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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Asanka's dream : Seeing through another dimension by Ranga Kamaladasa
Tell us about yourself? My name is Asanka Jayamal Rajakaruna. I'm 26-years-old. I went to Lalith Athulathmudali College in Mt. Lavinia and I did my A/Ls at Nalanda College. There, I was the General Secretary of the inventors club and a member of the aeronautical society. Right now all I'm doing is dedicating my full capacity to making my invention a success. What are the existing 3D visualisation techniques and what are the differences between those and your invention? There are 2 types of techniques. One is the hologram and the other one is the stereoscope. A hologram is a 3D visual that you can see from different angles. Suppose you take a hologram of an object - you go around the object and see all sides. But in a hologram we can only take still pictures. It is unable to get moving pictures and the main disadvantage is that it captures very little objects. For example if we use a camera we can get a picture of a scene. But you can't do that with a hologram. You have to bring the object to the laser torch. So you can only capture small objects. The second one is the stereoscope system. That is similar technique to the human eye. When we look at something the two eyes take separate pictures. I can give you an example mathematically, suppose there are 3 points A, B and C. If we know the distance between A and B and if we know at what angles they are in to C we can get the correct distance of C relative to A or B. Our eyes are like that. The distance between our eyes remain constant and when we move our eyes we move the angle of our eyes. The stereoscope has two cameras and the right camera is brought to the right eye and the left camera is brought to the left eye. So we can see an image with depth but it does not allow us to see the image in different vision angles. The inventive step of my system is we can see the same image from different vision angles, just like looking through a window. Imagine you have a window here and there is a mountain outside. Maybe, if you keep your eyes near the window you'd be able to see the whole mountain. My invention is just like a window. You can see the mountain as if you are looking through a window. What have you developed, the capturing or displaying system? Both. Actually there are several parts of the invention not just the television. We have to build up the television, camera and the transmitting system. All those systems were invented by me. To make such a 3D visual, it's compulsory to take the pictures with an exclusive camera. I also developed a way to capture still images, like the usual picture you can hang around a wall. It does not need an electrical supply or anything but it appears as a 3D image. So it'll be just like a normal framed picture? Not exactly. You need a MOMPRO-vista camera to take the picture and you need to have a special MOMPRO-vista frame to place the picture. You've given MOMPRO-vista as the name for this. Is there any reason? The word MOMPRO comes from MONTAGED OMNY PROFILED. Which means it consists of pictures or films that consists of several items put together. What was the inspiration behind it? In grade 6 I came across an article. Actually the paper was on the ground and accidentally I leaned over and picked it up. It read scientists are attempting to make 3D visuals, so we would be able to see 3D television in the future. So it inspired me and it made me think about it very hard. At that time I had no technical knowledge or background knowledge. I couldn't even make a simple light circuit to work. But it provoked me to find about the television and the electrons and other background knowledge. Is that it? Actually it was a dream, I visualised from the moment I read that article I was going to do this. Although I had no knowledge at all I kept dreaming about it, thinking it would be like this or that. Having no knowledge of 3D visuals was actually a good thing. Because if I knew about the existing technologies I would've tried to improve those, not build my own invention. You haven't had a higher education. So how did you learn these things? In many ways. First I asked from our school masters. And I read many books on television and electronics to get material for my invention. When in grade 8 I heard about the electromagnetic spectrum. Once I learned about it I began to think about the spectrum. So first I studied a model from a spectrum. I think that's my first knowledge related to the optics. Later I learned about refraction of lenses and a lot of optics. So with my academics I learned a lot. Also I went to many exhibitions and television repairing stations and many others where I could gain knowledge. For A/Ls I studied Pure Maths and Physics two subjects which were important for me. I could complete the final theory for my invention using these two subjects. But that was not the end. I had many challenges I had to deal with before finishing my invention. What kind of challenges? The first one was, I had no facilities to conduct practicals. All the things I discovered, I did using my mental capacity. The overseas researchers have many facilities like computer labs and so on. But I had no such tactics. So what I did was I put forward my concept using mathematics I argued if we divide a light field by using, polarisation theory we would be able to capture the 3 dimensional configuration of the image. Actually it gave me real pleasure because once I did a small experiment to prove the theory, it turned out just the same. Who are the people who influenced you? A lot of people. The engineers at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, various lecturers from the University of Moratuwa. They helped me a lot and answered my questions regarding this field. What is your progress at the moment? Now it's in the prototype stage. Actually we can't see the image 3 dimensionally in the prototype, but the purpose of that was only to prove my theory. My next step is to make a 3D image. So the next step would be to make something like a box that would have its front as a camera and the rear as a display. That would skip through the process of transmission. How far do you think this will go? Will the industry buy it? For example look at HD-TV. It's only popular in some countries and majority of the people don't watch it? There are several aspects we have to consider when applying this on a commercial scale. I can't make an estimate on how much this technology will cost. But definitely even if it doesn't become popular among the common consumers it will be widely used in fields like engineering, medical examinations, planetary observations and so on. But if you buy a MOMPRO - vista television in the future you would also be able to see normal television channels from that as well. See, even if we have a colour TV and we only have black & white transmission, we can still see that image. So buyers will be encouraged to get a MOMPRO-vista television because it's like an add-on feature. If this technology comes true what will the future look like? There are so many possibilities. From tele-medicine to planetary explorations to engineering fields. You see, in planetary explorations for example, if we sent a robot to Mars, the images it captures is only visible to the scientist down on earth after 8 min, because it takes 8 min for the data to reach earth. So if you want to rotate a camera, one single turn will take 16 min to take effect. But with the MOMPRO-vista you can easily turn your head and see the other side. Also you can make invisible objects. Invisible objects? Yes. Say you have a box and you have a MOMPRO-vista camera on one side and a MOMPRO-vista display on the other. You would feel no difference because the light will pass straight through it like a window. So in the future things like whole space ships can be turned invisible using this technology. What was Arthur C. Clarke's expression when you showed him your invention? He was very positive. When I showed this to him we discussed about the applications that this would have. Planetary explorations and many things. He was also inspired by this. He told me that we can revolutionize planetary exploration with this kind of technology. What are you're future plans? My ambition is to build a MOMPRO-vista field. Not only the camera but also the art of capturing, even ethics and manners of the whole field. You see John Beard only invented the television set. He didn't invent the transmission and all that is related to it. But I want to dedicate my whole life to this. From the technical side to the ethical side I want to see it come true. Is there anything you'd like to say to young ambitious inventors? I'd say do not do things that you have the ability to do. For example if you use your knowledge to do something, that would be a very small thing. But if you dream about something, you will attain a much higher goal. As I have done. The only thing I did was dream. I dreamt about a higher goal. Actually I didn't know it was a higher goal until I got some knowledge but still I kept dreaming about it. So I ask you to visualise a goal and do everything possible to achieve that. Maybe someone might think that they have the capacity to do only something like this. But if someone can visualise something greater and dedicate his life for that goal he or she would be able to achieve that. Right now Asanka needs funding to go ahead with his prototype. If anyone is willing to give him support, he can be contacted on 2727763.
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| Produced by Lake House |
He's
26-years-old and he has a dream. A dream that one day his invention of a 3
dimensional imaging system will be used all over the world. Already Sir
Arthur C. Clarke and several other leading engineers in that field have
commended his effort as the 'Most advanced 3D visualisation technique
available to date in the world.' 
