Tomographic projector

Abstract

Over the past century, as display evolved, people have demanded more realistic and immersive experiences in theaters. Here, we present a tomographic projector for a volumetric display system that accommodates large audiences while providing a uniform experience. The tomographic projector combines high-speed digital micromirror and three spatial light modulators to refresh projection images at 7200 Hz. With synchronization of the tomographic projector and wearable focus-tunable eyepieces, the presented system can reconstruct 60 focal planes for volumetric representation right in front of audiences. We demonstrate proof of concept of the proposed system by implementing a miniaturized theater environment. Experimentally, we show that this system has wide expressible depth range with focus cues from 25 cm to optical infinity with sufficient tolerance while preserving high resolution and contrast. We also confirm that the proposed system provides uniform experience in a wide range of viewing zone through simulation and experiment. Additionally, the tomographic projector has capability to equalize vergence state that varies in conventional stereoscopic 3D theater according to viewing position as well as interpupillary distance. This study is concluded with thorough discussion about tomographic projectors in terms of challenges and research issues.