(Phys.org) —Nik Karpinsky quickly tapped out a few computer commands until Zeus, in all his bearded and statuesque glory, appeared in the middle of a holographic glass panel mounted to an office desk.
The white statue stared back at Karpinsky. Then a hand appeared and turned the full-size head to the right and to the left. Yes, it was quite clear, Zeus really was pictured in 3-D.
And there it was from one computer work station on the second floor of Iowa State University's Howe Hall to another down on the first floor: 3-D teleconferencing that's live, real-time and streaming at 30 frames per second.
"Four years ago, this would not have been possible," said Karpinsky, an Iowa State doctoral student in human computer interaction who's been working day and night to make the technology a reality.
Part of the problem is the complexity of the technology, said Song Zhang, Iowa State's William and Virginia Binger Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and the leader of the 3-D imaging project.
"There are a lot of skills involved," he said. "You have to do programming, optical engineering, hardware, software and networking."
