MOVIE THEATRE
A movie theater that includes a screen located between the front and back of the movie theater, a substantially spherically concave mirror proximal the front of the movie theater; and a viewing volume located between the screen and the mirror such that (i) each observer in the viewing volume can see in their respective pair of eyes a reflection in the mirror of a scene that is displayed on the screen, and (ii) any observer at substantially all locations within the viewing volume can see a three dimensional view of the scene displayed on the screen. For each observer (i) a substantially identical reflection from the substantially spherical concave mirror of the moving pictures on the substantially spherical convex screen will be received at the observer's retinas, and (ii) substantially all of the observers can see a three dimensional view of the moving pictures.
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/174,256, filed on Jun. 19, 2002, titled Steroscopic Moving Pictures With Two Eye Image Duplication & Positioning Method and Apparatus, by Robert B. Collender and Michael A. Collender, which is incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates generally to a movie watching, and is more particularly related to a movie theatre.
BACKGROUNDLenticular Systems
The history of 3-D technology without glasses that reproduce scenes in motion essentially begins with F and H. Ives in the 1930's with the use of lenticules and film camera/projector arrays. The reproduction system suffered from parallax discontinuities, shallow depth of field and the need for multiple projection lamps.
In the 1940's, Ivanov, in Russia, demonstrated the radial raster stereoscreen constructed of about 3000 long conical lenses imposing very tight tolerances in implementation. Special visors had to be designed to help spectators locate the best view positions. The Russians admitted to the following problems: visual fatigue due to poor left and right eye separation and brightness differences; poor convergence and the appearance of “cardboard” images.
Lenticular 3-D displays use vertical elongated lenses (the height of the view screen) and selective vertical lines from several images. This approach suffers a loss of horizontal detail and is very susceptible to jitter demanding an extremely accurate scan.
Varifocal Mirror
The varifocal 3-D system used a rapidly vibrating reflective membrane to cause a flat image to move through a minimum depth and rapidly repeat. The system could not provide a detailed photographic-type image due to a severely limited image writing time constraint.
Barrier Strip
The barrier strip system used a “picket fence” array of vertical narrow slats running the height of the screen and having a narrow space between each slat. The slats were arranged near to and in front of the view screen so that observer's right and left eyes could not see the same areas of the view screen at the same time. Right and left scene information (in narrow vertical areas behind the slats) presented 3-D to eyes in special places. The system reduced the brightness and the horizontal resolution of the scene.
In France, F. Savoye demonstrated the “Cyclostereoscope” (a type of “barrier strip” system) by projecting two pictures through a very large revolving truncated drum of spaced slats onto an internal stationary reflective screen to a theatre audience of 90 observers in the 1940's. Observers looked through the spaces between the revolving slats as the large drum of slats rotated. Observers had to stay within the tiring lateral confines of about 1.5 inches. The 3-D effect offered good resolution but with reduced brightness.
LCD Vertical Shutter
This type of 3-D display uses electronically controlled multiple narrow vertical LCD slats to selectively pass or block light. The elongated slats are arranged side by side in a vertical plane surface between a “bright” screen and the observer's eyes. The slats are a few inches in front of the screen. The concept requires a very bright screen due to the LCD slat aperture duty cycle and low throughput in the “on” mode. The images are usually only simple computer graphics figures due to the high scanning speeds required in this process. The concept is similar to the “Stereoptiplexer” of the 1970's except that conventional movies are captured by a horizontally moving relative motion camera/scene which generated 3-D movies without glasses by means of a fast moving “aerial” slit in a rotating mechanism. The advantage of the Stereoptiplexer over the LCD system was that a means was found to bring all of the light from the screen to the “aerial” slit and thus eliminate considerable light loss. The height of the aerial slit was several feet so a very wide vertical view angle was allowed. Pictures arrived at the conventional speed of 24 frames per second but were projected internally in the system to 2000 frames per second by an internal scanner. The problem with the Stereoptiplexer was that the camera was constrained to look out only one side. The Stereoptiplexer was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,597 dated May 16, 1978 and was invented by one of the inventors of the current patent application.
