When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Future

Diving Into Photographs: Behold Interactive 3D Panorama

Diving Into Photographs: Behold Interactive 3D Panorama
Ivan Drapeau

ANGOULEME — What if, thanks to technology, you could literally dive into pictures? This technological prowess would make dreams of unexplored applications come true, especially with regard to defense simulation or the presentation of urban projects.

Andreas Koch, a 54-year-old animation entrepreneur in France, has reinvented the 360-degree image. The idea is not altogether new. In the Théâtre du Rond-Point (Roundabout Theater) in Paris, where the word “panorama” is carved in the pediment stone, fixed pictures that would wrap around the viewers were already on display at the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, at the Futuroscope in Poitiers as well as other theme parks, films made especially to be projected in 360 degrees are commonplace. But Andreas Koch has taken it one step further.

His work is based on his experience with Cortex Productions, a small company he owns that specializes in digital animation for medicine and pharmacy. Its offices are in Angoulême, a town in southwestern France that is also the capital of comics, where Koch moved 15 years ago. “I wanted to create beauty,” he says. “I wanted to do spatial art.”

With the help of two engineers, he developed interactive 3D panorama. The prototype has been on show all summer, just next to the Comic Strip Museum. Highly symbolic perhaps.

The company invested 750,000 euros ($1 million) in its “PARI” (Animated Tridimensional and Interactive Panorama), with the help of a regional authority that supports innovation from small- and medium-sized businesses. The prototype consists of a cylinder perched two meters up. The cylinder itself is 25 meters in circumference and 3 meters high, making it an 80-square-meter screen.

“It would be possible for the screen to be more than 2,500 square meters,” Koch says. Surrounded by the image, the viewer stands in the center, on a platform, wearing binocular glasses. “It’s a place of spontaneous exchanges, which is an important sociological element in an individualistic society,” he adds.

Computer-generated images

Two short films were created for the experiment. In the first, a dinosaur walks around in the countryside. When the viewer claps her hands, the scenery changes from day to night. In both cases, the viewer instinctively moves to avoid the dinosaur’s tail. The second film fits more into Cortex Production's savoir-faire. This time, the spectator is taken inside the human body, into the blood vessels, and is being bombarded with white and red blood cells.

Koch is very confident that his “PARI” project will be a success. “I know that prototypes don’t always find their audience in the market, but I’m convinced this one will. What we have to offer is a technological turning point,” he says.

There are two main reasons for his conviction. The first is that his small team has already overcome the technical barriers. After hours of calculations and programming, the six prototype projectors are perfectly coordinated, and the team succeeded in removing the usual splice that is visible on classic panoramas. The second reason is that the applications for this technology need not be limited to gaming or education.

“Imagine a candidate city for the Olympics that would present its project with an interactive 3D film,” he says. “That would be a game changer. And it’s now possible.” But Koch isn’t using this particular example randomly. He’s already looking for potential clients.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Black Sea Survivor: Tale Of A Ukrainian Special Agent Thrown Overboard In Enemy Waters

This is a tale of a Ukrainian special forces operator who wound up surviving 14 hours at sea, staying afloat and dodging Russian air and sea patrols.

Black Sea Survivor: Tale Of A Ukrainian Special Agent Thrown Overboard In Enemy Waters

Looking at the Black Sea in Odessa, Ukraine.

Rustem Khalilov and Roksana Kasumova

KYIV — During a covert operation in the Black Sea, a Ukrainian special agent was thrown overboard and spent the next 14 hours alone at sea, surrounded by enemy forces.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

The agent, who uses the call-sign "Conan," agreed to speak to Ukrainska Pravda, to share the details of nearly being lost forever at sea. He also shared some background on how he arrived in the Ukrainian special forces. Having grown up in a village in a rural territory of Ukraine, Conan describes himself as "a simple guy."

He'd worked in law enforcement, personal security and had a job as a fitness trainer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. That's when he signed up with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Main Directorate of Intelligence "Artan" battalion. It was nearly 18 months into his service, when Conan faced the most harrowing experience of the war. Here's his first-hand account:

Keep reading...Show less

The latest