Patent ID: 8780332

Claim:
A three-dimensional imaging and display apparatus comprising: a processor; circuitry coupled to the processor, wherein the first circuit is configured to: optically detect one or more user inputs in an imaging volume by measuring a path length of a modulated scanning beam as a function of a phase shift, wherein the path length of the modulated scanning beam is separately measured at a plurality of angles, wherein measuring the path length L from the phase shift φ and the wavelength λ wherein: L ⁡ ( V OUT ) = - c 360 · f MOD · arcsin ⁡ ( 2 · V OUT V M 2 ) , wherein c=λ·f MOD , f MOD is a frequency of a modulated laser signal sent in the scanning beam, V OUT is a DC component of the modulated laser signal, V M is an amplitude voltage of the modulated laser signal without the DC component and wherein: ϕ = arcsin ⁡ ( 2 · V OUT V M 2 ) ; ⁢ and ⁢ presenting visual image user feedback concerning the detected user input.