The physical world around us is three-dimensional (3D), yet most existing display systems have flat screens and can handle only two-dimensional (2D) images that lack the third dimension (depth) information. This fundamental restriction greatly limits the capability of human being in perceiving and understanding the complexity of real world objects. Human body and internal organs are of 3D shapes. Many medical imaging modalities are true 3D in nature. 3D imaging and 4D real-time imaging modalities have proven especially useful in cancer diagnosis and treatments, such as image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). However, when 3D image data are collected, existing methods of image display, interpretation and evaluation are often 2D, leading to possible slowdown, misinterpretation and less desirable clinical decisions for diagnosis, IGRT and other 3D visualization tasks. Xigen LLC has recently made a technology breakthrough and developed a novel large screen autostereoscopic 3D display concept based on the novel Single Projector Multiview (SPM) technology. The proposed SPM 3D display technology enables scalable large screen (up to a few meters), glass-free, interactive 3D visualization experience, and could alleviate key drawbacks of existing 3D display technologies by providing stereo parallax, motion parallax and surface textures, and reducing overall system cost to the range comparable with 2D display counterparts. Using only one projector significantly reduces the complexity, cost, and burdens for calibration and maintenance, resulting in a low-cost, high quality, mass-produciable commercial product. Uses of true 3D display in biomedical research would lead to efficient, effective and accurate visualization and interaction on high dimensional cell structure, molecular, genomic medicine, and image data. Uses of true 3D display to clinical applications, such as image guided radiation therapy (IGRT), could eliminate the directional bias during the diagnosis, planning and interventions. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed SPM 3D display concept is unprecedented and represents a significant breakthrough in true 3D display technology. The primary objective of this Phase I SBIR effort is to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel SPM technology by developing critical components for the SPM system, building a functional prototype, and demonstrating its application potential to various 3D/4D visualization applications in clinical settings with a focus on image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). This project would bring the novel true 3D display technology one important step closer to marketplace as a generic tool for advanced 3D visualization for biomedical research and cancer diagnosis/treatments. The true 3D display is a fundamentally new technology platform that can facilitate a broad range 3D/4D visualization applications in biomedical research and clinical applications. With the high performance and low-cost solution proposed in this SBIR, the true 3D display technology could serve as a viable tools to provide a new level of realism and add a new dimension (literally and figuratively) to the visualization tools available for biomedical research and clinical practices. It has broad impact on various aspects of healthcare practices, ranging from 3D/4D image visualization, image guided intervention, telemedicine, surgical replays, microscope/endoscope visualization, education, training, etc.
Conventional 2D flat screen display devices often lead to ambiguity and confusion in high-dimensional data/graphics presentation due to lack of true depth cues. The 2D displays greatly limiting clinicians'ability to understand and interpret the complexity of 3D images and their spatial relationship with patient's natural 3D anatomic structures. Essentialy, 2D displays have to rely on human's capability of piecing together a 3D representation from multiple 2D images. Despite the impressive mental capability of human visual system, its visual perception is not reliable if certain depth cues are missing. True 3D display is considered as the Holy Grail solution to 3D visualization that can overcome the major limitations of 2D displays. The quest to produce high quality and cost effective 3D displays has continued for decades. Among the 3D display technologies developed to date, the lightfield 3D display based on multiple projectors is a promising one that can achieve autostereoscopic (glass-free) full resolution of all views, without the need to split resolution by the number of views. Occlusions and surface texture of 3D objects can be displayed in high quality. The screen size is scalable without significantly increasing cost/complexity. However, existing multi-projector-based lightfield 3D displays have several drawbacks: ? Expensive: The cost of having one projector per view becomes exorbitant for even a reasonable number of views (e.g., a 25-view lightfield 3D display needs 25 projectors - very expensive). ? Difficult to calibrate: Multipe projectors must be aligned precisely with one another, which is very difficult in production and calibration. ? Difficult to increase the number of views: Once the number of projectors is determined, the number of the views is fixed. ? Difficult to synchronize and control: Multiple projectors must be synchronized and controlled coherently, creating bandwidth and control issues. These drawbacks have prevented the multi-projector lightfield 3D display from being a viable player to enter into commercial display market. Xigen LLC has recently made a technology breakthrough and developed a novel 3D display concept based on the novel Single Projector Multiview (SPM) technology. The major innovations of the proposed SPM display include: ? Structurally simple: Only one projector is used - there is no need for having multiple projectors;? Low-cost: Much less expensive to build due to the fact that it needs only one projector;? Easy to calibrate: Using single projector avoids the difficulty in calibrating multipe projectors;? Display screen size is scalable: single projection engine is able to work on screens with different sizes, making mass production of series products more