Low-Cost, Portable, Multi-Wall Virtual Reality

Virtual reality systems make compelling outreach displays, but some such systems, like the CAVE, have design features that make their use for that purpose inconvenient. In the case of the CAVE, the equipment is difficult to disassemble, transport, and reassemble, and typically CAVEs can only be afforded by large-budget research facilities. We implemented a system like the CAVE that costs less than $30,000, weighs about 500 pounds, and fits into a fifteen-passenger van. A team of six people have unpacked, assembled, and calibrated the system in less than two hours. This cost reduction versus similar virtual-reality systems stems from the unique approach we took to stereoscopic projection. We used an assembly of optical chopper wheels and commodity LCD projectors to create true active stereo at less than a fifth of the cost of comparable active-stereo technologies. The screen and frame design also optimized portability; the frame assembles in minutes with only two fasteners, and both it and the screen pack into small bundles for easy and secure shipment

Crosstalk in stereoscopic displays

Crosstalk is an important image quality attribute of stereoscopic 3D displays. The research presented in this thesis examines the presence, mechanisms, simulation, and reduction of crosstalk for a selection of stereoscopic display technologies. High levels of crosstalk degrade the perceived quality of stereoscopic displays hence it is important to minimise crosstalk. This thesis provides new insights which are critical to a detailed understanding of crosstalk and consequently to the development of effective crosstalk reduction techniques

Construction of a Three-sided Immersive Telecollaboration System

In this article the setup and working principle of a new telecollaboration system “blue-c” is described. This system is an attempt to meet the rising expectations from industry of an IT-supported telecollaboration system. One basic requirement is that a three-dimensional representation of objects be possible together with threedimensional representations of the remote users. Since gesture and mimicry represent an important information channel during a discussion, a realistic 3D video representation is used instead of simple animated avatars. A simultaneous projection and image acquisition of the user in a telecollaboration system is necessary to allow simultaneous work of all team members. Thus, in the introduced system, problems had to be overcome such as providing, simultaneously, illumination for the image acquisition by the cameras and darkness for a bright projection to be seen by the user. A new approach was taken to integrate the cameras into the system by placing them behind active projection walls, which can be switched from transparent to opaque electrically. Unlike other systems, the cameras are therefore not visible to the user, who thus behaves more naturally. In addition, since the cameras are placed outside of the projection room, there is more space to move inside the immersive environment. The article describes the technology and functionality of the system, as well as the gathered experiences.ISSN:1054-7460ISSN:1531-326

Volumetric Display Research

The goal of this project was to research and develop a volumetric display system that allows a three-dimensional CAD file to be displayed in real space. The system used a Xilinx Zynq SoC to process a CAD model into a series of two-dimensional images to be projected onto a spinning helicoid surface using DLP technology. The SoC contained a combination of custom logic on FPGA fabric as well as software on an embedded processor to implement the unique system functionality

Crosstalk in stereoscopic displays: A review

Crosstalk, also known as ghosting or leakage, is a primary factor in determining the image quality of stereoscopic three dimensional (3D) displays. In a stereoscopic display, a separate perspective view is presented to each of the observer’s two eyes in order to experience a 3D image with depth sensation. When crosstalk is present in a stereoscopic display, each eye will see a combination of the image intended for that eye, and some of the image intended for the other eye—making the image look doubled or ghosted. High levels of crosstalk can make stereoscopic images hard to fuse and lack fidelity, so it is important to achieve low levels of crosstalk in the development of high-quality stereoscopic displays. Descriptive and mathematical definitions of these terms are formalized and summarized. The mechanisms by which crosstalk occurs in different stereoscopic display technologies are also reviewed, including micropol 3D liquid crystal displays (LCDs), autostereoscopic (lenticular and parallax barrier), polarized projection, anaglyph, and time-sequential 3D on LCDs, plasma display panels and cathode ray tubes. Crosstalk reduction and crosstalk cancellation are also discussed along with methods of measuring and simulating crosstalk

Perceived Depth Control in Stereoscopic Cinematography

Despite the recent explosion of interest in the stereoscopic 3D (S3D) technology, the ultimate prevailing of the S3D medium is still significantly hindered by adverse effects regarding the S3D viewing discomfort. This thesis attempts to improve the S3D viewing experience by investigating perceived depth control methods in stereoscopic cinematography on desktop 3D displays. The main contributions of this work are: (1) A new method was developed to carry out human factors studies on identifying the practical limits of the 3D Comfort Zone on a given 3D display. Our results suggest that it is necessary for cinematographers to identify the specific limits of 3D Comfort Zone on the target 3D display as different 3D systems have different ranges for the 3D Comfort Zone. (2) A new dynamic depth mapping approach was proposed to improve the depth perception in stereoscopic cinematography. The results of a human-based experiment confirmed its advantages in controlling the perceived depth in viewing 3D motion pictures over the existing depth mapping methods. (3) The practicability of employing the Depth of Field (DoF) blur technique in S3D was also investigated. Our results indicate that applying the DoF blur simulation on stereoscopic content may not improve the S3D viewing experience without the real time information about what the viewer is looking at. Finally, a basic guideline for stereoscopic cinematography was introduced to summarise the new findings of this thesis alongside several well-known key factors in 3D cinematography. It is our assumption that this guideline will be of particular interest not only to 3D filmmaking but also to 3D gaming, sports broadcasting, and TV production