Patent Description:
Autostereoscopy is the technique of displaying stereoscopic images without requiring any headgear or spectacle worn on the viewer and is thus called "glasses-free 3D. " Attributable to the technique of autostereoscopic 3D displays, wearing special viewing glasses or tracking devices is no longer a pre-requisite to enjoy naked-eye 3D visulization. However, their limitations, such as narrow viewing angle, low image quality, crosstalk, and shallow image depth, prevent their further promotion in a larger area of naked-eye 3D visualization and wider commercial use. Regardless, there are many approaches developed to deliver autostereoscopic display, one of which is 3D holography and volumetric display.

3D hologram is three-dimensional image generated using photographic projection. It is truly 3D and free-standing image which does not simulate spatial depth and does not require special glasses to view. In other words, it is defined as 3D projection which exists freely in the space. It is holographic recording of light field rather than image formed by lens. However, 3D holography has the following drawbacks: (<NUM>) it is not easily seen in the presence of fluorescent lighting; (<NUM>) implementations of holographic projection in the design of products are costly; (<NUM>) it is time consuming to construct images using 3D holograms; (<NUM>) holographic data storage suffers from noise and sensitivity issues. Thus, it has material limitations. Meanwhile, it is not easy to achieve rapid progress for commercial use in a short period due to various factors, such as dynamic display, real-time generation, and electronic signal transfer for TV presence.

Other conventional technique involved with autostereoscopic display may adopt micro electromechanical system (MEMS) mirror to display 3D image by reflecting and projecting light rays onto corresponding positions in space. However, such conventional technique requires a MEMS mirror array formed by many MEMS mirrors to display a high-resolution 3D image, thereby making the resulting 3D image display system bulky and costly and not feasible to practical stereoscopic image display applications.

<CIT> describes a light control and display technology applicable to light redirection and projection with the capacity, in a number of embodiments modified for particular applications, to produce managed light, including advanced images. Applications include miniature to very large scale video displays, optical data processing, <NUM>-dimensional imaging, and lens-less vision enhancement for poor night-driving vision, cataracts and macular degeneration.

<CIT> describes a scanning display system comprising a laser light source comprising two or more offset lasers, a scanning mirror system configured to scan light from the laser light source in a first direction at a higher frequency, and in a second direction at a lower frequency to form an image, and a controller configured to control the scanning mirror system to scan the laser light an interlaced pattern to form the image, and to adjust one or more of a scan rate in the second direction and a phase offset between a first frame and a second frame of the interlaced image.

Article "3D display using intersection of light beams", http://dx. org/<NUM>/<NUM>, describes that conventional stereoscopic displays yield conflicts between convergence and accommodation of the human eyes. It is said that, if the conflicts are too severe, they may cause visual stress to the human.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method for displaying a 3D image with depths.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the descriptions that follow, and in part will be apparent from the descriptions, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. The objectives and other advantages of the disclosure will be realized and attained by the structure and method particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the system for displaying a 3D image with depths is defined in claim <NUM>.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the method for displaying a 3D image with depths is defined in claim <NUM>.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that at least two of the multiple light signals sequentially generated at different time are reflected and projected to a position in space to display a corresponding pixel of the 3D image to a viewer's eye. Paths or extensions of the paths of the at least two sequentially generated light signals intersect to display the pixel at the location of intersection. In view of persistence of human vision, all light signals displaying a 3D image received by a viewer's eye within one eighteenth of a second is perceived as a 3D image with depths by the viewer's eye. Accordingly, the method and the system of the present invention bring forth the advantages of simplified structure and miniatured size at a less costly building cost.

The terminology used in the description presented below is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the technology. Certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be specifically defined as such in this Detailed Description section.

