PS3 ad makes Holodeck tech look possible

Immersive Imaging is the process of using state-of-the-art 3D projection mapping to create a life-like virtual space. Or, in the case of this PS3 ad, it's also a way to get your friend to wear a watermelon on his head and juggle fruit. Either way, the Star Trek Holodeck-ish technology is extremely cool to watch in action, even we are still a long ways off from seeing it in our own living rooms.

The video is part of the PlayStation Store's 'Great films fill rooms' campaign for its digital Video Store. The scene was allegedly filmed in one take with zero post-production touch-ups. To create the 3D effects, a PlayStation Move controller was attached to the camera, allowing the filmmakers to track, render, and project the CGI images in real time.

“In the past, projection mapping worked only from a single, static view point, and thus was very limited,” wrote the ad's director, explaining, “By attaching the PlayStation Move to the camera, we can track projections to screens in real time, enhancing the effect of spatial deformation and false perspective on the projections and allowing viewers to look round (virtual) corners, bend walls, create a hole in the wall, or remove the walls altogether to reveal vast expanses of virtual worlds.”

This is the third video in Sony's Video Store series. For more Immersive Imaging trickery, watch the complete set and a 'Making Of' film on the 'Great films fill rooms' website.