On the 20th of June 2007, PC World magazine (US) has compiled an article that showcases the innovations and inventions that are currently going on in five prominent computer labs in the world. Among them were IMAX at Home by HP, The Midair Mouse by Microsoft Research, The Perfect Machine by Bell Labs, Extreme Peer-to-Peer by Jacobson and his team of PARC, and The Man-Made Brain by IBM. All five ideas reflected the shape of future computing.
Of all the ideas described in the article, one of them stands out the most. If it is possible to run an IMAX at home using stacked projectors, then what is stopping the very idea of running a home theatre system using linked speaker devices? In today’s article, I am going to discuss the possibility of piecing up laptops into a 3D grid and turning the whole scheme into a home theatre system.
Proposal: To turn a set of laptops into a home theatre system.
Objective: A number of laptops (minimum three) are obtained and stacked according to an open-ended trapezoid shape.
Method: 12 laptops are obtained and arranged in a three-sided trapezoid manner. Each side consists of four laptops, which are linked to a central unit via LAN cables; the central unit can be any of the laptops. When a movie is played on the central unit laptop, the audio algorithm is used to optimize the 3D effect by transmitting the sound and varying the volume on each of the laptops.
Discussion: Firstly, the home theatre system requires some form of calibration. This is essential to allow the algorithm to pinpoint the exact locations of the laptops, and therefore conferring the 3D effect. The optimization is done by using the in-built microphones on the laptops, which is a common item in modern notebooks. The sequence involves the emission of an audio sample from one of the laptops. When this happens, the laptops that are in the pathway of the sound waves would pick up the transmission and notify the central unit laptop of the associated amplitude, the time it takes for the waves to travel across the space and any possible interference. The process is repeated again with the adjacent laptops until the central unit laptop has a fairly good idea of the position of the laptops in the space. Utilizing this knowledge, the algorithm can then adjust the volume of each laptop when a movie is played in order to yield the 3D audio effect.
Secondly, the design consists of a gap in the center. It is envisaged that if this idea is coupled with Chang et al.’s Pluribus concept, then it is possible to create an IMAX home theatre system. Otherwise, the central gap can be omitted from the system or replaced with another two laptops.
Thirdly, the screen of the laptops can be employed to display ambience that corresponds to the movie scene. This is a similar concept used by Phillips in the production of Philips 42PF9976 Plasma TV Display. It has been proven by research that “watching television with Philips unique Ambilight results in a noticeably better picture”. Accordingly, by reducing the brightness contrast between the surrounding and the movie, which therefore relaxes the eyes of the viewer, the Ambilight technology “allows the perception of more detail, more brightness, more contrast and truer colours”. Likewise with the home theatre concept, the ambience radiated from the laptops can serve as a contrast buffer in order to enhance the viewing experience.
Fourthly, the laptops can be optionally connected to the central computer via Wi-Fi instead of wired LAN. However, the LAN option appeals better because it reduces the possibility of signal interference between the laptops. On top of that, wired LAN clearly outweighs Wi-Fi when it comes to the speed of data tranmission. This point becomes important when high load of high-definition audio are carried every second between laptops. Lastly, the laptops are at lesser security risks of being intruded from elsewhere when they are running.
Fifthly, despite the fact that laptop speakers tend to be less powerful, if the setup is made in a closed environment, this weakness may not be as blatantly obvious. Othewise, desktop speakers can be hooked up to the laptops to overcome the limitation.
Finally, the system setup does not require any special rack to position the laptops. Instead, ordinary furniture like book racks or wine racks can be used for the laptop placement. This is because with the calibration step described in the first point, the laptops can “discover each other” in the spatial environment, and therefore allowing varying levels of volume from each laptop to simulate a home theatre system regardless of the position.
Summary: Knowing that Chang et al. have had success with simulating IMAX atmosphere using readily available projectors, it is reasonable to believe the application of such concept onto the audio aspect is possible. Given that laptops are becoming more and more common in households, one can throw a laptop party on one of the nights and form an ad-hoc home theatre system.
Selling points
- There is no need to purchase special electronic equipment to make a home theatre system. Instead, ordinary modern laptops are sufficient to take over the role
- Specialised home theatre racks are not crucial to the running of the home theatre system. Rather, book racks are adequate to fulfil the needs
- The screen projection from the laptops can serve as an ambience radiator
- The concept is very cost effective as the laptops that form the home theatre system can be used on their own as an electronic device when they are not in a grid
- The utilization of the microphone feature of the laptops for calibration allows fine-tuning and optimization of 3D sound in the space
This article has been cited as a news on JB Online (English Translation) and Yahoo! (English Translation).
Keywords: HP, Nelson Chang, Pluribus, Niranjan Damera-Venkata, IMAX at Home, Five Ideas That Will Reinvent Modern Computing, PCWorld, Laptop Home Theatre, Ambience laptops.
