Multiperspective Autostereoscopic Display
SBIR FY03.2 Topic A03-220
Department of Defense (DoD)/ARMY - Tank Automotive RD&E Center (TARDEC)

The entire solicitation may be viewed at http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir032/index.htm

A03-220 TITLE: Multiperspective Autostereoscopic Display

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Brigade Combat Team (BCT)

OBJECTIVE: To build an autostereoscopic device to allow the user to see 3D without glasses or headgear.

DESCRIPTION: Information Display is vital to the warfighter both in cockpit displays and also in robotic teleoperation. You can imagine that the information from a camera for teleoperation should exactly mimic the view you would see as if you were there. The best way to do this is with a "virtual window" like that seen in holograms. Autostereoscopic displays try to mimic holography in that you get two perspective views, one for each eye. The problem with current designs is that many are not truly multi-perspective, i.e., you can't look around objects in the foreground to see those in the background. The objective of this project is to design and build an autostereoscopic device that provides many stereo perspectives to the viewer. Three broad classes of technology [1] are used in multi-view autostereoscopic displays:
1) Spatial Multiplex: the resolution of a display device is split between the multiple views. [2]
2) Multi-projector: a single projection display is used for each view.
3) Time-Sequential: a single very fast display device is used for all views
Proposals from any of these classes are encouraged. Proposals that can find new ways to approach this problem are even better. [3]

PHASE I: During Phase I, the contractor will design the system from the ground up, including designs for color. Resolution and distortion of the image should be modeled for performance. Long-lead items, or high risk items should be outlined during Phase I for development during the Phase I extension.

PHASE II: During Phase II, actual construction of the prototype will begin. Prototypes should have multiple perspective views (8 or more would be considered adequate). Also, the bidder may have a design with continual perspective views. For this type of prototype, provide an arc of 15 degrees of continuous stereo.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The commercialization potential of 3D has greatly expanded over the past decade. To teleoperate robots, you need accurate visual cues.[4] For instance, when you are looking at a scene with objects in the foreground and background, sometimes the scene is cluttered and objects in the background are obscured by objects in the foreground.[5] When you are looking through a stationary camera, there is nothing you can do. However, with parallax, you can move your head to look around objects in the foreground to see objects in the background. This could be very useful in hazardous waste removal, teleoperation of mine clearing robots, and especially for robots that have to be operated in caves or sewers.

REFERENCES:
1) N. A. Dodgson "Autostero displays: 3D without glasses" Electronic Information Displays Novermber 1997.

2) www.dti3d.com.

3) Thomas A. Nwodoh and Stephen A. Benton, "Chidi Holographic Video System" SPIE Proceedings on Practical Holography, vol. 3956, 2000.

4) M. Siegel "Just enough reality: comfortable 3-D viewing via microstereopsis" IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology April 2000.

5) L. Lipton "Stereo3D Handbook" downloadable from www.stereographics.com.

KEYWORDS: autosteroscopic, autostereo, stereo, virtual window, 3D, information displays

Questions about SBIR and Solicitation Topics

TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT:

Dan Kedziorek
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2nd TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT:

Paul Muench
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Between May 1 and June 30, 2003, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses are listed within each solicitation topic above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting July 1, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation. However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (03.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 03.2 topic under which they are proposing.