Flickering 3-D Methods
R. McElveen of South Carolina (an optometrist), has shown 3-D movies by alternating left and right eye pictures at low refresh rates but flicker was intolerable and the effects were difficult to sustain.
VISIDEP was another flickering 3-D system which was developed by three professors at the University of South Carolina. They used two cameras displaced vertically and then electronically switched between them at a 5 Hz rate. The effects were very poor and caused much eyestrain.
LASER Activated Omni-View Wobble Plate
Texas Instrument's reflective disc attached at an angle to a motor shaft spinning at 10 r/s was selectively illuminated by one or more modulated LASER beams which were synchronized with the spin rate. The resultant image was confined to a minimum volume (about 4 inches in size). The image was viewable from any position in a hemisphere. The system was not compatible with TV signals but showed only simple graph shapes. The flicker is not tolerable unless the spin rate is about 6 times greater. Larger full color system would require multi-LASERS accurately located and timed and a disc spin rate of at least 60 r/s.
Holography
In the early 1980's Komar of Russia used the principle of holography to present 3-D pictures without glasses. Komar provided a special reflective holographic screen that worked like a multiple ellipsoid. The projector was at the common focus of the ellipsoids and there were as many ellipsoids as observers. Each ellipsoid had a second focus at the observer's eyes. It is reported that four exit pupils with a 3×4 foot monochrome picture was demonstrated. The exit pupils at each seat were about 10 inches wide and resembled invisible “port holds” through which an observer viewed the scene-image with camera/scene proximity. Seats had to be specially located.
MIT's Media Lab-Holographic Video
A holographic moving picture was presented by MIT's Media lab in 1990, containing a simple wire frame graphic image a few inches high and requiring the bandwidth equivalent of 160 television channels. The demonstration image had a low resolution of 64 lines and refreshed at 40 Hz providing a limited 15-degree view angle. The system only provided horizontal parallax which was done to limit the bandwidth. If a full color TV image (running at standard TV rates and having 24 bits/pixel) were shown on their system, the bit rate would be 36 trillion bits per second. In their system, light passes through a tellurium dioxide crystal (which must be the full size of a viewing screen in a practical system and was only a few inches in size at that time) where a varying voltage was translated into a varying phase of light beam to produce a hologram in motion.
3-D Systems Without Glasses During the Decade—1990 to 2000
Dimension Technologies built a transmissive high-resolution display with a rear thin vertical light source to direct left and right eye information to a few people
Infinity Multi Media built a high speed CRT with liquid crystal shutter and projection lens using a Fresnel lens to create several viewing zones. The system had a narrow view field.
NYU used a retro reflective camera-based eye tracking system to scan the view area for left and right eyes and to direct, via a computer control, appropriate images to the eyes (presently for a single viewer but may be expanded).
DDD (Dynamic Digital Depth ) can use multiple cameras or a single camera and synthesize data for the other eye via computer coded information or can scan a scene with a LASER range finder and apply to the final picture. 3-D results are good but from zoned areas of view only. In this technology, the audience size is relatively small (i.e., it will not work for theatre applications).
General Comments on the Above 3-D Systems
All 3-D without glasses systems to date suffer from various problems: minimum depth of field; constrained eye regions within the view area; flicker; high bandwidth; small image size; low brightness; poor resolution; tight equipment alignment tolerances; not compatible with standard motion pictures, video or standard TV.
It would be an advance in the art to provide a 3-D movie theatre without requiring patrons to wear glasses. It would further be an advance in the art to provide high brightness; high resolution; a deep depth of field without flicker; 3-D images to all members of a large audience without any special zoned areas of view. Also, not like the barrier systems, it would also be an advance in the art if the head of a patron can be held in any position, even upside down and still perceive the 3-D effect as in nature. It would be a still further advance in the art to provide a system for a movie theatre that is compatible with existing movies and TV software.