The described embodiments concern one or more methods, systems, apparatuses, and computer readable mediums storing processor-executable process steps to display a 3D image with depths in space for a viewer's eye. A 3D image projecting system has at least one light signal generator and at least one corresponding optical assembly. Each light signal generator has a corresponding optical assembly. Each light signal generator sequentially generates multiple light signals that are irradiating to a corresponding optical assembly. The optical assembly projects and scans the multiple light signals from the light signal generator to display the 3D image in space. Each light signal is projected to a position with a depth in space. The viewer can see the 3D image with depths because all light signals enter the viewer's eye within the time period of persistence of vision. Each pixel is displayed at a position by at least two light signals whose paths or extensions of the paths intersect at the position and at an angle associated with the depth of the pixel. The light signals are sequentially generated by the light signal generator and each light signal is very short in time. As a result, the at least two light signals projecting a pixel may not physically intersect with each other at the position the pixel is displayed. However, the viewer would perceive the pixel being displayed at the position due to the persistence of vision.

In first embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, a 3D image projecting system comprises a light signal generator <NUM> for sequentially generating multiple light signals irradiating onto an optical assembly <NUM>. The light signal generator <NUM> further comprises a light source <NUM>, a light color modifier <NUM>, and a reflector <NUM>. The light source <NUM> may be laser, light emitting diode ("LED"), micro light emitting diode ("Micro LED"), organic light emitting diode ("OLED"), or superluminescent diode ("SLD"), or any combination thereof. The light color modifier <NUM> may be a color filter or a combiner depending on the light source <NUM>. In this embodiment, the light source <NUM> may be a white light SLD or a white light LED. In this situation, the light color modifier <NUM> may be a color filter to derive the desired pixel light color. In another embodiment, the light source <NUM> may include a red color light laser, a green color light laser, and a blue color light laser. In that situation, the light color modifier <NUM> may be a combiner such as Dichroic combiner and Polarizing combiner. The reflector <NUM> may be used to adjust the direction of the multiple light signals. The reflector <NUM> may be an adjustable reflector or a fixed reflector. If an adjustable reflector, the reflector <NUM> is a MEMS mirror. In the case of a MEMS mirror, the MEMES mirror needs to be set up to reflect the light signals in a fixed direction. In addition, the light signal generator <NUM> may include a light intensity modifier to derive the desired pixel light intensity. The light signal generator <NUM> includes a collimator <NUM> to narrow the light beam of the multiple light signals, for example to cause the directions of motion to become more aligned in a specific direction or to cause spatial cross section of the light beam to become smaller. The collimator <NUM> may be a curved mirror or lens.

The time duration of one light signal is short, for example about <NUM> nanosecond. In one embodiment, the resolution of a 3D image is <NUM> x <NUM> pixels per frame. At least two light signals are required to display a pixel in a position. For the viewer to see such a 3D image, the light signal generator <NUM> has to sequentially generate <NUM> x <NUM> x <NUM> light signals within the time period of persistence of vision, for example <NUM>/<NUM> second. Thus, the time duration of each light signal is about <NUM> nanosecond. To display 3D animated images in space smoother, <NUM> or more frames are projected per second. That is to say, each frame with <NUM> x <NUM> pixels has to be projected within <NUM>/<NUM> second or shorter time period, rather than <NUM>/<NUM> second. Thus, to display <NUM> frames per second, the time duration of each pixel has to be <NUM> nanosecond.

Since each light signal is sequentially generated by the light signal generator <NUM> and the time duration of each pixel is less than <NUM> nanosecond, the two light signals projecting a same pixel do not propagate through the position where their paths or extensions of the paths intersect instead.

