Assembling a 3-D aircraft engine in DUMBO — by waving your hands

May 8, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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‘Throttle Up’ isn’t your everyday interactive hologram

By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DUMBO — Visitors to 56 Water St. in DUMBO are being blown away by an interactive hologram experience by General Electric called “Throttle Up.”

Presented as part of “Creative Week 2012” — an advertising, design and digital media conference — “Throttle Up” lets participants assemble an advanced GEnx jet engine by making gestures in the air with their hands.

Participants start out by standing on a designated spot in a pitch-dark room, raising their hands and synching them with a motion-capture device. Then, with their hands appearing as blue glowing spots, participants move hundreds of swarming virtual metal components by “pushing” them around a massive display.

“This is very cool,” said one woman, who set a turbine spinning at a fast rate of speed. A worker at the exhibit said that some people moved the parts around quickly and others slowly, but the engine still came together in the end.

Several of the technologies involved include holographic projection techniques, a Unity video gaming engine and reactive sensory components, according to GE. The giant company is using the hologram to entertain and to show off its new high-performance Genx aircraft engine.

The free exhibit is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. from May 7 to 11 at 56 Water St. For more information, visit www.creativeweek.com.