Bleen^ is the name of an Indigogo campaign^ that has already raise $50,000 of a $250,000 goal, and claims to sell a clear air 3D projection system that has been widely decried^ as breaking the laws of physics, and most likely being some kind of hoax or scam.
The campaign itself is very slick, but closer inspection reveals very little of substance. There are impressive looking images of the system in operation, but they are all simply composite images of stock photos.
The above image is a good example of the impossibility of the claims. It's in a brightly lit room, and yet is projecting characters that are a dark grey. It would have to project darkness - this is physically impossible.
They have a slick looking video, but it's only slick because it's just stock footage^, with a bit of 3D compositing that any computer art student could do:
Again the above image is physically impossible, with a brightly lit window being somehow darkened by projected light.
There looks like an impressive array of people working on the project, but suspiciously they don't seem to appear anywhere else. The "Chief Scientist", for example, Vladimir Titar, sounds impressive:
He even has his own Wikipedia page, however it is entirely unreferenced, full of claims that lack citations, and has been flagged for deletion: [Update: now deleted]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Titar
If, as pretty much everyone on the internet has suggested, this is a scam, then why are people falling for it? I think this is largely because people have an unrealistic perception of what is possible with 3D projection systems, based on what they have seen on TV, or possibly at live events, or even at theme parks.
Remember, what Bleen claims to be is a "clear air" hologram. A projection essentially onto nothing more than the air in the room, and which is visible in full color in daylight. There is no known way of doing this that conforms to the current understanding laws of physics.
The only current clear air projection system uses focussed powerful lasers to excite the air to a plasma state (effectively superheating the air so that it explodes in a rapid series of tiny localized sparks). This creates a very simple monochrome image of a few dots. It's also accompanied with a loud buzzing sound, as it's like a very rapid series of tiny explosions. It's actually quite dangerous.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNoOiXkXmYQ
So if that's the state of the art, then why do people think that full color clear air projections are possible in their living room for $400? The answer starts with Tupac, and his posthumous appearance at the Chochella music festival as a "hologram".
In fact this was not a hologram, it was not even 3D, it was simply a form of live image compositing that has been used for over a hundred years. The live performer (Snoop Dogg) stands behind a semi-transparent reflective screen, which reflects a 2D image (of a computer generated Tupac) projected onto the ground in front of it, as seen in this patent^:
While that patent is from 1999, the actual technique has been around for much longer. It's known as "Pepper's Ghost"
So since so many people are superficially familiar with "holograms" being used over the last ten years, they see nothing amazing about Bleen's claim. The problem here is that the Tupac style "holograms" are entirely unlike what is being claimed by Bleen.
Another "hologram" that isn't a hologram is the increasing use of three dimensional compositing in TV news.
This is even less of a hologram than the Tupac example. The image is not even there in the studio, it's just composited together with one person in a green screen studio, and a set of cameras that are synchronized^.
So it seems like Bleen are taking advantage of these unrealistic expectations, and having people send them money for what appears to be nothing less than a magic box. Why is Indigogo allowing this? Queries about the campaign got this stock response from the "Trust and Safety" department:
So if you give them money it's essentially a donation, and they don't have to give the money back, let alone actually deliver you a magic projector. See the disclaimer on the Indigogo page:
http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?opt...ing-clean-with-their-facts&catid=35&Itemid=73 (http://archive.today/UGxmn)
http://www.vrvalley.com/blog/2014/11/18/is-bleen-the-real-deal-or-is-it-just-a-bleening-fake (http://archive.today/7vcy3)
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2ml56m/is_bleen_a_scam/
(http://archive.today/zlAd4)
http://betabeat.com/2014/11/could-this-holograph-projector-be-the-next-great-indiegogo-scam/ (http://archive.today/ga1ZI)
The campaign itself is very slick, but closer inspection reveals very little of substance. There are impressive looking images of the system in operation, but they are all simply composite images of stock photos.
The above image is a good example of the impossibility of the claims. It's in a brightly lit room, and yet is projecting characters that are a dark grey. It would have to project darkness - this is physically impossible.
They have a slick looking video, but it's only slick because it's just stock footage^, with a bit of 3D compositing that any computer art student could do:
Again the above image is physically impossible, with a brightly lit window being somehow darkened by projected light.
There looks like an impressive array of people working on the project, but suspiciously they don't seem to appear anywhere else. The "Chief Scientist", for example, Vladimir Titar, sounds impressive:
He even has his own Wikipedia page, however it is entirely unreferenced, full of claims that lack citations, and has been flagged for deletion: [Update: now deleted]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Titar
They also have a (non-working) online store^, but again the images are just mockups.External Quote:
If, as pretty much everyone on the internet has suggested, this is a scam, then why are people falling for it? I think this is largely because people have an unrealistic perception of what is possible with 3D projection systems, based on what they have seen on TV, or possibly at live events, or even at theme parks.
Remember, what Bleen claims to be is a "clear air" hologram. A projection essentially onto nothing more than the air in the room, and which is visible in full color in daylight. There is no known way of doing this that conforms to the current understanding laws of physics.
The only current clear air projection system uses focussed powerful lasers to excite the air to a plasma state (effectively superheating the air so that it explodes in a rapid series of tiny localized sparks). This creates a very simple monochrome image of a few dots. It's also accompanied with a loud buzzing sound, as it's like a very rapid series of tiny explosions. It's actually quite dangerous.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNoOiXkXmYQ
So if that's the state of the art, then why do people think that full color clear air projections are possible in their living room for $400? The answer starts with Tupac, and his posthumous appearance at the Chochella music festival as a "hologram".
In fact this was not a hologram, it was not even 3D, it was simply a form of live image compositing that has been used for over a hundred years. The live performer (Snoop Dogg) stands behind a semi-transparent reflective screen, which reflects a 2D image (of a computer generated Tupac) projected onto the ground in front of it, as seen in this patent^:
While that patent is from 1999, the actual technique has been around for much longer. It's known as "Pepper's Ghost"
So since so many people are superficially familiar with "holograms" being used over the last ten years, they see nothing amazing about Bleen's claim. The problem here is that the Tupac style "holograms" are entirely unlike what is being claimed by Bleen.
Another "hologram" that isn't a hologram is the increasing use of three dimensional compositing in TV news.
This is even less of a hologram than the Tupac example. The image is not even there in the studio, it's just composited together with one person in a green screen studio, and a set of cameras that are synchronized^.
So it seems like Bleen are taking advantage of these unrealistic expectations, and having people send them money for what appears to be nothing less than a magic box. Why is Indigogo allowing this? Queries about the campaign got this stock response from the "Trust and Safety" department:
That was Nov 14, nearly two weeks ago, and the campaign is still there. And note that they use "Flexible Funding", which means they will get all the money raised, even if they don't raise all that they claim they need to make the product.External Quote:
So if you give them money it's essentially a donation, and they don't have to give the money back, let alone actually deliver you a magic projector. See the disclaimer on the Indigogo page:
Other sites that have a skeptical view of these claims:External Quote:
http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?opt...ing-clean-with-their-facts&catid=35&Itemid=73 (http://archive.today/UGxmn)
http://www.vrvalley.com/blog/2014/11/18/is-bleen-the-real-deal-or-is-it-just-a-bleening-fake (http://archive.today/7vcy3)
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2ml56m/is_bleen_a_scam/
(http://archive.today/zlAd4)
http://betabeat.com/2014/11/could-this-holograph-projector-be-the-next-great-indiegogo-scam/ (http://archive.today/ga1ZI)
Last edited:
