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Other 3-D Imaging Methods
3.6 Other 3-D Imaging Methods
The search for more effective 3-D imaging methods continues. The following describes two recently developed
methods which exploit the physiological cues of binocular parallax and convergence.
VISIDEPTM is a 3-D imaging technique invented in the early 1980s (McLaurin et. al. , 1988). This method
employs a modified alternating-frame system that allows for a 3-D representation with vertical rather than a
horizontal parallax.
Visidep 2-camera imaging method |
SEG = special effects generator that allows the mixing of two incoming channels into a single outgoing channel
Two cameras are used to generate images optically aligned on a vertical plane. A single-source camera in near-real time for three-dimensional imaging has also been mounted on a moving platform. This system has proven to be useful (Imsand, 1986) and adaptable to almost any situation with two sources of information (McLaurin et al., 1988). VISIDEPTM has been used for some remote sensing and geographic data applications (Ursery, 1993).
Visidep 1-camera imaging method |
SEG = special effects generator that allows the mixing of two incoming channels into a single outgoing channel
Sharp Laboratory researchers in Europe (Photonics Spectra, 1995) have recently developed a 3-D moving image technology. This is a prototype display system producing high-quality 3-D pictures based on two superimposed flat-screen panels. Twin liquid displays (LCDs) are placed at right angles, one horizontal and the other vertical. The images are combined by a proprietary optical filter, which transmits the image from one display, reflects the image from the other, and in doing so creates a 3-D image. A tiny silver spot is placed on the viewer's forehead so that the system can monitor the position of the viewer's head. This allows updates of the screen image in such a way that it always appears to be at a constant angle of 20 degrees from any direction. Therefore, the viewer can look around the object image without the image flipping.
3-D moving image technology by Sharp Labs |
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