Subsurface 3D Imaging With Dynamic Focus for Natural Depth Cues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional 3D imaging systems cause eye fatigue and discomfort due to the decoupling of vergence and accommodation processes, leading to blurred images and perceptual depth distortions, as they force viewers to adjust vergence and accommodation separately.
Innovation Solution
A system that captures and processes multiple datasets using wave generating devices and sensors to create multidimensional digital images, aligning focus and convergence points to match natural viewing conditions, allowing 3D image simulation without specialized glasses or headsets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional stereoscopic displays are used to provide binocular disparity for depth perception, then depth information is improved, but the vergence-accommodation conflict causes visual discomfort and fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic focus adjustment that allows the focal plane to move independently from the display surface, enabling the accommodative distance to match the perceived depth at different locations in the stereoscopic image. This dynamic coupling of vergence and accommodation responses eliminates the fixed accommodative distance constraint, resolving the vergence-accommodation conflict while maintaining accurate depth perception throughout the visual scene.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the optical parameters of the display system by introducing variable focus mechanisms that adjust the focal plane position corresponding to different depth planes in the stereoscopic image. This parameter change enables the accommodative distance to vary dynamically with perceived depth, matching natural viewing conditions and eliminating visual discomfort while preserving depth perception accuracy.
2Device complexity
If the accommodative distance is fixed at the display distance, then the display system is simple to implement, but the natural correlation between vergence and accommodative distance is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static display system into a dynamic one where the focal plane can be adjusted independently. By implementing variable focus mechanisms that respond to depth information in the stereoscopic image, the system maintains the simple display architecture while restoring the natural vergence-accommodation coupling, thereby improving reliability of natural viewing condition simulation without significantly increasing complexity.
3Measurement precision
If multiple capture devices are used to capture subsurface datasets, then image quality and depth information are improved, but the device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple capture devices (such as ultrasound, radar, or optical sensors) into an integrated subsurface imaging system that captures layered information simultaneously. By merging the data from different sensing modalities and processing them through coordinated algorithms, the system achieves high-quality subsurface imaging with accurate depth information while managing device complexity through unified control and data fusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from capturing single-plane surface images to capturing multi-layered subsurface data by adding the depth dimension through coordinated multi-device operation. This dimensional expansion enables visualization of subsurface structures at different depths while managing complexity through systematic data acquisition and processing methods that exploit the additional spatial information.
Data Source
AI summary
To simulate a 3D image of a subsurface below a surface, the system having a memory device for storing an instruction, a processor in communication with the memory device configured to execute the instruction, and a subsurface image capture module in communication with the processor, the subsurface image capture module having one or more wave generating device and one or more sensor affixed to a vehicle to capture a series of digital image datasets of the subsurface with a coordinate reference data, wherein the processor executes an instruction to generate a digital model of the series of digital image datasets of the subsurface while maintaining the coordinate reference data, wherein the processor executes an instruction to determine a depth map of the digital model, and wherein the processor executes an instruction to identify a key subject point in the digital model, where subsurface includes an internal biology, below ground, underwater.