Device and method for producing lenticular images with motion

Abstract: A lenticular device comprising: a sheet of lenticular material; and a printing on a viewing surface of the lenticular material with said printing representing a number of consecutive still images and a number of motion images.

Description: The present invention relates to the field of lenticular devices for 3D viewing of images and more particularly to a device and associated method for forming the device such that a portion of the field of view of the device provides the viewer with motion images. Lenticular images can be used to provide the effect of motion, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 3,268,238, entitled "Publications" by R. Finkel there is disclosed an image page formed with lenticular material that utilizes three views of a rabbit. Each view is slightly different from the other views such that rotation of the page generates a visual impression that one or more features of the rabbit move. In U.S. Patent No. 3,538,632, entitled "Lenticular Device and Method for Providing Same", by K. Anderson there is disclosed a lenticular display that uses images of a bucking horse and rider. An illusion of motion is imparted to the images by rotating the display. The Anderson invention is specifically directed to the painting of various portions of the images with transparent paint of different colors and shades to enhance the animation or three dimensional effect of the lenticular device. To successfully provide a lenticular device that displays motion, it is essential that the views of each individual scene be fully extinguished so that the effect of ghosting between adjacent views is minimized as the lenticular device is rotated. It is also necessary to be able to present a sufficient number of views so that there is a sense of continuous motion or so that if the motion is to appear discontinuous there are a number of views to track the total motion to provide the viewer with the sense that the moving objects are in continuous motion, compared to jumping from one location to another. In accordance with the present invention a lenticular device is provided as defined in claim 1. Advantageous Effect Of The Invention The present invention has the following advantages: The present invention provides a lenticular device wherein a combination of a non-moving (still) and a motion image are viewable, within a band of viewing angles, so that a viewer may enjoy both the details of the still lenticular device's image and the motion of a motion image without having the bluriness generally associated with moving images. In addition, compared to the prior art, this invention provides a device and a method for producing combined high-quality still and motion images that are pleasing to the viewer. Multiple views are used to provide the viewer with a sense of continuous image motion over a substantial viewing range while additionally providing a viewing range of at least one high quality still image. Fig. 1 illustrates a lenticular device viewed along a viewing axis; Fig. 2 illustrates a plurality of image frames for imparting the appearance of motion to a viewer; Fig. 3, illustrates a second lenticular device viewed from a number of viewing axes; Fig. 4, is a chart illustrating the intensity of a lenticular image viewed at different viewing angles; Fig. 5, is a chart illustrating the intensity of a sequence of like still images; Fig. 6 illustrats a system for capturing the images that will provide the illusion of motion; Referring to Fig. 1, a lenticular device 100 is constructed from a sheet of lenticular material 102 and an image recording material 103 which is adhered to the back of the lenticular material with an optically transparent adhesive 111. It is also well within the art to print the image directly on the back of the sheet of lenticular material. The recorded or printed image is formed as image slices, wherein each slice represents the view of the image or an object in the image taken from a different viewing angle. A viewer 101, views through the lenticular material 102 the image slice positioned at a particular viewing angle. For example, the ray 104 passes through a lenticule 105 to perceive a specific viewing image position 106. Consecutive viewing image positions 107, 108 and 109 provide different views (slices) from different angles, thus if the lenticular device 100 is rotated about an axis A-A close to the center of the device and parallel to the lenticular image in a direction shown by arrow 110, then different slices (views) of the image are viewable. As shown in Fig. 2, these various views involve incremental changes in position, such that the adjacent images, when merged together, appear to simulate motion. For example, the images 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, and 207 illustrate an image sequence wherein a person whose head is getting larger and as the weight of his head causes him to bend over such that his head finally explodes. These multiple views provide the viewer with a sense of continuous motion. Although only a portion of the image (the head and neck) are shown with position and size changes, it is obvious that multiple changes may be likewise incoporated in the sequence of images. To achieve high quality motion, a number of requirements must be met. These include a high level of extinction between one view and the next. This is shown diagramatically in Fig. 3 where a single on-axis view 301 is illuminated and the adjacent views 302 and 303 are black. If, as we moved incrementally from the central axis position 304 to the on-axis angular position of the next adjacent view at 305, it is necessary that the central axis position 304 become fully extinguished. Thus, if as an observer's eye (or a point intensity measuring instrument) were to move through the arc 307, the intensity of the central bright view would need to be extinguished in accordance with the profile shown in Fig. 4 where position 401 is the on-axis position corresponding to the angular position of central axis position 304 and position 402 corresponds to the view 306 while position 403 corresponds to the view 305. The profile 404 corresponds to the intensity of the central axis position 304 corresponding to the image created at position 