Portable interactive 3D display

In this series of articles, we will introduce three-dimensional (3D) images and augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) technology aiming to provide “immersive content” allowing a highly realistic experience that feels as if you are really there.

At Science & Technology Research Laboratories (STRL), we are researching 3D displays allowing high-quality 3D images to be viewed with the naked eye, without wearing special glasses. We have developed a “portable interactive 3D display” which enables interactive 3D images to be viewed on a portable device (Fig. 1). The portable interactive 3D display is made up of a portable device and server (high-performance computer) (Fig. 2). The portable device gathers information about the viewer’s viewpoint position and screen operation, and the server generates elemental images^*1 based on this information. The elemental images are sent to the portable device and displayed using a lens array. This allows viewers to see interactive 3D images according to their viewing position and how they operate the display, such as enlarging and reducing images.

To view interactive, high-quality 3D images on a portable device, elemental images must be generated in real time and large numbers of light rays need to be displayed. However, because a portable device has lower processing capacity than a high-performance computer, it is difficult to generate elemental images in real time. Also, when 3D images are displayed on a portable device, there is an issue of reduced image quality due to the limited number of pixels.

To address these issues, elemental images are generated on a server separate from the portable device, and an eye-tracking function is implemented on the 3D display of the portable device. The eye-tracking function analyzes images captured by the portable device’s camera to calculate the viewer’s viewpoint position and displays interactive 3D images according to this position. This widens the viewing angle^*2, which can improve the quality of the 3D images.

We will continue to research and develop 3D images aiming to achieve more realistic and immersive video experiences.