DO IT?, I have always wonder How the content is made? Once again congrats 🙏🙏🙏

[@dailybusiness8162]

Precision work! Nice design, stunning result! Subscribed ❤

[@sonofamortician]

absolutely love it, love watching you make it, it is hypnotic and you are obviously extremely competent, my compliments. A small question though, there are two screens and the one side is closer to the axis. and the other the depth of the thickness of the P1.875 128x64 Hub75 matrix (x2) offset, so when it spin how do you account of the two different depths as you see the front and back, is it something you had to account for in code?

[@ancientjames]

Yes, the code has to deal with that. As they rotate, they each draw a line through the voxel grid, where the slope of the line is driven by the current angle. The screen depth means that they also need to add an offset perpendicular to that line. I have a calibration step where I can interactively tweak the amount of offset to get it to all line up.

[@sonofamortician]

@@ancientjames very clever

[@276-]

this is so cool! i wonder how much this project will progress later!

[@JaimeRuiz-w7z]

Amazing work, gorgeous.

[@4k0y0t3]

This is awesome. Great job and thank you for the tutorial! I think using lidar data for topography would look awesome on this display. So awesome in fact that I plan on using your tutorial to make one. Can’t wait for the software to drop!

[@randynovick7972]

This is way way cool. What a great project! Nice work!

[@MuffinOfPotato]

i have no doubt this took a very long time but you make this look easy as hell lol

[@peaxoop]

I have been hoping for a long video for this

[@zavallagarciaricardo3924]

Truly a great piece of engineering!

[@loordimus]

Truly amazing, magnificent work.

[@theawesomer]

Super cool build! Really impressive!

[@ArtificialDjDAGX]

gaming on one of these would go so hard, onl! Better yet, getting a replay similar to that doom one, and having it play on this, so you can see what things you did well, what things you could improve upon, and any secrets you missed :3

[@Hekai]

Okay that's actually insane, feels like witnessing history

[@NickMoore]

Look up "balance Balls" or "Balance Beads." You can add a ring filled with marbles, BBs, whatever, that will dynamically balance your rotating assembly.

[@PopeRocket]

17:50 All that's missing is a Coca-Cola logo and gas refinery exhaust fireball. And Vengelis doing the soundtrack.

[@Ninjibpsy]

This is awesome! Amazing job👍