Method and system for automated production of autostereoscopic and animated prints and transparencies from digital and non-digital media

• US 20060023197A1
• Filed: 07/27/2004
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Volugraphics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Volugraphics, Inc.
• Inventors: Joel, Andrew H.
• Application Number:
  US10/899,847
• Publication Number:
  US 20060023197A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 355/77
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 35/24 using apertured or refractive resolving means on screens or between screen and eye

Abstract

A method and system for automated production of stereoscopic and animated images and hardcopies can utilize a light-sensitive lenticular material employing a conventional or non-conventional photographic emulsion or an instant-developing material. An automated printer can produce autostereoscopic and animated hardcopies in multiple formats from digital and non-digital sources, including single images, stereopairs, and multiple-image sets of negatives, transparencies, or prints. The printer, which includes a projection device and a material plate that can rotate around two perpendicular axes, can utilize software to automate viewing angle calculation, printer control, multiple-image alignment, distortion correction, and image processing and conversion. A digital camera can capture stereoscopic and animated images and record them digitally or on photographic film. A non-digital camera can record stereoscopic and animated images directly onto light-sensitive lenticular material employing a conventional or non-conventional photographic emulsion or an instant-developing material. The printer and cameras can utilize autostereoscopic monitors to preview parallax.

Claims

1. A printer for printing images onto lenticular material, said printer comprising:

a) a material plate capable of rotating around two perpendicular axes; and

b) a projection device.

2. The printer of claim 1, wherein said material plate rotates around the two perpendicular axes simultaneously.

3. The printer of claim 2, wherein said material plate rotates at an angle oblique to both said perpendicular axes.

4. The printer of claim 1, wherein the two perpendicular axes include a first axis and a second axis.

5. The printer of claim 1, wherein said material plate rotates between individual exposures of each image of said images.

6. The printer of claim 1, wherein said material plate rotates during individual exposures of each image of said images.

7. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device projects a color image.

8. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device projects a black-and-white image.

9. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises a fixed matrix display.

10. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises a CRT display.

11. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises a laser display.

12. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises a fiber-optic display.

13. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises a square-formatted display.

14. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device comprises at least one lamp for illumination.

15. The printer of claim 1, wherein lens of said projection device is a fixed focal length lens.

16. The printer of claim 15, wherein said lens of said projection device comprises a normal, telephoto, wide-angle, or macro fixed focal length lens.

17. The printer of claim 1, wherein said projection device utilizes a turret with multiple lenses, said turret being positioned between said projection device and said material plate.

18. The printer of claim 17, wherein said multiple lenses comprise fixed focal length lenses.

19. The printer of claim 17, wherein said multiple lenses comprise zoom lenses.

20. The printer of claim 17, wherein said multiple lenses comprise at least one zoom lens and at least one fixed focal length lens.

21. The printer of claim 1, wherein lens of said projection device comprises a zoom lens.

22. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an internally located computer.

23. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an externally located computer.

24. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a computer located internal to said projection device.

25. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a color filter wheel positioned between said projection device and said material plate, wherein said color filter wheel comprises red, green, and blue filters.

26. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a color filter wheel positioned between said projection device and said material plate, wherein said color filter wheel comprises cyan, yellow, and magenta filters.

27. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a color filter wheel positioned between said projection device and said material plate, wherein said color filter wheel comprises red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, and magenta filters.

28. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a neutral density filter positioned between said projection device and said material plate.

29. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a mirror positioned between said projection device and said material plate.

30. The printer of claim 1, further comprising more than one mirror positioned between said projection device and said material plate.

31. The printer of claim 1, wherein lens of said projection device tilts to achieve Scheimpflug correction of an image of said images projected onto said material plate, and wherein said lens tilt is performed with motors.

32. The printer of claim 1, wherein lens of said projection device tilts to achieve Scheimpflug correction of an image of said images projected onto said material plate, and wherein said lens tilt is performed manually.

33. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an autostereoscopic monitor.

34. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes a hardcopy comprising light-sensitive lenticular material.

35. The printer of claim 34, wherein said hardcopy is printed at full resolution of said projection device in three formats:

vertical, horizontal, and square.

