US 10,855,974 B2Granted

Methods and apparatus for radial automultiscopic display

AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology

InventorsEmily Salvador, Emily Van Belleghem, Daniel Novy, Victor Michael Bove, Jr.

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Abstract

A display system may comprise a radially symmetric mirror, a display screen, and a radial array of lenticular lenses. The mirror may be a frustum of a cone. Light from the screen may pass through the radial array and then reflect from the mirror, to create a 360-degree automultiscopic display. The automultiscopic display may display multiple rendered views of a 3D scene, each of which shows the scene from a different virtual camera angle. Which rendered view is visible may depend on the angular position of a user. Each lenticular lens may be wedge-shaped and may have a constant focal length and a constant height-width ratio. In some cases, slices from some, but not all, of the rendered views are displayed under any single lenticular lens at a given time. The lenticular array may be replaced by a holographic optical element, or by radial array of parallax barriers.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method for creating an automultiscopic display of a 3D object, which method comprises the steps of:

(a) displaying, with an electronic display screen that is positioned under a radial array of lenticular lenses, a set of multiple views of the 3D object, in such way that
(i) each view in the set shows the 3D object from a different angle,
(ii) for each specific view in the set, the screen displays multiple slices of the specific view, in such a way that each slice of the specific view (A) is different than each other slice of the specific view and (B) is displayed under a different lenticular lens in the radial array than that under which any other slice of the specific view is displayed, and
(iii) under each lenticular lens in the radial array, the screen displays slices of more than one but not all of the views in the set;
and
(b) refracting and reflecting light from the display screen in such a way that the light travels through, and is refracted by, the radial array, and then reflects from a radially symmetric mirror to create the automultiscopic display of the 3D object.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/250,088Filed 17 Jan 2019 · us provisional application
Priority: 17 Jan 2018
Published: US 2019/0222828 A118 Jul 2019
Granted: 1 Dec 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

H04N 13/305
For viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays: using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
G02B 3/0037
Arrays: characterized by the distribution or form of lenses
G02B 30/27
Of the autostereoscopic type: involving lenticular arrays
H04N 13/351
Multi-view displays for displaying three or more geometrical viewpoints without viewer tracking: for displaying simultaneously