Tri-surface image projection system and method

• US 10,063,822 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2017
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pointcloud Media LLC
• Original Assignee: Pointcloud Media LLC
• Inventors: Hattingh, Jacobus G., Demafiles, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoang, Peter
• Application Number:
  US15/692,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20180027219A1
• Time in Patent Office: 362 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/06 Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/08 Projecting images onto non-planar surfaces, e.g. geodetic screens
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3147 Multi-projection systems displays in general H04N9/12; video walls G06F3/1446, G09G2300/026
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3185 Geometric adjustment, e.g. keystone or convergence optical or mechanical adjustment of convergence H04N9/317; using scanning means H04N3/22; optical or mechanical adjustments of projectors not peculiar to the presence of an electronic spatial light modulator G03B21/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3194 including sensor feedback

Abstract

Digitally acquiring digital media content using a computer model simulation of a real venue in which the digital content is to be shown. Frontally projecting content from a virtual center of the simulated venue, the real venue having a frontal screen and two side screens. Digitally capturing the frontally projected digital media content from a view that a real frontal projector and two real side projectors would have in real life in order to “bake in” a warped transformation of the frontally projected digital media content. Projecting the warped, transformed frontally projected content through a frontal digital projector and two side digital projectors in the real venue, thus completing an illusion of a “cinematic window” of the digital media content in the real venue. Controlling the digital projectors using a digital server to feed the three digitally captured, warped media streams synchronously to the front, left and right digital projectors.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

digitally acquiring digital media content selected from the group consisting of visual digital media content, audio digital media content, and digital data, and wherein the method comprises retrofitting the real venue, the real venue comprising an existing cinematic structure comprising a rear wall, a front wall, a floor, and left and right side walls;

creating a simulated venue using a computer model simulation of a real venue in which the digital content is to be played, and frontally projecting visual portions of the digital media content from a virtual center of the simulated venue onto a virtual frontal screen, a virtual left side screen, and a virtual right side screen, thereby electronically baking forced perspective images onto the virtual side screens;

digitally capturing, using virtual frontal, virtual left side and virtual right side cameras, the electronically baked forced perspective images of the frontally projected visual digital media content from a point of view that a real frontal digital cinema projector and each of two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors would have in the real venue;

projecting the digitally captured, electronically baked forced perspective images of the frontally projected visual digital media content through the real frontal digital cinema projector and the two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors in the real venue, thus completing an illusion of a cinematic window of the visual digital media content in the real venue; and

synchronizing the projecting using at least one digital server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the digitally acquiring digital media content comprises shooting actual film footage using actual cinematic components or rendering virtual images using virtual cinematic components, the actual or virtual cinematic components selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a single camera with a single spherical lens;

(b) a single ultra-wide and high-resolution (minimum 8 k) digital camera; and

(c) three individual digital cameras,

such that a focal point of the selected cinematic components represents a virtual center of a simulated venue created using a computer model simulation of a real venue having a real frontal screen, a real left side screen, and a real right side screen.

3. A system comprising:

one or more digital cameras or a digital computer using a gaming engine for digitally originating digital media content selected from the group consisting of visual digital media content, audio digital media content, and digital data;

the digital computer or a separate computer using a computer model simulation of a real venue in which the digital content is to be showed, the real venue having a real frontal screen, a real left side screen, and a real right side screen, the computer model simulation configured to virtually frontally project, using virtual projectors, a visual portion of the digital media content from a virtual center of the simulated venue onto a virtual frontal screen, a virtual left side screen, and a virtual right side screen, and electronically bake forced perspective images onto the virtual side screens;

the digital computer or a separate computer programmed to digitally capture, using virtual frontal, virtual left side and virtual right side cameras, the electronically baked forced perspective images of the frontally projected visual digital media content from points of view of a real digital projector projecting onto the frontal screen and two oppositely positioned real side projectors projecting onto the real left and right side screens would have in the real venue;