36. The printer of claim 34, wherein said hardcopy is printed from both digital media and non-digital media.

37. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes an autostereoscopic print hardcopy.

38. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes an autostereoscopic transparency hardcopy.

39. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes an autostereoscopic print hardcopy that exhibits an animation effect.

40. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes a print hardcopy that exhibits an animation effect.

41. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes an autostereoscopic transparency hardcopy that exhibits an animation effect.

42. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images becomes a transparency hardcopy that exhibits an animation effect.

43. The printer of claim 1, wherein an image of said images is printed at full resolution of said projection device in three formats:

vertical, horizontal, and square.

44. The printer of claim 1, wherein said printer prints an image of said images from both digital media and non-digital media

45. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an image scanner.

46. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an electronic image capture device.

47. The printer of claim 1, further comprising an illumination device that projects said images aligned in registration with each other.

48. The printer of claim 1, wherein image of said images is pre-distorted to correct for keystone distortion.

49. The printer of claim 1, wherein image of said images is pre-distorted to correct for keystone distortion according to the rotated position of said material plate.

50. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that controls said printer.

51. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that pre-distorts an image of said images.

52. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that aligns said images to each other for printing of autostereoscopic and animated hardcopies.

53. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that controls said printer.

54. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that aligns said images to each other for printing of autostereoscopic and animated hardcopies.

55. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that calculates parameters for autostereoscopic printing from three-dimensional datasets.

56. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that performs image processing functions for printing of autostereoscopic and animated hardcopies.

57. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that creates intermediate angles between two stereopair images for printing of autostereoscopic hardcopies from a stereopair.

58. The printer of claim 1, further comprising software that converts a single two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional dataset for printing of autostereoscopic hardcopies.

59. The printer of claim 1, wherein said images are printed on light-sensitive lenticular material.

60. The printer of claim 1, wherein said images are printed on light-sensitive parallax barrier strip material.

61. The printer of claim 34, wherein said material plate includes a vacuum to flatly attach said light-sensitive lenticular material to said material plate during exposure.

62. The printer of claim 34, wherein said material plate includes a mechanical easel to flatly depose said light-sensitive lenticular material on said material plate during exposure.

63. The printer of claim 34, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material is in sheet form.

64. The printer of claim 63, wherein more than one type of said light-sensitive lenticular material in said sheet form is loaded simultaneously into said printer.

65. The printer of claim 34, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material is in roll form.

66. The printer of claim 65, wherein more than one type of said light-sensitive lenticular material in said roll form is loaded simultaneously into said printer.

67. The printer of claim 34, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material is loaded into said printer in roll form and in sheet form simultaneously.

68. The printer of claim 65, wherein a specified length of said light-sensitive lenticular material is cut from a roll prior to exposure.

69. The printer of claim 34, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material comprises a layer of instant-developing light-sensitive material.

70. The printer of claim 34, further comprising a photo-processor.

71. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a photo-processor.

72. A light-sensitive lenticular material comprising:

a lenticular layer and a layer of light-sensitive material;

wherein said layer of light-sensitive material has adhesive properties and is directly attached to said layer of light-sensitive material.

73. A light-sensitive lenticular material comprising:

a lenticular layer and a layer of light-sensitive material;

wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

82. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 73, further comprising at least one anti-halation layer.

85. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 73, further comprising an opaque layer on the side of said light-sensitive material opposite the lenticular layer.

74. A light-sensitive lenticular material comprising:

a lenticular layer and a layer of light-sensitive material;

wherein said layer of light-sensitive material is optimized for use in a printer.

76. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 74, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

78. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 74, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises a non-conventional photographic emulsion.

83. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 74, further comprising at least one anti-halation layer.

86. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 74, further comprising an opaque layer on the side of said light-sensitive material opposite the lenticular layer.

75. A light-sensitive lenticular material comprising:

a lenticular layer and a layer of light-sensitive material;

wherein said layer of light-sensitive material is optimized for use in a camera.

77. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

79. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises a non-conventional photographic emulsion.

80. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, wherein said light-sensitive material has a specified range of spectral sensitivity.

81. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, wherein said light-sensitive material is sensitive to non-visible light.

84. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, further comprising at least one anti-halation layer.