SUMMARYIn one implementation, there is provided a movie theater that includes a screen located between the front and back of the movie theater, a substantially spherically concave mirror proximal the front of the movie theater; and a viewing volume located between the screen and the mirror such that (i) each observer in the viewing volume can see in their respective pair of eyes a reflection in the mirror of a scene that is displayed on the screen, and (ii) any observer at substantially all locations within the viewing volume can see a three dimensional view of the scene displayed on the screen.
In another implementation, there is provided a motion picture theater that includes a substantially spherical convex screen, means for making moving pictures visible on the screen, a substantially spherical concave mirror, and an area for a distribution of movie watchers located between the substantially spherical convex screen and the substantially spherical concave mirror, wherein for each said movie watcher (i) a substantially identical reflection from the substantially spherical concave mirror of the moving pictures on the substantially spherical convex screen will be received at the movie watcher's retinas, and (ii) substantially all of the movie watchers in the area can see a three dimensional view of the moving pictures.
In a still further implementation, there is provided a movie theater that includes a viewing area for any movie watcher therein to view optical scenes, a screen displaying the optical scenes, and a mirror in which each said movie watcher can see a reflection of the optical scenes displayed by the screen, whereby (i) at the same instant in time, an identical image of each said optical scene is put on the right and left eyes of each said movie watcher in the viewing area, and (ii) substantially all movie watchers in the viewing area can perceive each said optical scene in three dimensions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSIn order that the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
General Comments on the Above 3-D Systems Relative to Our Invention
All 3-D without glasses systems to date suffer from various problems: minimum depth of field; constrained eye regions within the view area; flicker; high bandwidth; small image size; low brightness; poor resolution; tight equipment alignment tolerances; not compatible with standard motion pictures, video or standard TV.
Our 3-D without glasses invention will provide: high brightness; high resolution; a deep depth of field without flicker; 3-D images to all members of a large audience without any special zoned areas of view. Also, not like the barrier systems, the head can be held in any position, even upside down and still perceive the 3-D effect as in nature. Our invention is directly compatible with existing movies and TV software. The only limitation of our invention is in the need for relative horizontal motion between the camera and scene. This will be described in detail in the Specification.
We propose that a simple change be made in the way television and movies are displayed so that flat-looking pictures can look natural with an added depth dimension (3-D without glasses).
Currently, with existing TV and movies, a screen is placed in front of the observers (at a finite distance) on which the viewed image appears. The picture is flat—2 dimensional (2-D). The main depth cues are: relative rates of movement for objects at different distances in space with movement of the camera (i.e., some objects passing behind others); the diminishing size of a receding object or the increasing size of an object approaching the camera; and the use of color. The problem is that the observer's eyes do not converge differently for objects at various depths in the scene as they do in nature.
To solve the problem and bring the reality of depth or 3-dimensions (3-D) to the scene (without glasses), our new system depends on some component of horizontal relative motion between camera and scene. Successive views of the scenes captured by the camera provide a “look around” feature while the camera or scene-objects move left, right, forward or backward relative to each other. In addition, instead of the screen being placed at a finite view-distance, we “effectively” move it to infinity so that both eyes see exactly the same image (as though looking at distant mountains). If no relative motion is present the scene will appear outside the reach of depth cues (as when one looks at distant mountains), but it turns to spectacular 3-D (without glasses) when this motion is present. Even if the camera was stationary, if a component of horizontal motion occurred anywhere in the scene, that element in the scene will also be in 3-D.
There are other benefits to an infinitely distant screen, such as: every eye in the viewing area sees exactly the same thing (all looking parallel to one another); everyone sees the scene as though their eyes were at the camera's lens; all eyes see the same resolution and therefore an HDTV projector can replace cumbersome film projectors; no one sees the kind of distorted picture as an observer would see viewing a conventional display up close but way to one side and above or below the screen's center.
