AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC PROJECTION SYSTEM

• US 20100014053A1
• Filed: 07/21/2008
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: BRENTNALL, THOMAS E. III, TURNER, RICHARD B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,938,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 353/7
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/56 by projecting aerial or floating images
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/00 Projectors or projection-type viewers; Accessories therefor devices for changing pictures G03B23/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/302 for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388

Abstract

An apparatus projecting 3D autostereoscopic images viewers. The apparatus includes a projector array with projectors each receiving an input image such as digital video and projecting an image based on the input image. A beam splitter with first and second surfaces is positioned such that the projected images strike the first surface and a portion (e.g., 50 to 95 percent) is transmitted through the beam splitter toward a screen with a retroreflective surface. The retroreflective surface reflects the splitter-transmitted portion back along the same path but with increased brightness. The light reflected from the retroreflective surface strikes the second surface of the beam splitter and is reflected toward a display viewing zone provided at about the focal points of the reflected projectors. A 3D image is perceivable to a viewer who positions his eyes at or near any of two or more viewing locations proximate to the projection surface.

Claims

1. An apparatus for projecting or displaying three dimensional (3D) images to a viewer, comprising:

a projector array comprising a plurality of projectors each receiving an input image and projecting an image based on the input image;

a beam splitter with first and second surface, wherein the projected images strike the first surface and a portion is transmitted through the beam splitter;

a screen with a retroreflective surface positioned in the path of the projected images, wherein the transmitted portion is reflected back toward the beam splitter with a gain in brightness to strike and be reflected from the second surface; and

a viewing zone positioned proximate to a set of focal points for images reflected from the second surface of the beam splitter, wherein a 3D image is perceivable to a viewer that positions his eyes at a viewing location proximate to the viewing zone.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the retroreflective surface is substantially planar and is positioned a throw distance of at least about 8 feet from the projectors and substantially parallel to a plane containing lenses of the projectors.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the gain in brightness provided by the retroreflective surface is at least about 1000 times.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the beam splitter is at least about 50 percent transmissive to light.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the beam splitter is substantially planar and is positioned at an angle relative to the retroreflective surface selected from the range of about 30 to about 60 degrees.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the projector array comprises at least one row of the projectors and the projectors are arranged in the row with a separation distance between each pair of adjacent lenses of the projectors of less than about 70 millimeters.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the image input provided to the projectors in the row correspond to a number of points of view, the points of view being spaced apart from each other and the number of projectors being equal to the number of the points of view.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the points of view correspond to a plurality of cameras arranged in an array and wherein each of the cameras is associated with one of the projectors, whereby images captured by a particular camera are fed to a particular projector among the plurality of projectors.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the projector array comprises two or more of the rows of the projectors and wherein adjacent pairs of projection lenses of the projectors within a column of the projector array are spaced apart by about the separation distance.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the input images each comprises a digital video stream provided from a data storage medium.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the input images each comprises a real time feed of a digital image from a camera array placed in a unique camera location and wherein the cameras all focus upon a shared subject.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the 3D image is perceivable to the viewer with his eyes in two or more viewing locations associated with the display viewing zone, whereby the viewer can move and align his eyes with differing pairs of virtual projector locations associated with the projectors of the projector array.

13. An autostereoscopic projection system, comprising:

means for providing a plurality of image inputs;

means for projecting an image for each of the image inputs; and

means for directing the projected images to a display viewing zone with a plurality of viewing locations at which a viewer may view a 3D image from differing points of view.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of image inputs comprises digital video corresponding to a plurality of camera locations.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the projecting means comprises a plurality of projectors arranged in two or more adjacent rows, the projectors being positioned with projection lenses of adjacent ones of the projectors in the rows and in columns spaced apart a projector separation distance of less than about 70 mm.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the directing means comprises a retroreflective screen positioned transverse to a path of the projected images and a beam splitter that is at least 50 percent transmissive positioned between the projecting means and the retroreflective screen and places at an angle relative to the retroreflective screen of less than about 60 degrees, whereby a surface of the beam splitter proximate to the retroreflective screen reflects the projected images traveling from the retroreflective screen to the projection area.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the directing means comprises a beam splitter reflecting the projected images onto a retroreflective surface and being transmissive to light reflected from the retroreflective surface to direct the transmitted light to the projection area.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the projecting means comprises a plurality of projectors in an array and means associated with each of the projectors for splitting the projected image into two or more images that are output in parallel paths.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising an additional display viewing zone and wherein the directing means comprises two or more beam splitters each transmitting a portion of the projected image onto a retroreflective screen and each reflecting light reflected from the retroreflective screen into one of the display viewing zones and the additional display viewing zone, whereby the viewer and an additional viewer may concurrently view the 3D image.

20. An autostereoscopic projection method comprising:

providing a retroreflective surface and a beam splitter that is positioned at an angle relative to the retroreflective surface;

capturing images of a subject with one or more cameras positioned at an array of camera locations; and

projecting the captured images toward the beam splitter from projection lenses arranged in an array corresponding to the array of camera locations, wherein adjacent pairs of the projection lenses are spaced apart less than about 70 mm and wherein the projected images are transmitted through the beam splitter onto the retroreflective surface and then are reflected off the beam splitter, after being reflected back from the retroreflective surface with a gain in illumination level, towards a display viewing zone to display a 3D image to a viewer viewing a pair of the reflected images.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the beam splitter angle is about 45 degrees and the gain in the illumination level is at least about 1000 times.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the beam splitter comprises glass with a transmissivity to light of at least about 50 percent.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the projection lenses are lenses provided in projectors, the array includes two or more rows with three or more of the projectors in each row, and the projectors have output illumination levels of less than about 10 lumens.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the adjacent pairs of the projection lenses are spaced apart a distance less than about 60 mm and the retroreflective surface is spaced at least 10 feet from the projection lenses.