87. The light-sensitive lenticular material of claim 75, further comprising an opaque layer on the side of said light-sensitive material opposite the lenticular layer.

88. A camera that can capture images from multiple viewpoints without moving said camera, comprising:

a) multiple lenses that can move laterally along a horizontal path;

b) a digital image recording medium; and

c) at least one memory storage device.

89. A camera that can capture images from multiple viewpoints without moving said camera, comprising:

a) a lens that can move laterally along a horizontal path;

b) a digital image recording medium; and

c) at least one memory storage devices.

107. The camera of claim 89, wherein said lens is moved manually.

109. The camera of claim 89, wherein said lens is moved by at least one motor.

90. A camera that can capture images from multiple viewpoints without moving said camera, comprising:

a) multiple lenses that can move laterally along a horizontal path;

b) multiple digital image recording media, wherein a digital image recording medium of said digital image recording media records a respective image from each lens of said multiple lenses; and

c) at least one memory storage devices.

91. The camera of claim 90, further comprising a shutter.

92. The camera of claim 90, further comprising multiple shutters.

93. The camera of claim 92, wherein said multiple shutters can open and close simultaneously.

94. The camera of claim 92, wherein each shutter of said multiple shutters can be programmed to open and close.

95. The camera of claim 90, further comprising at least one diaphragm.

96. The camera of claim 90, wherein said digital image recording media can capture moving images.

97. The camera of claim 90, wherein said digital image recording media can capture digital video.

98. The camera of claim 90, wherein said camera can record said images on photographic film.

99. The camera of claim 90, wherein each lens of said lenses is a fixed focal length normal, telephoto, wide-angle, or macro lens.

100. The camera of claim 90, wherein each lens of said lenses is a zoom lens.

101. The camera of claim 90, further comprising at least one mirror positioned between a lens of said lenses and a digital image recording medium of said digital image recording media.

102. The camera of claim 90, further comprising a digital image preview device.

103. The camera of claim 102, wherein said digital image preview device comprises an autostereoscopic monitor.

104. The camera of claim 90, wherein said digital image recording media can record in a panoramic format.

105. The camera of claim 90, wherein said lenses remain equidistant to each other.

106. The camera of claim 90, wherein said lenses are moved manually.

108. The camera of claim 90, wherein said lenses are moved by at least motor.

110. The camera of claim 90, further comprising software that can calculate lens positions and camera-to-subject distances for capturing stereoscopic images with said camera.

111. The camera of claim 90, further comprising software that can calculate lens positions and camera-to-subject distances for capturing stereoscopic images with said camera and can direct said motors to move said lenses.

112. A camera, comprising:

a) at least three lenses in a fixed position along a horizontal path;

b) multiple digital image recording media, wherein a digital image recording medium of said digital image recording media records a respective image from each lens of said at least three lenses; and

c) at least one memory storage device.

113. The camera of claim 112, further comprising a shutter.

114. The camera of claim 112, further comprising multiple shutters.

115. The camera of claim 114, wherein said shutters can be programmed to open and close.

116. The camera of claim 114, wherein said shutters can open and close simultaneously.

117. The camera of claim 112, further comprising at least one diaphragm.

118. The camera of claim 112, wherein said digital image recording media can record moving images.

119. The camera of claim 112, wherein said digital image recording media can record digital video.

120. The camera of claim 112, wherein said camera can record said images on photographic film.

121. The camera of claim 112, wherein each lens of said lenses is a fixed focal length normal, telephoto, wide-angle, or macro lens.

122. The camera of claim 112, wherein each lens of said lenses is a zoom lens.

123. The camera of claim 112, further comprising at least one mirror positioned between a lens of said lenses and a digital image recording medium of said digital image recording media.

124. The camera of claim 112, further comprising a digital image preview device.

125. The camera of claim 124, wherein said digital image preview device comprises an autostereoscopic monitor.

126. The camera of claim 112, wherein said digital image recording media can record in a panoramic format.

127. The camera of claim 112, further comprising software that can calculate camera-to-subject distances for capturing stereoscopic images with said camera.

128. A camera comprising:

multiple fixed-position lenses positioned equidistant to each other along a horizontal path;

wherein images from said lenses are aligned in registration with each other and focused onto a recording medium behind said lenses.