301. Unless the spread of the profile 404 is limited to a few viewing positions and unless this curve diminishes almost to the zero level corresponding to the profile 405, it is not possible to achieve high quality motion in imagery. One means of obtaining this narrow spread and also a high level of extinction, is to generate the image on the image recording material 103 by exposing it prior to laminating it to the lenticular material 102. Prior art techniques showing motion have tended to expose the image through the lenticular material and this results in the profile of profile 404 being spread out. Other approaches have used printing press methods such as linotype or offset to produce the image recording material 103. However, this provides insufficient resolution to be able to accommodate the more than 20 views (slices) required to provide adequate imaging. In light of these difficulties, the best quality approach is to accurately expose high resolution photographic material which is capable of higher resolution than prior art methods in order to achieve the necessary profile shown in Fig. 4. When combining still images with motion images the still image is created by obtaining a high quality image and positioning that image in a number of consective frames. In the preferred embodiment of the invention it was found that three consecutive frames provided accetable results with additional frames improving the results. Referring again to Fig. 4, even given the high quality profile 404 shown, if we were to imagine the shape of the profile of adjoining views corresponding, for example, to profile 405 and profile 406, we would see that there is no position as we move along profile 405 from point 407 to point 408 where the image is contributed to solely by a single view. This occurs because there is no point between points 407 and 408 where only one profile of the profiles 404, 405, 406 is fully on (viewable) and the other profiles are fully off (not viewable) or at a level corresponding to the profile 405. If, on the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5, using the profile characteristic shown in Fig. 4, all three views have the same information, then the net effect would correspond to the profile shown in Fig. 5 and there would be a distance along the profile 405 where adjoining profile 501 on one side and 502 on the other side is fully off while in the range 503 the profile corresponding to the three profiles 504 is the only one that is on, thereby providing a high quality view. The method of generating various viewing effects is shown in Fig. 6. The various images are created by having camera 1401 move along track 1402 to provide a sense of motion with respect to object 1403. Alternatively, the object 1403 may be moved with respect to the camera 1401. Another way to generate images is by using a computer graphics workstation under operator control to generate a sequence of views digitially. One perferred system for capturing film source material is the Photo CD workstation (PIW ) offered by KODAK. The digitized images provided by the workstation are rescaled into horizontal lines whose number and pitch are matched to the lenticular material through which the image is to be viewed. Each of these views are then grouped together in a series. For proofing the sequence of images are sequentially viewed on a computer work station monitor at a fast enough rate to instill the sense of motion for verifying that the desired amount of motion is being generated by the sequence. Once the sequence of images is defined the set of digital data representing these images needs to be formed through a process that will enable the lenticular material to be applied to an output media to form the final product (device). The first step is to take the images and separate them into subsets of data that fit behind one lenticule. One lenticule represents the same line number taken from each image in the sequence. To have proper viewing of the final product because of the way the lens works the actual order of the picuters under the lenticule is reversed. Multiple groups of these lenticules are combined to define the size of the finished lenticular device. At one particular viewing angle a full image from the sequence is visible by viewing through the lenticular surface the representation of the digital data. The process to create the media that is used under the lenticular material is to output the above described digital data combinations to a digital film recorder which produces a negative. The negative is then contact printed on an output media. This output media is then laminated to the lenticular material. The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Parts List: 100 Lenticular device 101 Viewer 102 Lenticular material 103 Recording material 104 Ray 105 Lenticule 106 Viewing image position 107 Viewing image position 108 Viewing image position 109 Viewing image position 110 Arrow 111 Transparent adhesive 201 Image 202 Image 203 Image 204 Image 205 Image 206 Image 207 Image 301 On-axis view 302 View 303 View 304 Central axis position 305 View 306 View 307 Arc 401 Position 402 Position 403 Position 404 Profile 405 Profile 406 Profile 407 Point 408 Point 501 Profile 502 Profile 503 Range 504 Profile 1401 Camera 1402 Track 1403 Object A-A Axis

Claims: A lenticular device (100) comprising an image recording material (103) having a plurality of images (201 - 207) recorded as image slices thereon, and a lenticular material (102) having lenticles (105) positioned on one surface of the image recording material for viewing the images in sequence by rotating the lenticular device relative to a viewer about an axis (A-A) parallel to the lenticles (105), characterized by the images combining still images with motion image sequences, the still images being formed by a number of consecutive images having the same information, thereby providing a high quality still image. The lenticular device claimed in claim 1, wherein the image recording material (103) is a photographic recording material.

Inventors: GULICK STEPHEN, GULICK, STEPHEN, Gulick, Stephen, c/o Eastman Kodak Co.
Applicants: EASTMAN KODAK CO, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Application year: 1996
Main classification: G09F19
IPC codes: G02B27, G03C9, G09F19, G03B35