HP invents glasses-free 3D
March 21, 2013
Glasses-free 3D display (credit: HP Labs)
HP researchers have developed a glasses-free, multi-directional diffractive backlight technology that allows for rendering of high-resolution, full-parallax 3D images in a zone up to 180° and up to one meter away, HP Innovation blog reports.
In other words: glasses-free 3D for your mobile device.
The display technology forms 3D images by projecting different 2D images into different regions of space. A viewer located near the display will see a different image from his right and left eye, resulting in a 3D effect without the need for special glasses or eye tracking.
Schematic of a spatially multiplexed color backlight, illuminated by three independent light sources (credit: HP Labs)
As the viewer moves around (or tilts) the display, he or she will perceive a succession of different image stereo pairs, creating the illusion of continuous motion parallax.
The key to the design is a LED-based guided-wave illumination technique that produces wide-angle multi-view images in color from a thin planar transparent lightguide.
Pixels associated with different views or colors are spatially multiplexed and can be independently addressed and modulated at video rate using an external shutter plane.
Beyond the obvious realms of gaming and entertainment for consumers, the HP researchers see a number of important enterprise applications, including 3D maps, medical telepresence, interactive models for construction, and design and architecture industries, among many others.
Comments (8)
by DougW
“…Help me Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope…”
Who’d have thought we might have THAT technology available before the 7th episode of the Star Wars Sag was even produced…..
by eldras
This is massive
by René Milan
A much better short term solution than glasses.
by Berkant Atay
I already have it on my HTC Evo 3D smart phone…
by Luke
It’s about time. We’ve been looking at 2D screens for a long time. I look forward to radically different media interfaces.
by jsb
In a mall near my house there is a kiosk with 3D TVs set up already. No glasses needed, the image does get a bit wonky if you stray too far right or left but this hardly seems like a new product.
The 3DS is 3 years old already…
by Wolf
The difference is the 180° 3D. Without it, 3D is usually pretty annoying.
by Pete
The company “Cheoptics”, a manufacturer of volumetric displays, may have machineries fitting your discription.
Nevertheless, volumetric displays is just one type of the many possible types of 3D displays.