129. The camera of claim 128, wherein said recording medium comprises:

a) a digital image recording medium; and

b) at least one memory storage device.

130. The camera of claim 129, wherein said digital image recording medium can record in a panoramic format.

131. The camera of claim 129, wherein said digital image recording medium can record moving images.

132. The camera of claim 129, wherein said digital image recording medium can record digital video.

133. The camera of claim 128, wherein said recording medium comprises light-sensitive lenticular material, and said light-sensitive lenticular material comprises a lenticular layer and a layer of light-sensitive material.

134. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

135. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material is optimized for use in a camera.

136. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises a conventional photographic emulsion.

137. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises a non-conventional photographic emulsion.

138. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material has a specified range of spectral sensitivity.

139. The camera of claim 133, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material is sensitive to non-visible light.

140. The camera of claim 128, wherein said lenses are not in a fixed-position, can move laterally along a horizontal path, and said images remain aligned in registration with each other and focused onto a recording medium behind said lenses.

141. The camera of claim 129, further comprising at least one mirror positioned between a lens of said lenses and said digital image recording medium.

142. The camera of claim 133, further comprising at least one mirror positioned between a lens of said lenses and said light-sensitive lenticular material.

143. The camera of claim 129, wherein each lens of said lenses is a fixed focal length normal, telephoto, wide-angle, or macro lens.

144. The camera of claim 133, wherein each lens of said lenses is a fixed focal length normal, telephoto, wide-angle, or macro lens.

145. The camera of claim 129, wherein each lens of said lenses is a zoom lens.

146. The camera of claim 133, wherein each lens of said lenses is a zoom lens.

147. The camera of claim 129, further comprising a digital image preview device.

148. The camera of claim 133, further comprising a digital image preview device.

149. The camera of claim 147, wherein said digital image preview device comprises an autostereoscopic monitor.

150. The camera of claim 148, wherein said digital image preview device comprises an autostereoscopic monitor.

151. The camera of claim 129, wherein said camera can record said images on photographic film.

152. The camera of claim 129, further comprising software that can calculate camera-to-subject distances for capturing stereoscopic images with said camera.

153. The camera of claim 133, further comprising software that can calculate camera-to-subject distances for capturing stereoscopic images with said camera.

154. The camera of claim 129, further comprising at least one diaphragm.

155. The camera of claim 133, further comprising at least one diaphragm.

156. The camera of claim 129, further comprising a shutter.

157. The camera of claim 133, further comprising a shutter.

158. The camera of claim 129, further comprising multiple shutters.

159. The camera of claim 133, further comprising multiple shutters.

160. The camera of claim 129, further comprising multiple shutters that can be programmed to open and close.

161. The camera of claim 133, further comprising multiple shutters that can be programmed to open and close.

162. The camera of claim 129, further comprising multiple shutters that can open or close simultaneously.

163. The camera of claim 133, further comprising multiple shutters that can open or close simultaneously.

164. A system for producing a hardcopy image, the system comprising:

a) a printer, comprising a material plate rotatable around two perpendicular axes;

b) light-sensitive lenticular material, comprising a layer of lenticular material and a layer of light-sensitive material; and

c) program components connected to and automating said printer.

165. The system of claim 164, wherein said image is autostereoscopic.

166. The system of claim 164, wherein said image exhibits an animation effect.

167. The system of claim 164, wherein said image is autostereoscopic and exhibits an animation effect.

168. The system of claim 164, further comprising a series of images.

169. The system of claim 164, further comprising a multiple-lens digital camera.

170. The system of claim 164, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

171. The system of claim 164, further comprising a multiple-lens non-digital camera.

172. The system of claim 164, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

173. A system for producing an autostereoscopic image comprising:

a) a non-digital multiple-lens camera; and

b) light-sensitive lenticular material, comprising a layer of lenticular material and a layer of light-sensitive material.

174. The system of claim 173, wherein said non-digital multiple-lens camera can record a series of images comprising multiple viewpoints of a three-dimensional object or scene on said light-sensitive lenticular material.

175. The system of claim 173, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

176. The system of claim 173, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material is sensitive to non-visible light.

