TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system for presenting images.

BACKGROUND

During presentations a number of different technologies may be utilized in order to increase the interest from the audience, such as different audio visual techniques as it is commonly accepted that audio visual material often increase the focus of the audience and thus it is easier to convey a message or opinion to the audience. However, as new technologies are developed, the audience tend to get used to more and more complex and vivid experiences. There is therefore an increasing demand for new solutions for presenting and for heightening the experience for the audience. Furthermore, in today's environmental conscience minded society, many different solutions are used to reduce the impact of human travel and human interrelations.

Teleconferencing is one such technology that reduces the need of travelling but still allows people to meet without loosing important aspects of the interaction between participants of the communication. This may be related to conference presentations, video conferences, or other communication calls with video.

An apparatus for representing moving images has been presented earlier, in for instance US5865519, and which apparatus uses a transparent foil which is located in front of an audience and a projector directing the images onto the foil via a system of reflectors. A presenter may be located behind the foil and appear for the audience as being in the image or in close vicinity of the image in order to provide an interactive experience for the audience.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system which provide a rich and interesting experience for the audience. This is provided in a number of aspects in which as first is a system for presenting images. The system comprises at least one semi-transparent reflective screen arranged at an angle relative a floor, at least one image projecting device arranged to project images at the semi-transparent reflective screen arranged to reflect the images towards an audience, a controller arranged to transmit image signals to the image projecting device and wherein the controller is arranged to transmit signals related to three dimensional, i.e. 3D, images to be displayed on the screen. The system provides 3D images to the audience thus providing a rich and interesting experience for the audience. The 3D images may be displayed using any suitable technology but preferably using wavelength multiplexing technology.

The system may comprise a further image projecting device directing images to a second screen located behind the semi-transparent screen as seen from the audience. The further image projecting device may be arranged to project 3D images to the second screen.

The system may further comprise a camera obtaining images of the audience, and wherein the camera may be arranged to transmit signals related to the images of the audience to a remote location. Furthermore, the camera may be arranged on a displacement device being remotely controlled. The controller may be arranged to receive image signals from a remote location.

The lighting in relation to the system may be provided with a substantially neutral colour temperature providing a white light experience for the audience.

Another aspect of the present invention is provided in a method for presenting images to an audience. The method may comprise arranging at least one semi-transparent reflective screen at an angle relative a floor, obtaining an image with three dimensional (3D) stereoscopic information to display, and projecting the image to the semi-transparent reflective screen for providing a 3D image to the audience. The method may further comprise obtaining a second image with three dimensional information to present, projecting the second image to a reflective screen located behind the semi-transparent reflective screen as seen from the audience; the two images providing a combined 3D image to the audience. The 3D images may be provided using wavelength multiplexing.

Furthermore, a gaming system may be provided using the semi-transparent reflective screen technology.

With the different aspects of the present invention advantageously a rich and interesting experience is provided through a virtual reality like appearance combined with interaction possibilities - which may be called virtual projection or reflection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following the invention will be described in a non-limiting way and in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the enclosed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically a system according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically a system according to the present invention; Figs 3A and B illustrate schematically two embodiments of a system according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically a device according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically a device using the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In Fig. 1 , reference 100 generally denotes a system according to the present invention, comprising an image projecting device 101 , a semi-transparent screen 103, and a reflector 102. The image projecting device is arranged to project an image or several images, e.g. moving images via the reflector and the semi-transparent screen to an audience 105 looking at the semi-transparent screen. The semi-transparent screen 103 is arranged with a reflective side downwards towards the reflector 102 in order to reflect 5 projected images from the reflector towards the audience. The semi-transparent screen may be arranged on or in relation to a stage for interaction with participants on the stage. The system of semi-transparent screen and reflector are seen in a side view. The semi- transparent screen 103 may comprise a thin foil, film, glass, or gauze with reflective properties on at least the side directed towards the audience while at the same time