The optical assembly <NUM> is used to project the multiple light signals from the light signal generator <NUM> to propagate along their specific light paths so that each pixel of the 3D image is displayed at its desired position and depth to the viewer's eye. Thus, the optical assembly <NUM> comprises one or more adjustable reflectors, each of which may comprise one or more lens or mirrors that can reflect light signals and adjust their reflecting angles in a 2D or 3D manner. Each adjustable reflector may be electromechanical system ("MEMS") mirror, liquid crystal on silicon ("LCOS"), or digital light processing ("DLP"), or any combination thereof. In this embodiment shown in <FIG>, the optical assembly <NUM> may comprise two 2D-adjustable reflectors-afirst 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> and a second 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM>. The first 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> may be implemented by a first biaxial MEMS mirror and the second 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> may be implemented by a second biaxial MEMS mirror. In another embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the optical assembly <NUM> may comprise a 3D-adjustable reflector <NUM> which can rotate and/or move in <NUM> dimensions to adjust the reflecting angle of each light signal. The 3D-adjustable reflector <NUM> may be implemented by a triaxial MEMS mirror. In addition, the optical assembly <NUM> in <FIG> and <FIG> comprises a fixed reflector <NUM> to facilitate alignment of the multiple light signals so that the viewer can see the 3D image easier. The fixed reflector <NUM> may comprise flat mirror, Fresnel lens, Fresnel reflector, curved mirror, diopter lens, periodic nanostructure photopolymer film, or Bragg grating waveguide, or any combination thereof. In particular, in the application of augmented reality ("AR"), the fixed reflector <NUM> may be a lens of an AR glasses.

As shown in <FIG>, according to examples which are not according to claimed invention, the optical assembly <NUM> can contain only one or more adjustable reflectors with the fixed reflector <NUM> being optional. The optical assembly <NUM> may include (<NUM>) the two 2D-adjustable reflectors which may be implemented by the first biaxial MEMS mirror <NUM> and the second biaxial MEMS mirror <NUM> or (<NUM>) the one 3D-adjustable reflector which may be implemented by the triaxial MEMS mirror <NUM>. When the fixed reflector <NUM> is absent, the viewer can see the light signals actually projecting the 3D image in space. In other words, after propagating through the light path intersection, the at least two light signals projecting a pixel are directly received by the viewer's eye without any further reflection.

As shown in <FIG>, at least one collimator <NUM> is placed between the light signal generator <NUM> and the optical assembly <NUM> to narrow the light beam coming from the reflector <NUM>. The collimator <NUM> can be a curved mirror or lens.

A 3D image controller <NUM> in <FIG> is connected to a 3D image creator (not shown) to receive multiple pixel data of the 3D image <NUM> and a predetermined scanning pattern from a 3D image creator. The producer of 3D image contents may use the 3D image creator to create a 3D image projection file which includes the multiple pixel data of the 3D image to be projected in space and the predetermined scanning pattern to scan such 3D image. A pixel data comprises information about one pixel which may include a pixel light color, a pixel light intensity, a pixel location, a pixel depth, and a pixel generation frequency of such pixel. In one example, the pixel light color may be represented by <NUM>-bit color (<NUM> bits in R, G, B respectively). In one example, a pixel light intensity may be represented by <NUM>-bit scale controlled by current. In one example, the pixel location may be represented by a 2D or 3D coordinate. In one example, the pixel depth may be represented by a distance between the pixel and the viewer's eye. In one example, the pixel generation frequency may be represented by a number of pixels projected within one second.

The 3D image controller <NUM> may comprise at least one processor such as graphic processing unit, memory, input/output component, wireless or wired communication component, such as WiFi, bluetooth, <NUM>/<NUM> telecommunication, and memory. Based on the multiple pixel data of the 3D image <NUM> and a predetermined scanning pattern received from the 3D image creator, the 3D image controller <NUM> generates light signal generator control signals for the light signal generator <NUM> and optical assembly control signals for the optical assembly <NUM>. The light signal generator control signals may include signals to control various components of the light signal generator <NUM>, such as light source <NUM>, light color modifier <NUM>, light intensity modifier <NUM>, and the fixed reflector <NUM>. In one embodiment, the light signal generator control signals are used to control the light source <NUM> and the light color modifier <NUM> to take turn to extract R, G, B color in generation of desired mixed color. The optical assembly control signal may include signals to control various components of the optical assembly <NUM>, such as the rotation angels of the first biaxial MEMS mirror <NUM> and the rotation angles of the second biaxial MEMS mirror <NUM> for each pixel of the 3D image <NUM>. The 3D image controller <NUM> transmits, by wireless or wired connection, the light signal generator control signals to the light signal generator <NUM>, and the optical assembly control signal to the optical assembly <NUM>. As a result, the at least two light signals with the desired color and intensity can propagate along the desired light paths so that the light paths or extension of the paths intersect at the desired location and at the desired angle to derive the desired depth for the viewer's eye.

