Enhanced Visualization Making Space for 3-D Images

by Blundell, Barry G.

• ISBN13: 9780471786290
• ISBN10: 0471786292
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-02-26
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience

Summary

This book builds on a previous work ('Creative 3-D Display and Interaction Interfaces') but may be read as a stand-alone book. A trans-disciplinary approach is adopted thereby making the content accessible to wide-ranging audiences from both the sciences and humanities. Additionally, the book is highly relevant to computer users who would like to learn more about new approaches to computer interaction, to those wishing to develop new forms of creative digital media and to those within industry who are involved in the advancement of computers and computer related products.

Author Biography

Barry G. Blundell, PhD, is a physicist and engineer who has worked in the area of 3-D display and interaction systems since the late 1980s. His research interests in the development of new forms of creative digital media are intended to advance natural and synergistic interaction with the digital world. The author is involved in promoting new technologies and techniques for distance education—particularly for use in third world countries—and also in highlighting ethical issues arising as a consequence of the deployment, networking, and accessibility of computer systems.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Setting the Scene	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Historical Background	p. 3
Interaction	p. 7
The Display, Data Stream, and Interaction Tool Interface	p. 12
The Conventional Display	p. 14
Raster and Vector Graphics	p. 18
Working Within a 2-D Space	p. 22
Concerning Interaction	p. 26
Image and Interaction Spaces	p. 31
Introducing Volumetric and Varifocal Techniques	p. 35
The Volumetric Technique	p. 36
The Essence of the Volumetric Paradigm	p. 38
The Varifocal Approach	p. 42
Discussion	p. 44
Investigations	p. 45
Aspects of the Visual System	p. 47
Introduction	p. 47
Some Characteristics of the Eye	p. 48
Depth Cues	p. 52
Pictorial Cues	p. 53
Oculomotor Cues	p. 59
Motion Parallax	p. 62
Stereopsis (Binocular Parallax)	p. 65
Considerations on Image Refresh	p. 68
Discussion	p. 70
Investigations	p. 72
Creative 3-D Display Techniques	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Display Subsystems	p. 74
Stereoscopic Techniques	p. 78
A "Fog Penetrating" Televisor	p. 84
Extending the Stereoscopic Approach	p. 87
The Physical 3-D Image and its Electronic Rendition	p. 91
Multiview Displays	p. 93
On Painting and Sculpture	p. 95
Information Content	p. 96
Working within a 3-D Space	p. 98
Display Capability	p. 99
Discussion	p. 102
Investigations	p. 104
The Swept-Volume Approach	p. 105
Introduction	p. 105
Exemplar Swept-Volume Techniques	p. 106
Swept-Volume Subsystems	p. 114
Image Space Creation	p. 114
Voxel Generation	p. 122
Voxel Activation	p. 124
Parallelism in Voxel Activation	p. 127
Restrictions in Voxel Activation	p. 131
Designing for Predictability	p. 133
Hardware-Based Characterization	p. 135
The Acceptance of Motion	p. 136
Dead Zones	p. 140
The Voxel Placement Dead Zone	p. 141
Distortional (Elongation) Dead Zone	p. 142
The Visual Dead Zone	p. 145
Other Forms of Dead Zones	p. 147
Discussion	p. 147
Investigations	p. 149
The Static-Volume Approach	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
An Elementary Static-Volume Implementation	p. 152
Image Space Composition	p. 156
The Classification of Static-Volume Systems	p. 158
Voxel Visibility	p. 162
Beam Intersection and the Stepwise Excitation of Fluorescence	p. 163
The Stepwise Excitation of Fluorescence in Gaseous Media	p. 163
The Stepwise Excitation of Fluorescence in Nongaseous Media	p. 174
The Photochromic Approach	p. 177
Dead Zones	p. 181
Discussion	p. 183
Investigations	p. 183
Swept-Volume Systems: Limited Viewing Freedom	p. 187
Introduction	p. 187
Image Slices and Image Planes	p. 190
John Logie Baird Makes Space for the Third Dimension	p. 191
Perhaps the First Swept-Volume Displays	p. 192
Baird Advances Volumetric Image Depiction (Ref. 6D)	p. 198
Parallel Image Planes Using Translational Motion	p. 201
A Reciprocating CRT (Ref. 6E)	p. 202
Image Slices Focused onto a Moving Screen (Ref. 6F)	p. 205
Image Slices Reflected by a Mirror: A Sinusoidal Velocity Profile	p. 205