10 providing transparency properties: preferably the audience should be able to see a

presenter 109 or some object located behind the screen 103 and the presenter should preferably be able to see through the screen 103 in order to interact with the audience and the images presented on the screen 103. The screen 103 may be provided with reflective properties on both sides. The screen 103 is stretched with some tension in order

15 to provide a smooth surface to provide a suitable reflecting surface 1 10 for the images to be presented with high quality: a solution for holding a reflective film and providing such tension to the film is described in GB2427708 where a frame provides a smooth tension on the screen. The semi-transparent screen 103 is preferably positioned with the reflecting surface approximately in 45 degrees angle relative the reflector; however it

20 should be appreciated that this angle may vary depending on configuration of image

projecting device, reflector, and audience.

The projecting device may be any suitable type for displaying images and/or directing images to a screen, such as for instance a standard projector with a lamp, a laser

25 projector or film projector of any mm size. In an alternative embodiment the image

projecting device and the reflector may be replaced with a plasma, cathode ray tube (CRT) TV, LCD, LED, OLED, or FED wall or TV device placed where the reflector is placed in Fig. 1. The projecting device may be arranged to project autostereoscopic images, i.e. without using eye glasses.

30

The system is arranged to receive images from a controller 120 storing the images and the controller may be located in the vicinity of the projecting device 101 and/or the controller may arranged to receive images from a controller located at a remote location via a communication network 108. The remote location may be provided with a camera 35 106 recording images from a person 107 speaking at the remote location. It should be appreciated that the term remote may be interpreted as from a different geographical location such as in another room, another city, or even another country (or beyond).

The image projecting device 101 is arranged to display 3D images on the semi- transparent screen in order to provide a three dimensional experience for the audience. One embodiment for displaying 3D images is shown in Fig. 2, with a system 200 comprising two projecting devices 201 and 202 each displaying one component of a 3D image on a semi-transparent screen 203: the images may be directed on to the screen 302 using a reflector as shown in relation to Fig. 1 or using a plasma/LED/LCD wall or TV solution; however, for illustrative purposes the reflector or plasma/LED/LCD/TV is not shown. An optional third projecting device 204 is shown in Fig. 2, which may be used for displaying a second image on the screen 203. For example, the 3D projecting devices may be arranged to display a 3D image of a product or some presentation subject-matter while at the same time the third projecting device is arranged to display for instance a speaker 107 describing the product or presentation subject-matter and the speaker may be located at a remote location.

The projecting devices 201 and 202 may use different 3D technologies as will be discussed in more detail later in this document. However, the 3D technology is based on stereographic 3D imaging.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 3A with a system 300 comprising a foreground projecting device 301 and a background projecting device 304, each arranged to display images to respective screens, 2D and/or 3D images. For instance, the foreground projecting device 301 is arranged to display a 3D image to a semi-transparent foreground screen 303 via a reflector 302 and the background projecting device 304 is arranged to display, e.g. 2D or 3D, images to a reflecting or semi- transparent background screen 305 located behind the semi-transparent foreground screen as seen from the audience. The combined image as seen by the audience 306 may be two different images seen at the same time or a combined image creating an extreme 3D experience - "6D" experience. Utilizing a combined 3D image opens up for more optimized 3D imaging since it is possible to better handle 3D perspective calculations, for instance in relation to the distance to the audience. Using a semi- transparent background screen, a presenter may interact with the images for effective presentations for the audience. Furthermore, one or more semi-transparent screens may be installed between the foreground semi-transparent screen and the background screen and used in combination with further projecting devices for even further providing flexibility in image presentations, e.g. multiple 3D projection. Again the projecting device 301 and the reflector may be exchanged for a LED/LCD apparatus, e.g. a LED or LCD wall or TV.

It should be appreciated that the semi-transparent screen may be placed 90 degrees different as compared to as depicted in Fig. 3A, this is shown in Fig. 3B, i.e. the image projecting device may be located at a lower part of the semi-transparent screen 308 and the reflector 307 may be located at the upper part of the semi-transparent screen 308. The semi-transparent screen thus protrudes its reflective side in an upward direction. It should be noted that in all embodiments of the present invention, the semi-transparent screen may be positioned with the reflective surface in an upward direction as exemplified in Fig. 3B.