The means to achieve a distant screen in a practical way is to start with a screen “behind” the audience and image it to infinity by a collimating spherically-concaved mirror in front of the audience (similar to the way it is done in aircraft flight simulators for only a few people, but in those simulators, only a few viewers are nearer the center of curvature of the mirror than in the method we propose and the angle of view is 7.5 times wider than for our system). The flight simulators either use very large concaved ground and polished glass surfaces (about 8 feet high) or a very thin reflective mylar which is formed into the required concaved shape by use of a servo-controlled vacuum behind the mirror's surface.
The following is partial list of camera/scene relationships that appear in three dimensions either without the need for observers to wear glasses (as in the concaved mirror test) and with the need for glasses (as in the glasses test methods of the prism wedge over one eye):
1. Camera moving in any direction (with a component of horizontal motion) and with objects both stationary and moving in all directions relative to the camera: walking with camera; camera in car; camera on bicycle; camera in helicopter; camera on surf board; camera on snow skies; camera on a roller-coaster; camera carried along underwater by swimmers or vehicles;
2. Camera stationary and scene objects moving with any component of horizontal motion relative to camera: merry-go-round; on bridge overlooking traffic going in both directions; at a train station with people walking in all directions; at the beach looking at the waves and water washing to shore with people walking by and dog playing in the sand; surfing; smoke or dust plumes; dancing; players in basketball game; parades; sparks from a welder's torch.
Many, if not most scenes in old and new movies are in three dimensions because of the relative camera/scene motion.
Since it is undesirable for moviegoers to wear special glasses and have to adjust them to their particular seat to screen distance and it is also impractical to build theatres with huge screens and great viewing distances, a compromise theatre design is proposed.
In the proposed theatre, it is desired to retain a stadium seating arrangement (to allow all spectators to see the show without interference by the person's head in front of them) and to present every theatre seat location with essentially distortionless viewing and to provide 3-D without glasses whenever some component of relative camera/scene horizontal motion occurs using existing standard software. It is also desirable to provide 3-D multiplex theatres with a seating quantity equivalent to current theatres.
The screen can either reflect or transmit projected light or can be a flat panel light emitting surface that does not require a projector. In our invention using the collimating principle of a large concaved mirror, the theatre walls grow wider toward the front of the auditorium (a trapezoid seating area). All seats are parallel to one another and all eyes view the picture while looking in the same direction (i.e., as though the picture originated at infinity). A person coming down the aisle with his popcorn/drink will continue to see smooth 3-D (without glasses) all the way to his seat. There are no alternating zones of perturbed information. The observer's head can be oriented at any angle with respect to the mirror's image (i.e., he can even stand on his head and still see 3-D without glasses). All observers in the audience (close to or far from the collimating means) while looking parallel to each other and straight ahead—see the image of the scene in a manner similar to the way the original camera saw the scene (but with 3-D added without the need for glasses of any sort).
The top observer on the 23-degree (angle φ in
Motion picture projector 2 in
The geometry of image collimation by concaved mirror 6 using a picture in its focal plane (screen 5) is a very old idea and written into many old optics books. An example is John Strong's book “Concepts of Classical Optics” copyrighted 1958 by W.H. Freeman and Co., Inc. The drawing of the spherical concaved mirror's collimating properties with any image points on the focal surface of the mirror is shown on page 370 of the book (
By presenting a succession of scene image frames derived from some component of horizontal camera/scene motion and by assuring that an identical image appears at nearly the same location on an observer's left and right eye's retina, the brain can cognize the depth information already contained in the successive frames, in the same way that it cognizes the motion contained in successive frames. The moving 3-D imagery occurs because of intersecting rays establishing a scene's location points from successive frames acquired during scene/camera relative motion in the playback of the scene image. When the successive frames are presented, the brain cognizes the motion in linking the frames by the persistence of vision. For the brain to perceive an item as moving it must connect these various frames, but because of intersecting rays (for any given point in space) coming from successive frames, the brain cannot connect the frames without also locating the points in space. We have made our system to generate 3-D images by making use of what happens in the brain “between the frames”. When the same image is presented at different locations within the two eyes (as happens when the eyes toe in on standard television and movie systems) then the depth information contained in the difference between frames is lost.