The Peritron (Ref. 61)	p. 208
Image Slices Reflected using a Linearly Moving Mirror (Ref. 6J)	p. 209
Image Slices Created Using an Active Surface of Emission (Ref. 6K)	p. 209
Parallel Image Planes Using Rotational Motion	p. 210
Image Planes Formed by Rotors Equipped with an Active SOE (Ref. 6M)	p. 211
Image Planes Formed by the Rotation of a Series of Mirrors (Ref. 6N)	p. 212
Image Planes Formed by the Rotation of a Fiber-Optic Bundle	p. 213
The Archimedes Spiral Approach (Ref. 6Q)	p. 216
Discussion	p. 216
Investigations	p. 219
Low Parallelism Swept-Volume Systems	p. 221
Introduction	p. 221
The Planar Screen and Fixed Beam Source(s)	p. 223
The Planar Screen and Stationary Electron Gun(s)	p. 225
The Video Drive Frequency with Exhaustive Scanning	p. 230
The Planar Screen and Constant Beam Source Geometry	p. 231
The Planar Screen and Co-Rotating Electron Guns	p. 231
The Planar Screen and Nonevasive Projection Techniques	p. 236
A Helical Screen and Passive SOE	p. 239
A Helix within a CRT (Ref. 7K)	p. 241
HL3D-Based Systems (Ref. 7L)	p. 241
Projection onto a Helical Screen (Ref. 7M)	p. 243
Alternative Configurations	p. 245
A Tilted Planar Screen (Ref. 7N)	p. 246
An Alternative Screen Shape (Ref. 70)	p. 246
Augmenting the Planar Screen (Ref. 7P)	p. 249
A Sliced Fiber Bundle (Ref. 7Q)	p. 250
Two Degrees of Freedom (Ref. 7R)	p. 250
An Early Volumetric Radar Display (Ref. 7S)	p. 251
Discussion	p. 255
Investigations	p. 256
Highly Parallel Swept-Volume Systems	p. 257
Introduction	p. 257
The Planar Screen and Active Surface of Emission	p. 258
The Planar Screen and Passive Surface of Emission	p. 261
A Plurality of Scanned Beam Sources (Ref. 8C)	p. 261
The Perspecta Display (Ref. 8D)	p. 264
Images Cast onto Rotating Mirrors	p. 266
The Helical Screen and Active Surface of Emission (Ref. 8H)	p. 271
The Helical Screen and Passive Surface of Emission	p. 272
The Relative Rotations of a Screen and an Array of Light Sources	p. 274
The Spinning Lens Approach	p. 277
Discussion	p. 278
Investigations	p. 279
Static-Volume Systems: Example Implementations	p. 281
Introduction	p. 281
The Use of an Active Matrix of Voxel Generation Elements	p. 282
From Bulbs to Gas Discharge	p. 283
A Gas Discharge Display	p. 283
An Optical Fiber Technique	p. 285
A Stack of LCD Panels Illuminated with Polarized Light	p. 286
Voxel Activation Using Directed Beam Source(s)	p. 287
Electron Beams and a Series of Screen Meshes	p. 289
An Image Space Comprising Dust Particles	p. 289
The DepthCube	p. 292
The Beam Intersection Approach	p. 294
The Stepwise Excitation of Mercury Vapor	p. 295
Erbium-Doped Calcium Fluoride	p. 296
Rare Earth-Doped ZBLAN	p. 300
The Use of Phosphor Particles Dispersed in a 3-D Medium	p. 301
Beam Intersection in a Phosphor Cloud	p. 302
The Intersection of Particle Beams in a Gas	p. 305
Stacking Image Slices	p. 306
The Use of Beam Splitters: Basic Configuration	p. 306
The Use of Beam Splitters: With Additional Optical Components	p. 307
Discussion	p. 309
Investigations	p. 310
Varifocal Mirror Techniques	p. 311
Introduction	p. 311
The Geometry of the Curved Mirror	p. 312
Spherical Aberration	p. 315
Technical Considerations	p. 318
Image Update and Acoustic Noise	p. 319
Mirror Motion	p. 320
Varifocal Display System Development	p. 320
The Work of Alan Traub	p. 320
The Work of Eric Rawson	p. 325
The Work of Lawrence Sher	p. 328
The Application of the Varifocal Mirror to Medical Imaging	p. 331
The Work of King and Berry	p. 333
Discussion	p. 335
Investigations	p. 336
The Graphics Pipeline and Interaction Issues	p. 337
Introduction	p. 337
Graphics Engine: Input and Output	p. 338
The Graphics Engine: Sequential Voxel Activation	p. 347
The Graphics Engine: Parallel Voxel Activation	p. 351
A Parallel Architecture	p. 355
Parallel Data Transfer	p. 357
Concerning Interaction	p. 360
The "Free Space" Image	p. 367
"Free" Image Space: Directly Generated and Projection Techniques	p. 374
Discussion	p. 376
Investigations	p. 377
General Discussion: Suggestions du Jour	p. 379
Introduction	p. 379
The Varifocal Technique	p. 380
Do Electron Beams Have a Future Role in Voxel Activation?	p. 382
Gas Discharge Devices	p. 387
The Stepwise Excitation of Fluorescence	p. 388
Other Approaches	p. 389
Discussion	p. 391
General Summary of Some Swept-Volume Display Characteristics	p. 393
References	p. 409
Index	p. 423
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