a real frontal digital cinema projector, a real right side digital cinema projectors, and a real left side digital cinema projector in the real venue, the real digital cinema projectors projecting the digitally captured, electronically baked forced perspective images onto the real frontal screen, the real left side screen, and the real right side screen adjacent the real frontal screen in the real venue that completes an illusion of a cinematic window of the visual digital media content in the real venue; and

at least one digital server configured to synchronize the frontal, left side and right side digital cinema projectors.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the digitally acquiring digital media content comprises shooting actual film footage using actual cinematic components or rendering virtual images using virtual cinematic components, the actual or virtual cinematic components selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a single camera with a single spherical lens;

(b) a single ultra-wide and high-resolution (minimum 8 k) digital camera; and

(c) three individual digital cameras,

such that a focal point of the selected cinematic components represents a virtual center of the simulated venue created using a computer model simulation of the real venue having a real frontal screen, a real left side screen, and a real right side screen.

5. The system of claim 3 retrofitted into the real venue, wherein the real venue comprises an existing cinematic structure comprising a rear wall, a front wall, a floor, and left and right side walls.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the real frontal digital cinema projector is positioned adjacent the rear wall.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein the real frontal screen is a primary reflecting screen having a left side edge and a right side edge.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the real left screen is a left-side reflecting screen positioned with one edge adjacent the left side edge of the primary reflecting screen.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the real right screen is a right-side reflecting screen positioned with one edge adjacent the right side edge of the primary reflecting screen.

10. The system of claim 5 wherein the floor slopes downward from the rear wall to the front wall at an angle ranging from 0 to about 30 degrees measured to horizontal.

11. The system of claim 3 wherein the primary, forward projecting digital cinema projector, the right side digital cinema projector, and the left side digital cinema projector each transmit an image at a resolution that is DCI compliant.

12. The system of claim 3 wherein each of the digital cinema projectors are selected from the group consisting of DLP and laser cinema projectors.

13. The system of claim 3 comprising an auxiliary right side digital projector projecting an auxiliary digital image onto a left side auxiliary screen separated from the left side extension screen, and an auxiliary left side digital projector projecting a right side auxiliary digital image onto a right side auxiliary screen separated from the right side extension screen.

14. The system of claim 3 wherein the server computer supports JPEG2000 and MPEG2 files, and dual-projector 3D playback.

15. The system of claim 3 wherein the real frontal screen, the real left side screen, and the real right side screen are rectangular.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method comprising:

creating a simulated venue using a computer model simulation of a real venue in which at least visual digital media content is to be shown, and frontally projecting the visual digital media content from a virtual center of the simulated venue onto a virtual frontal screen, a virtual left side screen, and a virtual right side screen, thereby electronically baking forced perspective images onto the virtual side screens;

digitally capturing, using virtual frontal, virtual left side and virtual right side cameras, the electronically baked forced perspective images of the frontally projected visual digital media content from a point of view that a real frontal digital cinema projector and each of two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors would have in the real venue;

projecting the digitally captured, electronically baked forced perspective images of the frontally projected visual digital media content through the real frontal digital cinema projector and the two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors in the real venue, thus completing an illusion of a cinematic window of the visual digital media content in the real venue; and

synchronizing the projecting using at least one digital server;

wherein the digitally captured, electronically baked forced perspective images and the digital media content projected by the two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors comprises a collection of digital files in a file structure that is organized into one or more multi-gigabyte size Material eXchange Format (MXF) files, which are separately used to store audio and video streams, and auxiliary index files in XML format.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the MXF files are compressed, encoded, and encrypted in order to reduce the amount of required storage, wherein an MXF file containing the digitally captured, electronically baked forced perspective images and the digital media content projected by the two real oppositely positioned side digital cinema projectors contains compressed JPEG 2000 essence, an audio MXF file is a wrapped 24 bit linear PCM multichannel WAV file, and the encryption accords with a standard that is at least AES 128 bit in CBC mode.