There are a number of methods for constructing the large mirror of
In addition to the 3-D without glasses approach which we tested using the concaved mirror, we also tested the “effects” of the process in existing theatres (starting near the end of the 1980's while observing what portions of the movies give the 3-D results) using a special pair of glasses that collimate one eye to the unaided view of the other eye. The result is to make the theatre screen appear to be at infinity.
In the glasses system, collimation can be “effectively” created by the use of special view-glasses that horizontally divert rays entering one eye so that the retina of each eye (left and right) receives the exact image in the same position, size and shape that it would be in if both eyes were viewing a single collimated image. This can be achieved by a fixed or adjustable wedge prism over one of the observer's eyes.
In order to achieve the 3-D results with the implementation of
In
This invention provides 3-D viewing without glasses for the audience when the tracking camera 1 is looking in any direction (up, down, left, right, forward and to the rear and any other angular relationship) relative to the camera's direction of motion which can be at most any angle except around the vertical as it must have a component of horizontal tracking motion.
In
In
If multi-theatres under a common roof are planned, the radial arrangement of about eight theatres allows a single light source at the center of the theatre complex (and center of curvature of the concaved mirror 6) to service all theatres simultaneously. This provision reduces cost of electrical power. Should the cost of power escalate, this method will be cost effective for multi-auditorium theatres. The high contrast translucent screen 5, of
The purpose of
B=(M−1)F=FA/(F−A)=AM
A=B/M=F−F/M=FB/(F+B)
M=B/A=F/(F−A)=(B+F)/F, where M=magnification between the screen 5 and the virtual image of the screen 5i
F=sphere radius/2=AM/(M−1)=B/(M−1)=AB/(B−A)
The rule is that A=F (is ideal); A less than F (is ok); A greater than F (is not allowed)
In setting up the projection system, measure the distance between the mirror's 6 node n and the screen 5 to be “A”=50 feet (assume an ideal radius (R) of the sphere=100 ft and the focal length (F) of the sphere=50 ft). Calculate how much “F” can grow from 50 ft (if A is set to 50 ft.) to give a virtual image −5i greater than 716 ft from the mirror's node-n.
If “A” is set to 50 ft, in order to have the image 716-ft behind the concaved mirror's node-n, the focal length (F) of mirror 6 must increase to 53.75 ft. and the radius of the mirror R would increase by 7.5 ft or 90 inches or 7.5%. This knowledge is helpful in the construction of the molded mirror 10 shape which would have a +90 inch −0 inch tolerance on its specified radius of 100 ft.
In
The lamination of the reflective mirror sheet 15 to the molded mirror tile 10 form involves the adhesive preparation and application followed by the vacuum bag processes where the mirror sheet 15 is held in contact against the spherical molded surface by vacuum pressure until the adhesive has properly gelled.
The key element in our invention is the large spherically concaved mirror 6 at the front of the audience. The means to achieve this large mirror is to build its surface area (about 26 ft×52 ft) out of mirror tiles 10. A quantity of 99 mirror tiles 10, each about 41 inch×55 inch in size, are required for a 200 seat theatre in order to have a reasonable mirror tile 10 size for ease of assembly.
The concaved mirror 6 geodesic structure is made of aluminum struts 13 arranged in triangles with the apex of the triangle called a “node” 12 shown in
Each of the mirror tiles 10 will have a concaved reflective spherical shape with a 100-foot radius of curvature. As in
The U-pin 11 is so named because of its “U”-shape. Its purpose is to capture mirror tiles 10 to the geodesic structure (concaved mirror 6) and hold mirror tile 10 at the proper attitude to assure the integrity of concaved mirror's 6 continuous spherical surface. The U-pin 11 prods will go through slots a and b on mirror tile 10 (reference
After the geodesic structure (concaved mirror 6) with the 121 diving boards 14 is set up in the theatre, the only operation remaining is to attach the mirror tiles 10 to the geodesic structure (concaved mirror 6). The quantity of basic elements required for attachment are: 121 U-pins 11; 99 mirror tiles 10; 2 assemblers in 2 mechanical lifts.
