Autostereoscopic optical apparatus using a scanned linear image source

• US 6,511,182 B1
• Filed: 11/13/2001
• Issued: 01/28/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Agostinelli, John A., Kessler, David
• Primary Examiner(s): DOWLING, WILLIAM C
• Application Number:
  US10/010,500
• Time in Patent Office: 441 Days
• Field of Search: 353/7, 353/10, 353/30, 359/462, 359/466, 359/472, 359/478, 359/471, 359/479
• US Class Current: 353/7
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/33 involving directional light or back-light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/00 Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof

Abstract

A monocentric arrangement of optical components providing stereoscopic display of a virtual image, electronically generated, line by line, from a linear image source (36) and projected, as a real intermediate image, near the focal surface (22) of a curved mirror (24) by means of a scanning ball lens assembly (100). To form each left and right intermediate image component, a separate image generation system (70) comprises a scanning ball lens assembly (100) comprising a spherical lens (46) for wide field of view and a reflective surface (102). A monocentric arrangement of optical components images the left and right scanning ball lens pupil at the corresponding left and right viewing pupil (14) of the observer (12) and essentially provides a single center of curvature for projection components. Use of such a monocentric arrangement with linear image source (36) and scanning ball lens assemblies (100) provides an exceptionally wide field of view with large viewing pupil (14).

Claims

1. An autostereoscopic optical apparatus for displaying a stereoscopic virtual image comprising an array of image pixels, said stereoscopic virtual image comprising a left image to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right image to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the apparatus comprising:

(a) a left image generation system for forming a left intermediate image as a two-dimensional image and a right image generation system for forming a right intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, wherein both left and right image generation systems are similarly constructed of separate components, with each image generation system comprising;

(a1) a linear image source for forming a line of source pixels;

(a2) a scanning ball lens assembly for projecting said line of source pixels to form an intermediate line image, said scanning ball lens assembly comprising;

(a2a) at least one reflective surface for reflecting light from said line of source image pixels to said intermediate line image,

(a2b) a ball lens segment having a scanning ball lens pupil, said ball lens segment having a center of curvature on said at least one reflective surface,

(a3c) said scanning ball lens assembly rotating about an axis and forming a series of said intermediate line images in order to sequentially form said intermediate image as a scanned two-dimensional image thereby;

(b) a curved mirror having a center of curvature placed substantially optically midway between said scanning ball lens assembly for said left image generation system and said scanning ball lens assembly for said right image generation system;

(c) a beamsplitter disposed to fold an optical path from said left image generation system to form said left intermediate image near a front focal surface of said curved mirror and to fold an optical path from said right image generation system to form said right intermediate image near said front focal surface of said curved mirror; and

(d) said curved mirror forming said virtual stereoscopic image of said left and right intermediate images and, through said beamsplitter, forming a real image of said left scanning ball lens pupil at said left viewing pupil and a real image of said right scanning ball lens pupil at said right viewing pupil.

2. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said apparatus is monocentric.

3. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a plurality of LEDs.

4. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a scanned laser.

5. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a relay lens.

6. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a fluorescent surface.

7. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a diffusive surface.

8. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one reflective surface is a beamsplitter.

9. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises a vibrating optical fiber.

10. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises an actuator for providing resonant vibration to a point source.

11. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said ball lens segment is hemisphere.

12. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a motor for rotating said left scanning ball lens assembly.

13. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a motor for actuating said right scanning ball lens assembly.

14. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a motor for actuating both said left scanning ball lens assembly and said right scanning ball lens assembly.

15. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 14 wherein said motor rotates both said left scanning ball lens assembly and said right scanning ball lens assembly in the same direction.

16. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 14 wherein said motor rotates said left scanning ball lens assembly in one direction and said right scanning ball lens assembly in the opposite direction.

17. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said curved mirror comprises a plurality of mirror segments.

18. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 17 wherein said plurality of mirror segments comprises at least one spherical mirror.

19. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 17 wherein said plurality of mirror segments comprises at least two replicated mirrors.

20. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said curved mirror is essentially spherical.

21. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said curved mirror comprises a stretched membrane.

22. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said curved mirror comprises a Fresnel mirror.

23. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one reflective surface is planar.

24. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one reflective surface comprises an interference coating.

25. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly further comprises at least one meniscus lens.

26. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 25, wherein both surfaces of said meniscus lens share a common center of curvature with said ball lens segment.

27. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly comprises a refractive liquid.

28. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source is disposed in a curve.

29. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 28 wherein said curve shares said center of curvature with said ball lens segment.

30. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one red light source.

31. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one blue light source.

32. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one green light source.

33. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said left image generation system and said right image generation system each further comprise a lenslet array for conditioning light emitted from said linear image source.

34. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly rotates less than about 180 degrees about said axis, said scanning ball lens assembly scanning in a reciprocating motion thereby.

35. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an additional linear image source for forming a line of source pixels.

36. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 1 wherein said linear image source comprises an electron beam.

37. An autostereoscopic optical apparatus for displaying a stereoscopic virtual image comprising an array of image pixels, said stereoscopic virtual image comprising a left image to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right image to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the apparatus comprising:

(a) a left image generation system for forming a left intermediate image as a two-dimensional image and a right image generation system for forming a right intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, wherein both left and right image generation systems are similarly constructed of separate components, with each image generation system comprising;

(a1) a linear image source for forming a line of source pixels;

(a2) a scanning ball lens assembly for projecting said line of source pixels to form an intermediate line image, said scanning ball lens assembly comprising;

(a2a) at least one reflective surface for reflecting light from said line of source image pixels to said intermediate line image;

(a2b) a ball lens segment having a scanning ball lens pupil, said ball lens segment having a center of curvature on said at least one reflective surface;

(a2c) said scanning ball lens assembly rotating about an axis and forming a series of said intermediate line images in order to sequentially form said intermediate image as a scanned two-dimensional image thereby; and

(b) a curved mirror having a center of curvature placed substantially optically midway between said scanning ball lens assembly for said left image generation system and said scanning ball lens assembly for said right image generation system, said curved mirror disposed to form a virtual stereoscopic image from said intermediate images formed by said left and right image generation systems, and said curved mirror disposed to form a real image of said scanning ball lens pupil for said left image generation system at said left viewing pupil and a real image of said scanning ball lens pupil for said right image generation system at said right viewing pupil.

38. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror is cylindrical.

39. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror is toroidal.

40. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a plurality of LEDs.

41. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a scanned laser.

42. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a relay lens.

43. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a fluorescent surface.

44. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a diffusive surface.

45. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said at least one reflective surface is a beamsplitter.

46. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises a vibrating optical fiber.

47. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises an actuator for providing resonant vibration to a point source.

48. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said ball lens segment is hemisphere.

49. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 further comprising a motor for rotating said left scanning ball lens assembly.

50. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 further comprising a motor for actuating said right scanning ball lens assembly.

51. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 further comprising a motor for actuating both said left scanning ball lens assembly and said right scanning ball lens assembly.

52. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 51 wherein said motor rotates both said left scanning ball lens assembly and said right scanning ball lens assembly in the same direction.

53. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 51 wherein said motor rotates said left scanning ball lens assembly in one direction and said right scanning ball lens assembly in the opposite direction.

54. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror comprises a plurality of mirror segments.

55. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 54 wherein said plurality of mirror segments comprises at least one spherical mirror.

56. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 54 wherein said plurality of mirror segments comprises at least two replicated mirrors.

57. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror is essentially spherical.

58. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror comprises a stretched membrane.

59. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said curved mirror comprises a Fresnel mirror.

60. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said at least one reflective surface is planar.

61. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said at least one reflective surface comprises an interference coating.

62. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly further comprises at least one meniscus lens.

63. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 62, wherein both surfaces of said meniscus lens share a common center of curvature with said ball lens segment.

64. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly comprises a refractive liquid.

65. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source is disposed in a curve.

66. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 65 wherein said curve shares said center of curvature with said ball lens segment.

67. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one red light source.

68. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one blue light source.

69. An autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises at least one green light source.

70. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said left image generation system further comprises a lenslet array for conditioning light emitted from said linear image source.

71. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said right image generation system further comprises a lenslet array for conditioning light emitted from said linear image source.

72. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said scanning ball lens assembly rotates less than about 180 degrees about said axis, said scanning ball lens assembly scanning in a reciprocating motion thereby.

73. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 further comprising an additional linear image source for forming a line of source pixels.

74. The autostereoscopic optical apparatus of claim 37 wherein said linear image source comprises an electron beam.

75. A method for display of a stereoscopic virtual image to an observer, the image comprising a left image to be viewed by the observer at a left viewing pupil and a right image to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming a left intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, comprising a plurality of sequential left intermediate line images, near the focal surface of a curved mirror, each left intermediate line image formed by the steps of

(a1) rotating a left scanning ball lens assembly to a predetermined position;

(a2) generating a line of source pixels of said left intermediate image;

(a3) projecting said line of source pixels of said left intermediate image using said left scanning ball lens assembly to form said left intermediate line image near said focal surface of said curved mirror;

(b) forming a right intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, comprising a plurality of sequential right intermediate line images, near the focal surface of said curved mirror, each right intermediate line image formed by the steps of

(b1) rotating a right scanning ball lens assembly to a predetermined position;

(b2) generating a line of source pixels of said right intermediate image;

(b3) projecting said line of source pixels of said right intermediate image using said right scanning ball lens assembly to form said right intermediate line image near said focal surface of said curved mirror;

(c) forming a left virtual image from said left intermediate image, said left virtual image viewable from said left viewing pupil, said left viewing pupil formed by said curved mirror as an image of said left scanning ball lens pupil; and

(d) forming a right virtual image from said right intermediate image, said right virtual image viewable from said right viewing pupil, said right viewing pupil formed by said curved mirror as an image of said right scanning ball lens pupil.

76. The method of claim 75 wherein the step of forming said left intermediate line image comprises the step of projecting each said line of source pixels of said left intermediate image through a beamsplitter.

77. The method of claim 75 further comprising the step of adjusting the displacement between a left image generation system and a right image generation system to adapt to operator interocular distance.

78. The method of claim 75 wherein the step of generating a line of source pixels comprises the step of illuminating at least one LED.

79. The method of claim 75 wherein the step of generating a line of source pixels comprises the step of energizing at least one laser.

80. The method of claim 75 wherein the step of generating a line of source pixels comprises the step of providing an electron beam.

81. The method of claim 75 wherein the step of generating a line of source pixels comprises the step of vibrating an optical fiber.

82. An autostereoscopic optical apparatus for displaying a stereoscopic virtual image comprising a two-dimensional array of image pixels, said stereoscopic image comprising a left image to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right image to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, a method for providing an adjusted aspect ratio of an adjusted height and an adjusted width for the left image and for the right image, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming a left intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, comprising a plurality of sequential left intermediate line images, near the focal surface of a curved mirror, each left intermediate line image formed with the steps of;

(a1) rotating a left scanning ball lens assembly to a predetermined position according to said adjusted width;

(a2) generating a line of source pixels of said left intermediate image, the number of said source pixels based on said adjusted height;

(a3) projecting said line of source pixels of said left intermediate image using said left scanning ball lens assembly to form said left intermediate line image near said focal surface of said curved mirror;

(b) forming a right intermediate image as a two-dimensional image, comprising a plurality of sequential right intermediate line images, near the focal surface of a curved mirror, each right intermediate line image formed with the steps of;

(b1) rotating a right scanning ball lens assembly to a predetermined position according to said adjusted width;

(b2) generating a line of source pixels of said right intermediate image, the number of said source pixels based on said adjusted height;

(b3) projecting said line of source pixels of said right intermediate image using said right scanning ball lens assembly to form said right intermediate line image near said focal surface of said curved mirror;

(c) forming a left virtual image from said left intermediate image, said left virtual image viewable from said left viewing pupil, said left viewing pupil formed by said curved mirror as an image of said left scanning ball lens pupil; and

(d) forming a right virtual image from said right intermediate image, said right virtual image viewable from said right viewing pupil, said right viewing pupil formed by said curved mirror as an image of said right scanning ball lens pupil.