As shown in <FIG>, the 3D image has a resolution of <NUM> x <NUM> pixels per frame. In one embodiment, each pixel is displayed by projecting two light signals whose paths or extensions of the paths intersect at a position where the pixel is displayed. P1x1 (<NUM>) represents the first light signal for projecting the first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame. P1x1 (<NUM>) represents the second light signal for projecting the first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame. P1x2 (<NUM>) represents the first light signal for projecting the second pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame. P1x2 (<NUM>) represents the second light signal for projecting the second pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame. Pij (<NUM>) represents the first light signal for projecting the Nth pixel at the (i, j) location of the image frame. Pixj (<NUM>) represents the second light signal for projecting the Nth pixel at the (i, j) location of the image frame. P1280x720 (<NUM>) represents the first light signal for projecting the last pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame. P1280x720 (<NUM>) represents the second light signal for projecting the last pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame.

As shown in <FIG>, in one embodiment, the two light signals projecting a same pixel are sequentially and consecutively generated by the light signal generator <NUM>. The multiple light signals are generated by the time sequence of t1 to t2 to t3 and to t (1280x720x2). P1x1 (<NUM>) representing the first light signal for projecting the first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame is generated at the time of t1 is followed by P1x1 (<NUM>) representing the second light signal for projecting the same first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame generated at the time of t2. If a left to right and top to down scanning pattern is used, the two light signals projecting the second pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame follow those for the first pixel. In details, P2x1 (<NUM>) representing the first light signal for projecting the second pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame generated at the time of t3 is followed by P2x1 (<NUM>) representing the second light signal for projecting the same second pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame generated at the time of t4.

As shown in <FIG>, in another embodiment, the two light signals projecting a same pixel are sequentially and separately generated by the light signal generator <NUM>. The multiple light signals are still generated at the time sequence from t1 to t2 to t3 and to t (1280x720x2). However, while the first light signal for P1x1 (<NUM>) representing the first light signal for projecting the first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame is generated at the time of t1, P1x1 (<NUM>) representing the second light signal for projecting the same first pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame is generated at the time of t (1280x720+<NUM>). The first light signal and the second light signals for projecting the same pixel at the (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame are separated by 1280x720 of other light signals. In this embodiment, although the scanning pattern of left to right and top to down is also used, the first light signal for all pixels are generated first and then followed by the second light signal for all pixels.

As shown in <FIG>, the first light signal P1x1 (<NUM>) and the second light signal P1x1 (<NUM>) for projecting the same first pixel are sequentially generated at the different time of t1 and t2 by the light signal generator <NUM>, propagate along different light paths, and arrive at the viewer's eye at the different time of T1 and T2. The first light signal and the second light signal do not actually intersect with each other. However, their paths or the extensions of their paths to the viewer's eye intersect at a position where the first pixel is projected with a depth to the viewer. Each of the first light signal and the second light signal for projecting a same pixel may contain a mixed color of red, green, and blue and is identical in colorfulness. However, the first light signal and the second light signal for projecting a same pixel may have complementary light colors. For example, the first light signal has red color and the second light signal has cyan color; the first light signal has green color and the second light signal has magenta color; or the first light signal has blue color and the second light signal has yellow color.

