After several years of development, Canon took over Manhattan’s Classic Car Club on February 20 to unveil the MREAL System for Mixed Reality (MR), a new imaging solution that merges computer-generated virtual objects with reality in three dimensions. The technology is one of many that demonstrate the company’s wide reach in digital imaging, which goes far beyond cameras and document imaging devices like printers and MFPs. Consistently among the top recipients of US patents, Canon also makes broadcasting equipment, camcorders, and radiography and ophthalmic diagnostic equipment for use in medical fields.
Canon envisions numerous uses for MR technology, including the ability for manufacturers of high-end products, such as automobiles or MFPs, to create and visualize virtual prototypes without the expense of building actual test models. “In today’s competitive markets, companies are constantly looking for solutions that can help them introduce new products to market in a timely and efficient fashion,” said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager of marketing for Canon U.S.A.’s Business Imaging Solutions Group. “Canon has a very strong commitment to the augmented reality space, and by leveraging our strong heritage and leadership in optics, we intend to deliver solutions based upon Mixed Reality for use in industries including manufacturing, aerospace and entertainment.”
Like the more consumer-oriented Epson Moverio and Google Glass, Canon’s MREAL relies on a head-mounted display (HMD), a visor containing two video cameras and internal monitors that allows users to see a mix of their actual surroundings and CG imagery triggered by printed markers similar to QR (Quick Response) codes. The HMD transmits video to a computer, where MREAL solution middleware uses these markers to simulate designs, such as layouts from CAD software, in a user’s actual surroundings in three dimensions at full scale.
In a demo of virtual prototyping, BLI was able to experience a computer-generated, full-sized automobile while wearing the HMD as a Canon technician changed the interior and exterior colors, opened the doors, and lowered the convertible roof in real time. Another demonstration, borrowed from the Open University of Japan and National Museum of Nature and Science, took advantage of the technology’s ability to create immersive, interactive experiences, projecting the user into a prehistoric 3D world populated by dinosaurs.
The Canon MREAL System will be available March 1 at a cost of $125,000, which includes a single HMD and software. MREAL carries an additional fee of $25,000 per year for maintenance. Canon also offers an MR Platform Software Development Kit (MR SDK) enabling users to create software applications capable of leveraging Canon’s MREAL System and to integrate existing CAD and Graphic Design software with the Canon MREAL System.
Canon was recently awarded BLI’s 2013 Document Imaging Solutions Line of the Year, and its uniFLOW v5.1 received a Pick Award for Outstanding Output Management Solution.
