Aug. 28, 2008 -- The basic technology used in cheap 3-D postcards and novelty items has been adapted to create six-dimensional images that respond to changes in light and the viewer's direction.
While the display is still pretty small, 7-by-7 pixels, the researchers hope that within the next two to three years they could scale it up to create some of the most realistic images available.
"We are the first ones to build a display that changes with lighting," said Ramesh Raskar, a scientist at MIT who helped to develop the technology. "We've finally found a way to build the most realistic display."
The idea is similar to the technology used on stiff, cheap plastic postcards, the kind when rotated cause an image to move or make it 3-D.
Those postcards' technology works because a series of raised parallel lines create tiny lenses that project different images at either vertical or horizontal angles. The effect can make an image of a car appear like it's moving down a road or a hand appear like it's waving as you tilt the card one way and then another.
Instead of using parallel lines to create the image, the researchers used squares to create lenses that present different images at both vertical and horizontal angles simultaneously.
It's not all about the light coming out of the display though. Unlike a TV, where information only goes in one direction, the 6-D display would respond to changes in the illumination around it, like passing shadows or bright highlights.
Imagine two flowers side by side, one real, one holographic, says Raskar. Then shine a flashlight on them both.
"They would both look real," said Raskar. "But if you shine a flashlight on the hologram, light would pass right through it while the real flower would change in response to the light."
Using their new technology, the image the scientists create would actually respond to light like a real flower would.
To demonstrate their design, the scientists created a 6-D image of a wine bottle in the display and showed the device at the recent SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques) conference.
While the small prototype was a success, don't expect to see the technology for a few years. The scientists say the technology is still at least two to three years away from realistic use. It's also expensive. Because they use custom-made parts, the displays currently cost about $30 per pixel.
Mass production could lower that cost, but creating even a 100-by-100 pixel image viewable from 10 different angles would take 100 million different pixels, says Alan Sullivan, a research scientist at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories who also built a sophisticated 3-D DepthCube Display.
Sullivan sees 6-D displays first being used by science museums as novelty items. Once the technology matures it could be used for high-end applications, "where a lot of money would go into something and no one wants to make a bad decision during the design phase," said Sullivan.
Some of the areas Sullivan envisions for 6-D displays include new cuts for precious stones, vehicles with paints that change color depending on the angle, and buildings whose appearance would change depending on the position of the sun.
"I love this technology," said Sullivan. "I think its a cool idea, and even if its ultimate implementation isn't done, it's inspirational. If we don't reach for the stars we can't get off the ground."
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