Method for simulating optical components for the stereoscopic production of spatial impressions

• US 8,159,492 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2003
• Issued: 04/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Phoenix 3D, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Phoenix 3D, Inc.
• Inventors: Tzschoppe, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): BROOME, SAID A
• Application Number:
  US10/526,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20050233788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,150 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/34 Stereoscopes providing a stereoscopic pair of separated images corresponding to parallactically displaced views of the same object, e.g. 3D slide viewers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/275 from 3D object models, e.g. computer-generated stereoscopic image signals

Abstract

The invention relates to a simulation method, especially to a method for simulating spatial impressions which are produced by means of an image generator and one or several filter arrays.

The method according to the invention essentially comprises the following steps:

• a) Specification of the geometry of the image generator, b) specification of the geometry of the filter array, c) specification of a spatial arrangement geometry in relation to the image generator and the filter array in a three-dimensional coordinate system (X,Y,Z), d) specification of two monocular positions of observation in front of the said arrangement geometry, e) specification of a combined image containing bits of partial information from several views A_k (k=1 . . . n) of a scene, f) determination of a first and a second secondary image containing image elements of the specified combined image which are visible to the eye of an observer in the specified first and second monocular position of observation on the basis of the specified filter array geometry in conjunction with the specified image generator geometry and the spatial arrangement geometry, and g) stereoscopic visualization of the first and second secondary images as a left and right stereoscopic image, respectively.

Claims

1. A method for simulation of spatial visual impressions, comprising the following steps:

a) Specifying, with computing hardware and programmable memory, an image generator geometry of an image generator, especially with regard to the structure and size of the image elements,

b) specifying, with computing hardware and programmable memory, a filter array geometry of a filter array, especially with regard to the structure and size of the filter elements,

c) specifying, with computing hardware and programmable memory, a spatial arrangement geometry in relation to the image generator and the filter array in a three-dimensional coordinate system,

d) specifying, with computing hardware and programmable memory, a first and a second monocular position of observation in front of the said arrangement geometry in the said three-dimensional coordinate system (X, Y, Z),

e) specifying, with computing hardware and programmable memory, a combined image that is suitable for display on the specified image generator geometry and that contains, in a defined assignment to the image elements, image information from different given primary images, which are identical to n different views of a virtual or real scene or of a virtual or real object, where n is an integer,

f) determining a first and a second secondary image containing image elements of the specified combined image which are visible to the eye of an observer in the specified first and second monocular positions of observation on the basis of the specified filter array geometry in conjunction with the specified image generator geometry and the spatial arrangement geometry, in which an image element of a secondary image may explicitly just as well represent only part of an image element of the specified combined image, and

g) stereoscopically visualizing the first and second secondary images or parts of these secondary images as a left and right stereoscopic image, respectively;

wherein the spatial arrangement geometry specified in step c), relative to the image generator and the filter array in the said three-dimensional coordinate system describes one plane each for the image generator and the filter array, and the spatial positions of top left and bottom right corner points of the filter array or image generator.