This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop a new computer display, called Volumetric Image Display (VID) capable of displaying three-dimensional (3D) volumetric images in a spatial region. Many viewers can walk around the display and see the image from omni-directions simultaneously. The image is real and no glasses are required. This patent pending technology is directed at solving problems encountered in current 3D visualization using conventional computer displays. The objectives of this research are to study, test, and demonstrate the Volumetric Image Display, hardware system, to develop software tool prototypes for 3D data processing and displaying. and to study and design the system components required for displaying high resolution images with gray scale and colors. A low-resolution prototype has been built and tested to demonstrate the basic concept by showing simple volumetric 3D images. In this research, a moderate-resolution VID prototype based on a FLC (ferroelectric liquid crystal) image panel will be built. A set of software tool prototypes will be developed for processing and displaying 3D data on the VID prototype. At the completion of the Phase I work, the system will be the first in the field of volume display capable of 512 x 256 x 400 voxels monochrome image using a FLC device. Later, the system will be able to display gray scale and color images. The novelty of the proposed technical approach can make the VID system the first commercial volume display for practical use. Potential applications include computer aided design in auto-industry, architecture, molecular research, entertainment such as amusement machines, 3D game machines, advertising displays, medical imaging, and weather monitoring.