When the system 400 is used for teleconferencing it is advantage to provide a camera 401 taking images of the audience 410 as shown in Fig. 4. The camera 401 may be provided at any location providing a suitable view of the audience, e.g. as depicted in Fig. 4 at a low position acquiring images of the audience using the reflective surface of the semi-transparent screen 303: the audience will be reflected in the screen and the camera may detect the reflection. The camera may be located on a rail 402 for adjusting the position of the camera depending on the where the audience is located, and the adjustment may be performed manually by moving the position of the camera by hand or it may be provided using an displacement device, e.g. an electrical motor, and may in this case be adjusted automatically and/or remotely from a remote location, such as at the other end of the teleconference call.

The image projecting device may utilize different technologies such as lamp based projector, LCD/LED apparatus (wall or TV), laser based projector, and so on as long as the image projecting device can provide at least part of a stereoscopic 3D image. A plurality of projecting device may together provide a complete signal to form a

stereoscopic 3D image on the semi-transparent screen. It should be noted that the plurality of projecting devices may be arranged in a single apparatus box and provided as a single unit. Furthermore, the controller 120, as discussed in relation to Fig. 1 , may also be arranged in the single unit together with the projecting device(s).

The controller 120 is shown in Fig. 5 and comprises at least one processing unit 501 , at least one computer readable storage unit 502, at least one communication interface 503, and at least one control interface 504. The processing unit may comprise for instance a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or similar unit arranged to operate software and/or hardware instruction sets. The processing unit is arranged to read instruction sets from the storage unit and/or to utilize the storage unit for intermediate storage of images and/or data related to the operation of the controller. The storage unit may comprise a volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as hard disk, flash disk/memory, different versions of RAM, electrical erasable ROM (EEPROM), or similar memory as appreciated by the skilled person. The communication interface may for instance be one of packet based network communication interface, e.g. Ethernet, serial bus communication interface, e.g. universal serial bus (USB), wireless local area network (WLAN) interface, or a wireless long range communication interface, e.g. GPRS, UMTS, LTE, or similar telecommunications type interface. The control interface is arranged to interchange control signals with one or several image projecting devices; control signals may comprise for instance image data, status of image projecting device, and so on. The processing unit is arranged to execute the instruction sets for providing image signals to the image projecting device(s) via the control interface.

Furthermore, the control interface may be arranged to receive a camera signal which the processing unit is arranged to handle and transmit to a remote location and a controller or similar apparatus arranged to receive images.

Different 3D technologies may be utilized and a common feature is the use of eye glasses distributed to each of the members of the audience. The 3D techniques that may be used include, but are not limited to:

- Wavelength multiplexing or interference filtering,

- Anaglyph (e.g. red/green or red/cyan) techniques, i.e where simple colour filter is used for each eye: for example red for one eye and cyan for the other eye. - ColorCode techniques, i.e. where stereoscopic information is encoded as small variations in a full colour image and which utilize a similar colour filtered eye glass as in the anaglyph solution.

Chromadepth techniques, which is a technique using differences in diffraction of different colours and it utilize a prism-like holographic film fitted to the eye glasses.

- shutter glasses techniques, such as for instance liquid crystal shutter glasses, which utilize a synchronized display of images with synchronized opening and closing of each a glass for each eye, i.e. when an image for the right eye is presented the right eye glass portion is open and the left us closed, and when an image for the left eye is presented the left eye glass portion is open and the right is closed.

Polarization techniques, such as for instance linear or circular polarization, where different polarizations are used for the left and right eye, for instance a right angle circular polarisation for the right eye and a left angle circular polarisation for the left eye.

