Time Traveler layout details

salukikev

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Howdy ya'll!

So I found this forum while scavenging the internet on Sega's Time Traveler arcade game which was found while pursuing some options for a "hologram" project- and I'm delighted to have arrived here! I've already spent tons of time browsing through the amazing amount of resources this site has to offer, and so I'm trying to stay focused on my project instead of drifting off into the many awesome side-projects you guys are into.

Anyway- I'll try to cut to the chase here with regards to this post-- I'm trying to build my own holographic effect display, and so far I'm pursuing a technique demonstrated in the time traveler game. The trouble for me is I've never actually seen the game in person- just videos and a few scattered articles and pics on the internet. I checked the registry here and nobody near me (in Charlotte, NC) seems to have one that I could check out personally.

So- what I'd most like is for someone to clarify the layout for me. My understanding so far is this:
1. There is a CRT image source facing the user, but under/inside the cabinet.
2. There is a parabolic mirror section roughly a 90 degree arc with the axis near the display plane.
3. There is a display area surrounded by some plastic geometrical shapes to create an arena or stage area.

Please correct any areas that aren't correctly interpreted, but I'm most unclear on point 3- I can't really tell if it is reflecting the image off a transparent screen or if the user is actually looking into a mirrored surface (as in the Mirage Novelty toy), or none of the above.

Any info on the premise for this effect or similar designed projects would be greatly appreciated! I'd love to find someone quite familiar and talk to someone with 1st hand experience on this.
Thanks so much for any help or tips!
-Kevin
 
1. The CRT is facing away from the user, the mirror reflects it towards the user.
2. Pretty much true.
3. The display area is a piece of glass with wooden geometric shapes glued to it. The mirror reflection is displayed on the glass and appears to be 3D due to the differnet angles the light approaches from.


BTW, If anyone around you has a Holloseum it may help you. Holloseum used the same 3D tech, just substituting a normal arcade PCB for the laserdisk. It was an "upgrade" to Time Traveler due to poor sales and unreliable operation.
 
I can't really tell if it is reflecting the image off a transparent screen or if the user is actually looking into a mirrored surface (as in the Mirage Novelty toy), or none of the above.

the setup is this:

a. Sony Trinitron Monitor with tube surface facing toward back of game.
b. parabolic mirror in back half, facing forward, crescent shaped.
c. clear opening in level surface to provide portal to video, via mirror.
d. a fresnel pattern is made in this portal to create a magnified image.
this also has the added feature of distorting the image, should it be view at an angle, which helps from making the effect too obvious and provides some element of mystery.

e. the actual video being displayed is a composite of an upright, height-reduced and dimmer subject (the cowboy and enemies) beside a full-size, upside-down image of the characters in full brightness. when bounced through the mirror, the view shows normal characters and a diminished "reflection" that appears to be on the glass surface. the fluorescent geometric shapes lit by blacklight that are glued to the surface behind the portal help fortify this illusion. they are also usually forcibly removed by customers wanting a souvenir.
 
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More questions

Hey- thanks guys!

I have some more questions based on Yaggys comments:

I hadn't observed the fresnel involved previously- you are saying that it is actually on or within the display area on the top surface? Any idea of what sort of focal length it might have?

On the parabolic mirror- is there any way to find specific measurements on this optic? In the photos I've seen it appears nearly spherical. I'm modeling this item and will be building a custom design. If I can find some points to measure I could probably interpolate a spline and approximate the geometry before i polish it out.

Thanks for all the help! I'm going to also go search for a 'Holoseum' in the area! thanks for the tips!
-k
 
Hey- thanks guys!

I have some more questions based on Yaggys comments:

I hadn't observed the fresnel involved previously- you are saying that it is actually on or within the display area on the top surface? Any idea of what sort of focal length it might have?

On the parabolic mirror- is there any way to find specific measurements on this optic? In the photos I've seen it appears nearly spherical. I'm modeling this item and will be building a custom design. If I can find some points to measure I could probably interpolate a spline and approximate the geometry before i polish it out.

Thanks for all the help! I'm going to also go search for a 'Holoseum' in the area! thanks for the tips!
-k


Well, I think he is wrong on the fresnel lens. I have a time traveler sitting 6 feet from where I type this and I think the stage is just normal tempered glass.
 
I do hope he's wrong as that definitely makes my task that much more difficult! :) I'm still finding the mirror referenced in various places on the internet as either a parabola or a "concave" or spherical mirror-- still trying to work out how the geometry there works.
Thanks for the info on that!
My best discovery so far was this page:
http://game-restore.com/
Which references this drawing:
http://game-restore.com/images/Mirror-new.jpg

That cites a radius- indicating a sphere. It also cites an 82 degree angle focused the the tempered glass surface you mentioned. I'm not sure where that drawing originated however and so I'm not sure if it is accurate. It also cites some 'Havoc' guys project- so of course I have lots of questions there.. waiting on a response. Does that drawing seem accurate to you?
Thanks again!
-k
 
I was just about to mention game-restore. That's the best Time Traveler resource that I know of online.

I have a Time Traveler (and Holosseum) and I agree that the stage is just glass.
 
I am going off memory from working on them in the mid 1990s.
If two people have one and say it's just glass,
then it's just clear unmolested glass. Disregard this aspect.
 
Time Traveler

I just took the upper cabinet off the base, and removed the glass deck.
The images still look the same, but are harder to focus on.
The blocks on the deck help with the illusion that the pictures are in the air.

I measured the mirror and it is a sphere, the upper edge has no flange and is very week.
If you bought a 1/8" thick plexiglass dome, like what you see on security cameras and cut it in half,
then spray painted the outside black, you would have a mirror like the one in the game.
I made a drawing of the mirror that is shown on my website, game-restore.com
If you have any questions about it please Email me at [email protected]
Mike
Mikedlair
 
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