Head-Mounted 3D Projection With Retro-Reflective Private Viewing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3-D video projection systems are bulky, expensive, require specialized glasses, and fail to provide individualized and realistic 3-D experiences due to limitations in recreating spatial clues for each viewer's vantage point, often causing discomfort and nausea.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, portable, and low-cost system using stereoscopic micro projectors and retro-reflective screens that project separate images to each eye, allowing for individualized 3-D views without glasses, and includes interactive features like gaze tracking and ambient light suppression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional 3-D projection systems are used, then 3-D viewing capability is achieved, but the system becomes bulky, expensive, and requires specialized glasses and screens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical projection systems with a mobile device-based system that uses the device's existing display screen and camera to capture and process images for 3-D viewing. This substitution eliminates the need for bulky projection equipment, specialized glasses, and theater-quality screens, achieving 3-D capability through software processing and the device's native hardware components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional 3-D projection systems are used, then 3-D images can be displayed, but they fail to provide individualized views for each viewer's vantage point
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the mobile device's camera to capture the viewer's eye position and gaze direction, providing feedback about the viewer's vantage point. This feedback is then used to dynamically adjust and render individualized 3-D images that accurately represent the spatial scene from each viewer's specific perspective, preserving all spatial clues including motion parallax and depth relationships.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional 3-D systems are used, then 3-D viewing is achieved, but viewer comfort is compromised due to visual discomfort and nausea
Solution Approach 1:
The system renders different quality and perspective images for each eye based on the captured gaze direction and eye position. By providing locally optimized images tailored to each eye's specific viewing angle and accommodating natural eye motion, the system eliminates the visual conflicts that cause discomfort and nausea in conventional one-size-fits-all 3-D systems.
4Weight of moving object
If lenticular lens displays are used, then portable 3-D viewing is achieved, but the location must be very precise and it causes undesired effects
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the rendered 3-D images based on real-time tracking of eye position and gaze direction captured by the mobile device's camera. This dynamic adaptation allows the viewer to move naturally without requiring precise positioning, as the system continuously updates the perspective to match the viewer's current vantage point, eliminating the rigid positioning requirements of lenticular displays.
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 high-quality, power-efficient, and private 3-D viewing experiences for one or multiple users, with improved spatial awareness and natural interaction, while reducing energy consumption and eliminating the need for specialized eyewear.
Implementation Method 1
stereoscopic micro projectors and retro-reflective screens that project separate images to each eye
Data Source
AI summary
A system projects a user-viewable, computer-generated or -fed image, wherein a head-mounted projector is used to project an image onto a retro-reflective surface, so only the viewer can see the image. The projector is connected to a computer that contains software to create virtual 2-D and or 3-D images for viewing by the user. Further, one projector each is mounted on either side of the user's head, and, by choosing for example a retro angle of less than about 10 degrees, each eye can only see the image of one of the projectors at a given distance up to 3 meters, in this example, from the retro-reflective screen. The retro angle used may be reduced with larger viewing distance desired. These projectors use lasers to avoid the need for focusing, and in some cases these projectors use instead of lasers highly collimated LED light sources to avoid the need for focusing.