Preferably, wavelength multiplexing is used where each RGB signal is separated into different wavelengths for each eye, i.e. since the eye is sensitive in a certain range for each of red/green/blue it is possible to use different wavelengths for left and right eye image within each of respective RGB signals. For example the blue signal for the left eye image is slightly different from the blue signal for the right eye image and filters are applied in the eye glasses filtering the right eye image in the left glass and the left eye image in the right glass. Using wavelength multiplexing, images tend to have a better white balance, i.e. colours are presented more true the original colour.

It should noted that preferably care is taken for assuring that lighting in the room where the system is located are installed properly to reduce the risk of producing erroneous colour effects due to stray light and incorrect colour temperature. For instance one may use lighting with a substantially neutral colour temperature i.e. providing a white light experience for the audience.

Furthermore, in alternative embodiments the image projecting device may project images directly onto the semi-transparent screen(s); with such a solution the projecting device may project images to one or several screens at the same time. As indicated earlier the present invention may be used for conference presentations and tele-presence conferences, such as video conferences. However, it may also be utilized in a gaming application, for instance as indicated in Fig. 6, which illustrates a gaming system 600 where two persons play a computer or video game together or as opponents. The gaming system may for instance comprise an enclosure 601 with control electronics (not shown) and two image projecting devices 603 and 604. Furthermore, a semi-transparent reflective screen 602 arranged to reflect images to each of the players. Optionally, each of the players may interact with a respective touch screen 606 and 607 for interacting with the game; some other interaction device may also be provided, such as joystick, game pad, mouse, keyboard, and so on. For one or both of the image projecting devices a reflector 605 may be used; however, in Fig. 6 only one is indicated. This allows for interactive gaming using a virtual projection or reflection of a game user interface, e.g. playing a computer or video ball based game, for instance football, table tennis, tennis, and so on against each other. However, it should be noted that any type of

computer/video game may be played including arcade, strategy, action, sports, adventure, role playing, simulation, shooter, music games, board games, and so on. The image projected onto the screen for each player may be 2D or 3D (stereoscopic) or a

combination thereof, and each player may be provided with a perspective relevant for each player. The control electronics is arranged to receive user interaction signals from a user interface, such as the touch screen, game pad, and so on, and control the game in accordance with the user control interactions. The game system may be arranged with a plurality of communications interfaces (not shown), such as wireless communication interface (e.g. WLAN) or wired communication interface (e.g. Ethernet) for network communication, user interface connector, such as game pad, joystick, and so on, further screen(s), microphone, loudspeaker, midi, USB, external memory interface. The control electronics may comprise at least one processing unit, at least one memory (volatile and/or non-volatile), communication interface(s), and so on depending on configuration of the gaming system and provided options. The game system may also be provided with a camera or video camera for obtaining images or video sequences of each of the players, for instance for use in communication with other people through the network

communication or for use in camera based games for visual interaction from the player. Other types of user interface devices may be connected using one or several device interfaces provided, such as camera, balance board, wheel, pistol, rifle, and so on. it should be noted that one image projecting device may be utilized and a mirror or some other means may be provided for directing alternate images to each player. Since the semi-transparent reflective screen is semi-transparent the two players may see each other when playing the game and at the same time see the game images. Software or hardware may be used for correcting the image signals to remove distortions due to projecting technology, projecting angles related to projecting device, reflector, and semi-transparent screen, such pin-cushion effects, edge effects related to plurality of combined projecting devices, In a further embodiment, an apparatus is arranged to intermittently project images using the same projection method but with alternate 3D perspective technology as indicated earlier, e.g. wavelength multiplexing, red/green technology, or polarization configuration.

It should be noted that the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed and the words "a" or "an" preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. It should further be noted that any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims, that the invention may be at least in part implemented by means of both hardware and software, and that several "means" or "units" may be represented by the same item of hardware.

The above mentioned and described embodiments are only given as examples and should not be limiting to the present invention. Other solutions, uses, objectives, and functions within the scope of the invention as claimed in the below described patent claims should be apparent for the person skilled in the art.

ABBREVIATIONS

LCD Liquid crystal display

LED Light emitting diode display

OLED Organinc light emitting diode display

FED Field emission display