An innovative display developed by the young start-up company TriLite Technologies uses lasers to display different pictures at different viewing angles. Images can be sent to the right and the left eye of each viewer individually, allowing 3D effects without the special 3D glasses.
TriLite Technologies teamed up with Vienna University of Technology to design the current display prototype. This prototype currently has a resolution of five by three pixels, but serves as a proof of concenp. Every single Trixel (a 3D-pixel) consists of lasers and a moveable mirror. The mirror directs the laser beams across the field of vision so that different laser flashes are sent in different direction. To experience the 3D effect, the viewer has to be within a certain distance range from the screen. Otherwise, both eyes receive the same image and thus can see only the normal 2D picture.
The difference between this technology and traditional 3D displays is that the TriLite display can present hundreds of pictures of an object at once, while other 3D displays show only two. Walking by the display, a viewer can see the displayed object from different sides as if passing by the real object. In order to implement this kind of display, a new video format is required. According to Franz Fiedler, CTO of TriLite Technologies, “Today’s 3D cinema movies can be converted into our 3D format, but we expect that new footage will be created especially for our displays — perhaps with a much larger number of cameras” (1).
Another practical use of this innovative display is advertisement. Electronic billboards can display different ads seen from different locations. One ad can be targeted to someone leaving a mall while a different ad on the same screen can be targeted to someone waiting at a bus stop.
The technology has been patented and presented in several scientific publications. The commercial launch is scheduled for 2016.
Source:
1. Vienna University of Technology (15 Jan 2015) Huge 3-D displays without 3-D glasses. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150115102837.htm.