Autostereoscopic Display Eye Tracking Lenticular Lens Array
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autostereoscopic displays with lenticular lens arrays require a fixed observer position due to narrow lenslet pitch, leading to reduced image resolution and limited observer mobility.
Innovation Solution
An eye-tracking mechanism is used to determine the observer's eye positions, enabling a computer to construct and display separate left and right images through a lenticular lenslet array with wider pitch, allowing the observer to move freely while maintaining high-resolution, seamless images for each eye.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If narrow pitch lenslets are used in lenticular lens arrays, then autostereoscopic display can be achieved with fixed observer position, but image resolution is reduced and observer mobility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adaptation by tracking observer eye positions and adjusting the displayed image content in real-time. The system dynamically switches between different image sets (first image set for left eye, second image set for right eye) based on observed eye positions, allowing the observer to move freely while maintaining high resolution. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction by making the display adaptable to observer movement rather than constraining the observer to a fixed position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of lenslet pitch from narrow (conventional) to wide (invention). By using wide pitch lenslets, each lenslet can accommodate multiple display pixels, enabling high resolution while allowing observer mobility. The system compensates for this parameter change by implementing eye tracking and dynamic image selection, ensuring that the appropriate image is presented to each eye based on the observer's position.
2Manufacturing precision
If wide pitch lenslets are used to enable observer mobility, then image resolution is improved, but the system complexity increases due to eye tracking requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs self-service by having the observer's own eye movements provide the positioning information. The eye tracking mechanism uses the observer's natural eye position to automatically determine which image set should be displayed, eliminating the need for external positioning systems or manual input. The observer's natural behavior (moving eyes to view different parts of the display) is directly utilized to control the display content.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring eye positions and using this information to adjust the displayed image content in real-time. The eye tracking mechanism provides feedback about the observer's position, and the display system responds by selecting the appropriate image set (first or second) to present to each eye, creating a closed-loop control system that adapts to observer movement.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple image pixels are routed to each lenslet for high resolution, then image quality improves, but the number of distinct angular directions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display into different regions corresponding to different eye positions. The display shows a first image set that corresponds to a first eye position and a second image set that corresponds to a second eye position. By segmenting the content in this way, the system can provide high resolution to each eye without requiring multiple angular directions, as each eye receives a complete high-resolution image tailored to its position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a conventional approach that maps pixels to angular directions (horizontal dimension) to an approach that maps pixels to eye positions (spatial dimension). Instead of distributing pixels across multiple angular directions, the system uses wide pitch lenslets to project multiple pixels to a single eye position, adding a temporal or selective dimension through eye tracking and dynamic image switching.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables observers to move horizontally and vertically without loss of image resolution, as the system actively adapts image positions and magnification, providing optimal high-resolution images for each eye's current position, suitable for various display technologies including LCD, CRT, and rear-projection screens.
Implementation Method 1
a lenticular lenslet array through which a first portion of the scene displayed on the display passes and forms a first seamless image of the left image which is visible only to the observer's left eye
Data Source
AI summary
An autostereoscopic imaging apparatus for an observer includes an eye tracking mechanism for determining a position of each eye of the observer. The apparatus includes a computer for constructing a right image and a left image of a scene. The left image being seen by the observer's left eye and the right image being seen by the observer's right eye when looking at the scene from the observer's location. The apparatus includes an image display on which the left image and the right image is displayed. The display in communication with the computer. The apparatus includes a lenticular lenslet array sheet through which a first portion of the scene displayed on the display passes and forms a first seamless image of the left image which is visible only to the observer's left eye, and through which a second portion of the scene displayed on the display passes through and forms a second seamless image of the right image which is visible only to the observer's right eye. Each lenslet having a pitch which is wide enough so that many pixels of the image on the display are seen magnified through the lenslet by the observer, wherein the observer whose eyes are actively tracked by the tracking mechanism can move around freely in a horizontal direction and a perpendicular direction relative to the display and see a seamless continuous image which is responsive to the movement of the observer relative to the display. A method for producing an autostereoscopic image of a scene for an observer.