177. A method for producing a hardcopy image, the method comprising:

a) placing a sheet of light-sensitive lenticular material onto a material plate, wherein said material plate is rotatable around two perpendicular axes, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material comprises a layer of lenticular material and a layer of light-sensitive material;

b) providing a series of images, where each image in said series comprises a different image;

c) distorting at least one image in said series of images to correct for keystone distortion, where each keystone distortion correction setting equals a distinct rotation position of said material plate;

d) displaying said series of images, including the at least one distorted image, with a projection device onto said light-sensitive lenticular material;

wherein said material plate rotates to a different position as images are displayed to expose said light-sensitive lenticular material from different exposure angles; and

e) photo-processing exposed light-sensitive lenticular material.

178. The method of claim 177, wherein said hardcopy image is autostereoscopic and each image in said series of images comprises a different viewpoint of a three-dimensional scene.

179. The method of claim 177, wherein said hardcopy image exhibits an animation effect.

180. The method of claim 177, wherein said hardcopy image is autostereoscopic, exhibits an animation effect, and each image in said series of images comprises a different viewpoint of a three-dimensional scene.

181. The method of claim 177, wherein lenticules of said layer of lenticular material are oriented parallel to an axis of rotation of said material plate.

182. The method of claim 177, wherein said layer of light-sensitive material comprises an instant-developing material.

183. The method of claim 177, further comprising pre-aligning said each image in said series of images before printing.

184. The method of claim 177, further comprising using wireless data transmission to convey said series of images to said projection device.

185. The method of claim 177, further comprising using a network to convey said series of images to said projection device.

186. The method of claim 177, further comprising:

recording a non-digital series of images with an image scanner.

187. The method of claim 177, further comprising:

recording a non-digital series of images with an electronic image recording device.

188. The method of claim 177, further comprising pre-viewing said series of images on an autostereoscopic monitor.

189. The method of claim 177 further comprising image-processing said series of images prior to exposing said light-sensitive lenticular material.

190. A method of recording stereoscopic photographic images, comprising:

capturing images from multiple horizontally-displaced viewpoints with a multiple-lens camera comprising at least one digital image recording device.

192. The method of claim 190, wherein said multiple-lens camera is positioned to take aerial views of a three-dimensional scene.

191. A method of recording stereoscopic photographic images, comprising:

capturing images from multiple horizontally-displaced viewpoints with a multiple-lens camera onto light-sensitive lenticular material.

193. The method of claim 191, wherein said multiple-lens camera is positioned to take aerial views of a three-dimensional scene.

194. The method of claim 191, wherein said multiple-lens camera is loaded with said light-sensitive lenticular material comprising said layer of light-sensitive material that is sensitive to infrared light.

195. The method of claim 191, wherein said multiple-lens camera is loaded with said light-sensitive lenticular material comprising said layer of light-sensitive material that is sensitive to radar.

196. The method of claim 191, wherein said multiple-lens camera is loaded with said light-sensitive lenticular material comprising said layer of light-sensitive material that is sensitive to sonar.

197. The method of claim 191, wherein said multiple-lens camera is loaded with said light-sensitive lenticular material comprising said layer of light-sensitive material that is sensitive to x-rays.

198. A hardcopy image formed by a method comprising:

a) placing a sheet of light-sensitive lenticular material onto a material plate, wherein said material plate is rotatable around two perpendicular axes, wherein said light-sensitive lenticular material comprises a layer of lenticular material and a layer of light-sensitive material;

b) providing a series of images, with each image in said series of images comprising a different viewpoint of a three-dimensional scene;

c) distorting at least one image in said series of images to correct for keystone distortion, where each keystone distortion correction setting equals a distinct rotation position of said material plate;

d) displaying said series of images, including the at least one distorted image, with a projection device onto said light-sensitive lenticular material;

wherein said material plate rotates to a different position as images are displayed to expose said light-sensitive lenticular material from different exposure angles; and

e) photo-processing exposed light-sensitive lenticular material.

199. The image formed by the method of claim 198, wherein the image is an autostereoscopic hardcopy.

200. The image formed by the method of claim 198, wherein the image is a hardcopy with an animation effect.

201. The image formed by the method of claim 198, wherein the image is an autostereoscopic hardcopy with an animation effect.