VIRTUAL IMAGES USING MIRRORS

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of holographic projection and more particularly to the design of a stage that adds the depth of field to the hologram. Such a stage setup would allow the holographic stage to be far smaller allowing for easy installation and disassembly in much smaller areas than before.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART

Pepper's ghost creation is a well-known method of creating virtual images by the use of smoke and mirrors. This creates an optical illusion, which appears as a hologram and the method has been adapted numerous times to create a virtual image. Nowadays, projectors and semi-reflective surfaces are used for this purpose.

US5865519 entitled "Device for displaying moving images in the background of a stage " discloses a method of creation of virtual images with the use of a tensed foil, which is placed at an angle of 45° to a surface wherein moving images are projected onto it with the use of a projector. The semi-reflective foil, in turn reflects the images which have been projected onto the surface that is at 45° from it, allowing a viewer who is viewing the image from the front side of the semi-reflective surface to observe the image as a hologram. The semi-reflective surface also allows for enough transparency so that the observer is able to see the background as well. This patent requires a stage to be built behind the semi-reflective foil, so as to add depth of field, thereby providing a three dimensional effect.

The background of this structure, i.e. the background behind the semi-reflective surface is kept dimly lit, with objects or people in the near background, which adds multiple dimensional viewing angles to the observer, and hence enhances their visual experience. To enable such an experience the background generally is required to be at least six feet wide, and in some larger holograms, more than fifteen feet wide. The available space and depth can still not be completely ensured if the hologram fills the area of the projection, thereby covering the background, making the observer, observe a two dimensional image rather than a three dimensional one.

This is a major hassle in creating holographic installations in public spaces like shopping malls, theatres and police stations where the available space is not that large to allow for such a large background to be constructed. A solution is required to create a virtual background thereby allowing the viewer to visualize an increased depth of field by optical illusion rather than increasing the depth of the background. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of this invention is to create a virtual depth of field using a LEDs and mirrors behind the holographic image thereby reducing the size of the stage and setup significantly as depth of field is a large criterion to create a believable holographic image.

The invention has in the background a structure that is no deeper than three feet, but virtually creates an impression of an infinitely deep surface. The structure is a large hollow box made from strong material such as stainless steel. The size of the box depends on the stage and the size of the holographic projection. Along the inner lining of the box an array of light producing mediums such as LED panels are placed, which may be controlled wirelessly or through a wired computer.

The hollow openings on the box will be covered by a semi reflective surface on either side. Doing so, when the LEDs are switched on, the light from the LEDs are reflected to infinity, however the viewer is able to see the lights through the semi-reflective surface, thereby allowing a virtual infinite depth of field to be generated even though there have not been any structure that was built.

The use of the semi-reflective surface on the far-end of the box, i.e. furthest side of the box with respect to the viewer, will allow the structure to also be placed in settings where there may be light streaming in from the back. The semi-reflective surface would cut the light significantly, but not completely thereby preserving the holographic projection. It would also simulate a depth of field to the observer, in the same way as a hollow cylinder would. The semi-reflective surface may also be replaced with a normal mirror.

In front of this structure a holographic image can be produced using a series of projectors, projection screens and semi-reflective surfaces as shown by prior art. This reduces the size of the hologram significantly making it easily installable in all public areas, and simulating an infinite depth of field by adding a very small structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWNGS

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this present disclosure, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the present disclosure will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the present disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates the components of the structure that will create the virtual infinite depth of field;

Figure 2 illustrates how the structure and a projection of an image on a semi reflective surface can be used to create a perception to the observer than they may be witnessing a three dimensional object rather than a two dimensional one.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiment(s) of the system. Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with the present disclosure, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of components of the device.

In this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or "including" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a system, method, article, device or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such system, method, article, device, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises ...a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, product, method, article, device or apparatus that comprises the element.

Any embodiment described herein is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described in this detailed description are illustrative, and provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure and not to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present construction of a novel device. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form only in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

Figure 1 illustrates the components of the infinite depth creating structure (3), which comprises of light producing mediums such as an LED panel (1). An array of these light-producing media is placed on two opposing sides of the structure, in a vertical arrangement. The top and bottom surfaces (4) of the structure are lined with dark light absorbing material, to avoid any stray reflections and so as to not confuse the viewer. The remaining two surfaces of the structure are fitted with semi-reflective media (2), which are partially reflective and partially transparent.

The light-producing medium will produce light in a pattern. If the light is bright enough, the semi-reflective surfaces on either sides of the panel will reflect the light continuously. The depth that the generated reflections create is completely dependent on the loss semi -reflective surface's reflection index, which is far higher than a transparent medium, but lowers than a purely reflective one. To increase the depth of field, one may consider replacing the far-end portion of the structure with a highly reflective mirror than a semi-reflective surface. The external observer's reflection however cannot be seen on the surface, as the light from the opposing side will be bright enough to cancel the light that is generated from reflections.

Figure 2 illustrates the virtual depth (8) that the structure creates to the observer. The hologram is generated through the means of a reflection (7) of a projected image on a screen (6), on a semi- transparent medium (5). The viewer imagines this to be three-dimensional as he is able to perceive the object with the depth that is created by the structure (3) placed behind it. While the structure has a narrow profile, the depth generated by it is infinite.

The main constraint for the creation of an acceptable hologram is the depth of field, which is the optically tangible space between the foreground and the background. The person perceives an object in three dimensions if it's able to distinguish between the image and its background. To enable such a perception, a large depth of field is desirable, with distinguishable elements in the background of the image to allow for such an effect. Hence the structure for more holograms are large and expensive both monetarily as well as volumetrically. To compensate for such expense, it is desirable to create a much smaller stage but with a similar effect.

The creation of infinite images due to the reflections of the semi-reflective screens that are on either sides of the light producing media, allow for such a depth to be created, as the viewer is able to perceive large depth in the background of the holographic image. While this not only reduces the space requirement for the entire structure, it also reduces costs of construction and also of maintenance.