As shown in <FIG>, the first pixel at (<NUM>, <NUM>) location of the image frame is projected by three light signals-the first light signal P1x1 (<NUM>), the second light signal P1x1 (<NUM>), and the third light signal P1x1 (<NUM>). Each of the three light signals of the first pixel is respectively generated at a different time and also arrive at the viewer's eye at a different time. Thus, the first light signal, the second light signal, and the third light signal do not actually intersect with each other. However, their paths or extension of their paths to the viewer's eye intersect at a position where the first pixel is projected with a depth to the viewer. In this embodiment, the first light signal, the second light signal and the third light signal respectively have the red, green, and blue color.

When the 3D image is displayed in a space, the sequence and the pattern associated with how the 3D image is displayed can be determined by a scanning pattern. With reference to <FIG>, a couple of non-limiting examples are given for illustrating the scanning pattern. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan one row of the 3D image at a time in a left-to-right and top-down direction or in a left-to-right and bottom-up direction. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan the pixels concentrically located rings in the 3D image in a direction from an innermost ring to an outermost ring or from the outermost ring to the innermost ring. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan the 3D image spirally from an end point on a boundary region to a center of the 3D image, or from the center to the end point on the boundary region. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan the 3D image from the closest pixels (to viewer) to the farthest pixels, or from the farthest pixels to the closest pixels. As noted, the closest pixels are marked by the symbol '•', the second closest pixels are marked by the symbol 'x', and the farthest pixels are marked by the symbol '■'. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan the 3D image radially through all pixels between a center and a pixel on a boundary region in a direction sequentially shifting from <NUM> degree to <NUM> degrees. With reference to <FIG>, the scanning pattern is defined to scan the 3D image in a zigzag manner traversing all pixels of the 3D image from a top left corner to a bottom right color.

The 3D image controller <NUM> receives the multiple pixel data of the 3D image and the predetermined scanning pattern from the 3D image creator, and then respectively provides light signal generating control data to the at least one light signal generator and provides optical assembly control data to the optical assembly. The light signal generator generates the multiple light signals based on the light signal generating control data, and the optical assembly projects and scans the multiple light signals based on the optical assembly control data. As shown in <FIG>, the lookup table is used to provide a mapping scheme to map a same depth of two of the multiple light signals whose extensions intersect to form a pixel of the 3D image corresponding to the two light signals at an intersected position in space to the optical assembly control data, namely, two reflection angles θ1 and θ2 , with which the second 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> in <FIG> and <FIG> or the 3D-adjustable reflector <NUM> in <FIG> respectively reflects the two light signals irradiating onto the second 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> or the 3D-adjustable reflector <NUM> to the fixation reflector <NUM> or directly to the pixel in space. For example, when the pixel depth of the pixel data of a pixel of the 3D image is <NUM>, the corresponding depth of field <NUM> in the lookup table can be identified first and then mapped to the reflection angles θ1 and θ2 of the two light signals reflected by the second 2D-adjustable reflector <NUM> or the 3D-adjustable reflector <NUM>, which are <NUM>° and <NUM>° respectively.

As far as the relevant applications are concerned, with reference to <FIG>, an augmented reality (AR) spectacle which includes a frame <NUM> and a lens set <NUM> is shown. The system for displaying a 3D image with depths in accordance with the present invention includes a light signal generator <NUM> and a reflector set <NUM>. The reflector set <NUM> has two 2D-adjusatable reflectors. Owing to its tiny size, the system can be installed inside the frame <NUM>. In one embodiment, the light signal generator <NUM> includes but is not limited to a laser light source or a low pixel-resolution matrix light source, the lens set <NUM> includes multiple plano lenses or multiple reflex mirror lenses, and the two 2D-adjustable reflectors of the reflector set <NUM> are biaxial MEMS mirrors. In the present embodiment, when sequentially generated by the light signal generator <NUM>, the multiple light signals are reflected by the reflector set <NUM> to project two sequential light signals onto one of the Fresnel reflective surfaces of the AR spectacle to form a pixel of a 3D image in space to the viewer's eye. Such design can enlarge the field of view (FOV) of the user for displaying 3D images with desired depths.

