Parallax barrier with dynamic light steering based on relative location of viewer

A system comprising:

• tracking means;
• a light field display unit comprising:
• a light-emitting unit that is employed to emit light corresponding to a plurality of photo-emitting cells;
• a parallax barrier arranged on an optical path of the light-emitting unit, the parallax barrier comprising opaque portions and transparent portions;
• and
• an active optical element arranged on the optical path of the light-emitting unit;
• and
• at least one processor configured to:
• utilise the tracking means to determine a relative location of a first eye and of a second eye of at least one user with respect to an image plane of the light field display unit;
• and
• display a light field image via the light field display unit to produce a synthetic light field, whilst controlling the active optical element, based on the relative location of the first eye and of the second eye of the at least one user, to direct light corresponding to a first set of photo-emitting cells towards the first eye and light corresponding to a second set of photo-emitting cells towards the second eye,
• wherein when controlling the active optical element, the at least one processor is configured to:
• determine a first viewing direction and a second viewing direction for a given first photo-emitting cell belonging to the first set of photo-emitting cells and a given second photo-emitting cell belonging to the second set of photo-emitting cells, based on the relative location of the first eye and of the second eye of the at least one user with respect to the image plane of the light filed display unit, respectively;
• and
• control a given first portion of the active optical element that lies on an optical path of the given first photo-emitting cell and a given second portion of the active optical element that lies on an optical path of the given second photo-emitting cell, to direct light corresponding to the given first photo-emitting cell along the first viewing direction and light corresponding to the given second photo-emitting cell along the second viewing direction, respectively, wherein the given first portion and the given second portion are controlled based on at least one of:
• (i) a relative location of a group comprising a first opaque portion and a first transparent portion of the parallax barrier that correspond to the given first photo-emitting cell with respect to the first viewing direction, (ii) a relative location of a group comprising a second opaque portion and a second transparent portion of the parallax barrier that correspond to the given second photo-emitting cell with respect to the second viewing direction, (iii) a width of an opaque portion and a transparent portion in the parallax barrier.