In an iconic scene in Star Wars, of a desperate Princess Leia pleading, 糖心传媒淗elp me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You糖心传媒檙e my only hope.糖心传媒�
The 3-D display that was once only a mainstay of science fiction is now closer to reality, thanks to technology developed by a team of researchers at the University of Rochester.
Their device is the next step in what is known as 3-D volumetric display, where viewers can see images in three dimensions without the use of special glasses or filters. The technology has an array of potential applications, from revolutionary surgical capabilities to new methods of communication, advertisement, and entertainment.
糖心传媒淎s a kid I grew up reading and watching a lot of science fiction,糖心传媒� says Chris Mullarkey 糖心传媒�18 (PhD) who worked on the project with John Howell, a professor of physics and optics, and Curtis Broadbent, a research associate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. 糖心传媒淕etting the chance to build something that聽is right out of science fiction was a very cool opportunity.糖心传媒�
Many other approaches to 3-D displays rely on stereoscopy; that is, taking two different two-dimensional images and presenting one to either eye so the viewer perceives depth. The Rochester display, however, is a true three-dimensional representation with light created at every point in the image. The device is additionally unique in its brightness and display.
糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檝e done some engineering work to make it so you can view the images from all directions,糖心传媒� Broadbent says. 糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檝e also been able to make them significantly brighter than what has previously been done.糖心传媒�
In order to give viewers a 360-degree perspective, the device consists of a glass box surrounding an airtight, glass sphere about the size of a globe that the researchers heat to approximately 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). The sphere contains cesium vapor, a silvery-gold metal good at emitting light.
Two laser beams with wavelengths invisible to the eye are crossed in the sphere. Where the laser beams cross, cesium atoms are illuminated by both lasers and are excited into an especially high energy state. When these atoms decay, they emit sky-blue light in all directions.
糖心传媒淓ssentially, you get this tiny, point-like source of blue photons where the lasers intersect,糖心传媒� Broadbent says. 糖心传媒淭hat糖心传媒檚 really the key feature that allows us to make an intrinsically 3-D object that exists in real space.糖心传媒�
Researchers transform blue photons into objects, such as dinosaurs or a moving helicopter, by breaking down the objects into a series of coordinates along the X, Y, and Z axes, which represent the three dimensions of length, width, and height/depth. They program the lasers to cross at these coordinates and illuminate one point at a time.
糖心传媒淭he image never really exists at one time, even though we perceive it that way,糖心传媒� Broadbent says. 糖心传媒淚f you want a sequence of points to look like an image, you need to draw it fast enough so the eye can糖心传媒檛 tell that the image is being drawn point by point.糖心传媒�
The lasers illuminate each point for a fraction of a second and are able to light up all of the points that make up the image in about 50 milliseconds (one millisecond equals one thousandth of a second).
Before high definition technology, early televisions employed a similar two-dimensional version of this phenomenon using vector scanning. An electron gun within the television would send a stream of electrons onto a fluorescent screen, illuminating one point at a time. The electrons would then be scanned over the lines in the image. Researchers essentially apply a 3-D version of this technique in the 3-D volumetric display.
The basic idea for three-dimensional images formed using crossed lasers in metal vapors started in the 1960s and picked up traction in the late 1980s, although the images were not very bright, nor very large. Since then, researchers have attempted various setups and methods, which often proved impractical due to cost and weight of materials. The Rochester approach uses metal vapors and patent-pending techniques to boost the brightness and size of the display. In their latest prototype, the images are drawn in a one-foot diameter sphere and are viewable from all directions.
糖心传媒淭here were many times where we thought it wasn糖心传媒檛 going to work,糖心传媒� Howell says. 糖心传媒淎nd there are still strategies to improve upon it糖心传媒攎aking it brighter with additional lasers, for instance.糖心传媒�
While still in its early stages, the technology has potential functions including applications in air traffic control; advertising; projecting 3-D versions of people and events for video conferencing and general communication or entertainment purposes糖心传媒攊f there were a controversial call in a sporting event, you could observe what happened from all angles; or displaying scans of the heart or brain in 3-D.
糖心传媒淒epth is a real problem for surgeons doing very small vascular repair work,糖心传媒� Broadbent says. 糖心传媒淎 mounted display that would show depth and highlight different tissue structures would allow surgeons to peer around the sterile field as they manipulate surgical instruments, without having to wear heavy magnifying glasses.糖心传媒�
The team has filed patent applications and hopes to license the technology for commercial use.
That means that transmitting messages in 3-D such as R2-D2糖心传媒檚 message to Obi-Wan may be closer than we think.