Two separate lifts (each with a bucket to hold a person and which is typically used by construction workers to reach high altitudes) is used in this case to lift the 99 mirror tiles 10 into position on the concaved mirror structure 6. One assembler is in the front lift bucket with a mirror tile 10 and another assembler is in the rear lift bucket with 121 U-pins 11 (1 for each node 12 of the geodesic structure—concaved mirror 6). When the front assembler sets a mirror tile 10 on a diving board 14 attached to node 12, the rear assembler inserts U-pins 11 to capture the mirror tile 10 in 3 places (3 nodes 12 per mirror tile 10—ref.
At the top of
Note: Although this specification has called out numerous dimensions and angles, it is understood that many other dimensions and angles can also be designed into our invention but that those mentioned here are merely those that we have chosen for the test theatre seating only 200 people.
In one implementation, the invention is a means to have an identical image of a scene on the right and left eye of any given observer at the same instant in time and changing the image by a succession of moving images resulting from a relative horizontal motion of the scene/camera and at a rate consistent with persistence of vision causing intersecting rays from any given object location point in the scene to determine the spatial location of the object location point in the scene in the playback of the scene while allowing the brain to cognize the depth information already contained in the succession of moving images as it cognizes the motion contained in the succession of moving images by means of persistence of vision
In another implementation, the invention is a means for recording sequential views of a scene with a motion picture camera in a manner such that between each sequential view recorded, some component of horizontal relative motion takes place between the camera and the scene.
In a still further implementation, the invention is a means for reproducing the recorded sequential views of the scene onto a screen to be viewed by plural observers, the screen or image of the screen appearing to be at a great distance from the plural observers such that all eyes of the plural observers see the same image of the recorded sequential views of the scene at the same time
In yet another implementation, the invention is a means for obtaining sequential views of a scene using computer graphics in a manner such that between each sequential view, some component of horizontal relative motion takes place between the sequential views and the scene.
In another implementation, the invention is a means for reproducing the sequential views of the computer graphics scene onto a screen to be viewed by plural observers, the screen appearing to be at a great distance from the plural observers such that all eyes of the plural observers see the same image of the sequential views of the computer graphics scene at the same time
In another implementation, the invention is a reproduction apparatus that provides image of sequential views of scenes at great distance from plural observers and comprised of: a stationary flat screen at the rear of the plural observers; a segmented spherically concaved mirror in front of the plural observers reflecting the image of the sequential views of the scene from the screen such that all the plural observers see the sequential views of the scene reflected in the segmented spherically concaved mirror and collimated as though appearing to be at great distance from the plural observers.
The reproduction apparatus that provides the image of the recorded sequential views of a scene at great distance from the plural observers by means of the screen being physically located at a great distance from the plural observers. The reproduction apparatus can provides the sequential views of a scene at a great distance from the plural observers by means of a wedge prism over one eye of each of the plural observers although the screen, on which the sequential views of a scene are formed, is at close proximity to the plural observers.
In another implementation, the invention is an apparatus for displaying stereoscopic motion pictures to the plural observers, and includes the screen located substantially at the focal surface of the concaved mirror and located behind the plural observers; a segmented spherically concaved mirror in front of the plural observers, the concaved mirror made of smaller mirror tiles with top and bottom of the mirror tiles having ledges on the mirror tile back side, the ledges containing slots; the ledges pointed toward the concaved mirror's center of curvature; each of the mirror tiles attached to a diving board having two spaced holes to receive the prods of a U-shaped pin through the diving board holes and the slots in the mirror tile ledges; the diving board attached by bolts to a node of a geodesic structure having multiple nodes and struts to make up the entire geodesic structure; each of the nodes to support a portion of the weight of two of the mirror tiles and to locate the top of a third mirror tile so as to keep the mirror tiles at the proper attitude in the geodesic structure; each of the mirror tiles to attach to a geodesic node at each corner of the bottom of the mirror tile and a single geodesic node at the top center of the mirror tile; the mirror tile captured to the geodesic structure by means of the U-pin through the ledge slot on the mirror tile, the U-pin continuing through the ledge slot and through the two holes in the diving board, the diving board bolted to the node of the geodesic structure.
