Stereoscopic 3-D presentation for air traffic control digital radar displays

• US 9,667,947 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2014
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: US Department of The Air Force (U.S. Department Of Defense)
• Original Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Inventors: Russi, Jason G, Langhals, Brent T, Miller, Michael E, Heft, Eric L
• Primary Examiner(s): McDowell, Jr., Maurice L
• Application Number:
  US14/186,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20140306950A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 345419
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/30 Image reproducers optical systems for producing stereoscopic or other three-dimensional effects G02B30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/302 for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/337 using polarisation multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0081 Depth or disparity estimation from stereoscopic image signals

Abstract

An apparatus and method of presenting air traffic data to an air traffic controller are provided. Air traffic data including a two dimensional spatial location and altitude for a plurality of aircraft is received. A disparity value is determined based on the altitude for each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft. Left and right eye images are generated of the plurality of aircraft where at least one of the left and right eye images is based on the determined disparity value. The left and right eye images are simultaneously displayed to the air traffic controller on a display. The simultaneously displayed images provide an apparent three-dimensional separation of each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft on the display.

Claims

1. A method of presenting air traffic data to an air traffic controller, the method comprising:

receiving air traffic data including a two dimensional spatial location and altitude for a plurality of aircraft;

determining a binocular disparity value based on the altitude for each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft;

generating a left and a right eye image of the plurality of aircraft where at least one of the left and right eye image is based on the determined binocular disparity value; and

simultaneously displaying the left and right eye images to the air traffic controller on a display,

wherein the simultaneously displayed images provide an apparent three-dimensional separation of each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft on the display.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

rendering a representation of a reference plane on the display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the left and right eye image of the plurality of aircraft are generated as a perspective view with respect to the reference plane.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the reference plane is rendered including range rings.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the reference plane is rendered with a near zero binocular disparity.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the apparent three-dimensional separation of each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft on the display appears above the reference plane.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the air traffic data includes a representation of a volume of air space under control, the method further comprising:

determining a binocular disparity value associated with the representation of the volume of air space under control;

generating a left and a right eye image of the representation of the volume of air space under control where at least one of the left and right eye image is based on the determined binocular disparity value; and

simultaneously displaying the left and right eye images to the air traffic controller on the display.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the air traffic data includes navigation cues selected from a group consisting of:

weather related phenomena, terrain obstructions, topographical data, minimum safe altitudes, and minimum vectoring altitude, the method further comprising;

determining a binocular disparity value associated with the navigation cues;

generating a left and a right eye image of the navigation cues where at least one of the left and right eye image is based on the determined binocular disparity value; and

simultaneously displaying the left and right eye images of the navigation cues to the air traffic controller on the display.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a left eye and a right eye image of a text label for each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on the determined binocular disparity; and

simultaneously displaying the left and right eye images of the text label for each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft to the air traffic controller on the display.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the binocular disparity value is between −

6 and 6 degrees.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the binocular disparity value includes at least 40 discrete levels.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the binocular disparity value is set to zero in response to a loss of three dimensional information in the air traffic data.

13. An apparatus for presenting air traffic data to an air traffic controller, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a display; and

program code resident in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor to present the air traffic data to the air traffic controller, the program code further configured to receive air traffic data including a two dimensional spatial location and altitude for a plurality of aircraft, determine a binocular disparity value based on the altitude for each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, generate a left and a right eye image of the plurality of aircraft where at least one of the left and right eye image is based on the determined binocular disparity value, and simultaneously display the left and right eye images to the air traffic controller on the display, wherein the simultaneously displayed images provide an apparent three-dimensional separation of each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft on the display.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

a pair of polarizing filters oriented differently with respect to one another,

wherein the left eye image is polarized similar to one of the pair of polarizing filters, and

wherein the right eye image is polarized similar to the other of the pair of polarizing filters.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the polarizing filters comprise linear polarization.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the polarizing filters comprise circular polarization.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

a pair of shutters configured to block light,

wherein display of the left eye image is synchronized with one of the pair of shutters, and

wherein display of the right eye image is synchronized with the other of the pair of shutters.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the display is a stereoscopic display.

19. An apparatus for presenting air traffic data to an air traffic controller, the apparatus comprising:

a first memory associated with a first processor;

a second memory associated with a second processor;

a third memory associated with a third processor;

a display;

a first program code resident in the first memory and configured to be executed by the first processor, the first program code is further configured to receive air traffic data including a two dimensional spatial location and altitude for a plurality of aircraft, determine a binocular disparity value based on the altitude for each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, and generate a left eye image of the plurality of aircraft;

a second program code resident in the second memory and configured to be executed by the second processor, the second portion of the program code is further configured to simultaneously receive the air traffic data including the two dimensional spatial location and altitude for the plurality of aircraft, determine the binocular disparity value based on the altitude for each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, and generate a right eye image of the plurality of aircraft; and

a third program code resident in the third memory and configured to be executed by the third processor, the third program code is further configured to receive the left and the right eye image of the plurality of aircraft and simultaneously display the left and right eye images to the air traffic controller on the display,

wherein at least one of the left and right eye image is based on the determined binocular disparity value, and

wherein the simultaneously displayed images provide an apparent three-dimensional separation of each of the aircraft of the plurality of aircraft on the display.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the display is a stereoscopic display.