With reference to <FIG>, one more application of incorporating the system for displaying a 3D image with depths into AR spectacle that can fix near-sighted problem is shown. The AR spectacle include a frame <NUM> and a lens <NUM>. The system for displaying a 3D image with depth includes a light signal generator <NUM> and a reflector set <NUM>. The reflector set <NUM> includes two 2D-adjustable reflectors. The AR spectacle is structurally similar to those in <FIG> except that the lens <NUM> is a planto lens or a reflex mirror made of plastic or glass. When the multiple light signals sequentially generated by the light signal generator <NUM> are reflected by the reflector set <NUM> to project two sequential light signals onto the lens <NUM> of the AR spectacle, those light signals reflected by the lens <NUM> to visualize the object <NUM> on the retina of the viewer's eye. The AR spectacle of the present embodiment is designed for users with near-sighted issue. To correct the near-sighted issue, the AR spectacle can be tailored to suit for user's eyeglass prescription by using the lens <NUM> with the right reflection angle to properly reflect light signals irradiating thereon to the retina of the user. The dash lines indicated by <NUM>', <NUM>' and <NUM>' are directed to a 3D image with vision correction, which is formed on the retina of the viewer, while the solid lines indicated by <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are directed to the 3D image without vision correction, which is formed before the retina of the viewer.

With reference to <FIG>, to be more scanning-efficient, the system for displaying a 3D image with depths includes two light signal generators <NUM> and two optical assemblies <NUM>. The two light signal generators <NUM> alternately generates multiple light signals. The two optical assemblies alternately receive corresponding light signals from the two light signal generators, and project and scan the multiple light signals within a predetermined time period based on a predetermined scanning pattern to display the 3D image in space. The predetermined scanning pattern may be but not limited to one half of the 3D image jointly scanned by one of the light signal generators <NUM> and one of the optical assemblies <NUM> one row of the 3D image at a time in a left-to-right and top-down direction and the other half of the 3D image scanned by the other light signal generator <NUM> and the other optical assembly <NUM> one row of the 3D image at a time in a left-to-right and bottom-up direction. Each pixel of the 3D image is displayed at a position by at least two of the multiple light signals from one of the two light signal generators <NUM> to a viewer's eye, paths or extensions of the paths of the at least two light signals intersects at the position and at an angle associated with a depth of the pixel, and the predetermined time period is one eighteenth of a second.

With reference to <FIG>, a method for displaying a 3D image with depths is performed by the foregoing system and includes the following steps.

Step <NUM>: At least one light signal generator sequentially generates multiple light signals.

Step <NUM>: At least one optical assembly receives the multiple light signals, and projects and scans the multiple light signals within a predetermined time period based on a predetermined scanning pattern to display the 3D image in space.

Each pixel of the 3D image is displayed at a position by at least two of the multiple light signals to a viewer's eye, paths or extensions of the paths of the at least two light signals intersects at the position and at an angle associated with a depth of the pixel, and the predetermined time period is one eighteenth of a second.

Claim 1:
A system for displaying a 3D image with depths comprising:
a light signal generator (<NUM>) for sequentially generating multiple light signals, wherein the light signal generator (<NUM>) comprises a collimator (<NUM>); and
at least one optical assembly (<NUM>) for receiving the multiple light signals from the light signal generator (<NUM>), and for reflecting the multiple light signals with at least a first angle and a second angle forming a first pixel of the 3D image within a predetermined time period based on a predetermined scanning pattern to a viewer; wherein
the at least one optical assembly (<NUM>) comprises an adjustable reflector (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) that rotatably varies an angle of reflection to reflect the multiple light signals at the first angle and the second angle to respectively generate a first light signal and a second light signal, wherein the at least one optical assembly (<NUM>) further comprises a fixed reflector (<NUM>) to reflect the first light signal and the second light signal to a viewer's eye; and
paths or extensions of the paths of the at first light signal and the second light signal intersect at the position and at an angle associated with a depth of the pixel, and the predetermined time period is one eighteenth of a second.