economical;? Full resolution: Each view in the SPM system remains the same resolution as that of image projector, no matter how many views it generates;? High brightness: Brightness of the 3D image projector is high - there is no restriction on aperture size that limits the amount of projected light;? Flexibility in numbers of views: The SPM approach is able to increase the number of views without increasing the complexity of the system design or components. Potential markets for 3D display systems are sizable, and applications are enormous, including biomedical image visualization (clinical diagnosis, radiation therapy planning, reconstructive and corrective surgery, telemedicine, medical education, training, and medical research), military (e.g. air traffic control, battle field management, submarine navigation, telemedicine in battle field) and commercial (e.g., 3D TV, PC display monitors, cell phone, mobile electronics devices, signage, advertizing, virtual reality, computer aided design, scientific computing, video games, stadium displays, etc.) Xigen has developed an integrated product development and market entry strategy. Based upon our market analysis, we have selected three vertical markets in which to develop 3D product(s) offering significant value propositions. They are: (1) Medical image displays, (~$1.5 billion);(1) 3D Entertainment, sports, games, advertising and 3D digital signage (~$2.0 billion);and (2) Government/Military 3D Data Visualization Applications (~$2.5 bilion). Strategic partners are identified and have been working with Xigen on these commercialization efforts. Key Words Medical imaging, biomedical research, image visualization, three dimensional display, 3D, image guided intervention, radiation therapy. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Conventional 2D flat screen display devices often lead to ambiguity and confusion in high-dimensional data/graphics presentation due to lack of true depth cues. The 2D displays greatly limiting clinicians'ability to understand and interpret the complexity of 3D images and their spatial relationship with patient's natural 3D anatomic structures. Essentialy, 2D displays have to rely on human's capability of piecing together a 3D representation from multiple 2D images. Despite the impressive mental capability of human visual system, its visual perception is not reliable if certain depth cues are missing. True 3D display is considered as the Holy Grail solution to 3D visualization that can overcome the major limitations of 2D displays. The quest to produce high quality and cost effective 3D displays has continued for decades. Among the 3D display technologies developed to date, the lightfield 3D display based on multiple projectors is a promising one that can achieve autostereoscopic (glass-free) full resolution of all views, without the need to split resolution by the number of views. Occlusions and surface texture of 3D objects can be displayed in high quality. The screen size is scalable without significantly increasing cost/complexity. However, existing multi-projector-based lightfield 3D displays have several drawbacks: ? Expensive: The cost of having one projector per view becomes exorbitant for even a reasonable number of views (e.g., a 25-view lightfield 3D display needs 25 projectors - very expensive). ? Difficult to calibrate: Multipe projectors must be aligned precisely with one another, which is very difficult in production and calibration. ? Difficult to increase the number of views: Once the number of projectors is determined, the number of the views is fixed. ? Difficult to synchronize and control: Multiple projectors must be synchronized and controlled coherently, creating bandwidth and control issues. These drawbacks have prevented the multi-projector lightfield 3D display from being a viable player to enter into commercial display market. Xigen LLC has recently made a technology breakthrough and developed a novel 3D display concept based on the novel Single Projector Multiview (SPM) technology. The major innovations of the proposed SPM display include: ? Structurally simple: Only one projector is used - there is no need for having multiple projectors;? Low-cost: Much less expensive to build due to the fact that it needs only one projector;? Easy to calibrate: Using single projector avoids the difficulty in calibrating multipe projectors;? Display screen size is scalable: single projection engine is able to work on screens with different sizes, making mass production of series products more economical;? Full resolution: Each view in the SPM system remains the same resolution as that of image projector, no matter how many views it generates;? High brightness: Brightness of the 3D image projector is high - there is no restriction on aperture size that limits the amount of projected light;? Flexibility in numbers of views: The SPM approach is able to increase the number of views without increasing the complexity of the system design or components. Potential markets for 3D display systems are sizable, and applications are enormous, including biomedical image visualization (clinical diagnosis, radiation therapy planning, reconstructive and corrective surgery, telemedicine, medical education, training, and medical research), military (e.g. air traffic control, battle field management, submarine navigation, telemedicine in battle field) and commercial (e.g., 3D TV, PC display monitors, cell phone, mobile electronics devices, signage, advertizing, virtual reality, computer aided design, scientific computing, video games, stadium displays, etc.) Xigen has developed an integrated product development and market entry strategy. Based upon our market analysis, we have selected three vertical markets in which to develop 3D product(s) offering significant value propositions. They are: (1) Medical image displays, (~$1.5 billion);(1) 3D Entertainment, sports, games, advertising and 3D digital signage (~$2.0 billion);and (2) Government/Military 3D Data Visualization Applications (~$2.5 bilion). Strategic partners are identified and have been working with Xigen on these commercialization efforts.
| Geng, Jason (2013) Three-dimensional display technologies. Adv Opt Photonics 5:456-535 |