The shape of the mirror tile can be a trapezoid and cut along latitude lines at the mirror tile top and bottom and along longitude lines at the mirror tile sides so as to resemble a portion of a global map between two latitudes and two longitudes.
The multiple sequential views of a scene are captured by a motion picture camera having a component of horizontal motion, or the multiple sequential computer graphic views are obtained as though photographed by a camera having a component of horizontal motion, or the multiple sequential views of a scene can be captured from a stationary motion picture camera and scene objects having a component of horizontal motion, or the multiple sequential views of the computer graphics scene can appear to be captured from a fixed location and scene objects having a component of horizontal motion.
The sequential views of the scene can be rear projected onto the screen. The sequential views of the scene can be front projected onto the screen, having been horizontally reversed left to right. The images on the screen can be achieved by electronic control of passive picture elements and rear lighting, or by electronic control of active self emitting picture elements.
The audience seating area in the reproducing means can be on an inclined floor between the screen and the concaved mirror in which the plan view of the seating area is a trapezoid shape increasing in width toward said concaved mirror.
When any observer in the audience, viewing either a television or a motion picture by our invention, receives an image of a given scene having the same relative size, shape and location on the retina of each of his two eyes at any instant and that image of the scene is stationary, the image is flat and resides at infinity. When, however, the image of the scene has some component of horizontal motion in any direction due to either motion of the camera, motion of scene objects (or both), during the acquisition of the moving scene, the image viewed is three dimensional. The reason for this is that if the motion occurs, all scene-object points are proportionally spatially located in playback since all of the original ray angles between camera and scene points are reproduced for both eyes by the ray cross-overs at the scene image points in the same proportionally relative positions as the original object points. The key is to have an identical image on the right and left eye of any given observer at nearly the same instant in time and replace this image by a succession of moving images resulting from a relative horizontal motion of the scene/camera and at a rate consistent with persistence of vision. This moving 3-D imagery occurs because of intersecting rays from successive frames in scene/camera relative motion during playback of the scene images. When the successive frames are presented, the brain cognizes the motion in linking the frames by the persistence of vision. For the brain to perceive an item as moving it must connect these various frames, but because of intersecting rays coming from any given spatial location point in successive frames, the brain cannot connect the frames without also locating the points in space. In yet another implementation, the invention presents the scene to the brain in such a way that it can understand the depth information already contained within the image.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
Claims
1. A movie theater comprising:
- a screen located between the front and back of the movie theater;
- a substantially spherically concave mirror proximal the front of the movie theater; and
- a viewing volume located between the screen and the mirror such that: each observer in the viewing volume can see in their respective pair of eyes a reflection in the mirror of a scene that is displayed on the screen; and any observer at substantially all locations within the viewing volume can see a three dimensional view of the scene displayed on the screen.
2. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, wherein the left and right eyes of each said observer in the viewing volume will see any point in any said scene that is displayed on the screen as reflected in the substantially spherically concave mirror with about 1 arc minutes difference between each said eye.
3. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, wherein the left and right eyes of each said observer in the viewing volume will see any point in any said scene that is displayed on the screen as viewed in the substantially spherically concave mirror as appearing to be at a distance of beyond 716 feet from the screen.
4. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, wherein the substantially spherically concave mirror is composed of a plurality of substantially spherical concaved mirrors.
5. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, wherein each said optical scene includes a picture having horizontal movement relative to a camera that took the picture.
6. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, further comprising a floor having a surface declining downwards from the back to the front of the movie theater and having an area for seating.
7. The movie theater as defined in claim 1, wherein the screen is either substantially planar or substantially convex toward the substantially spherically concave mirror.
8. The movie theater as defined in claim 6, wherein the substantially spherically concave mirror does not extend beyond the area for seating.
9. The movie theater as defined in claim 6, wherein the area for seating is suitable for a stadium seating arrangement.
10. A motion picture theater comprising:
- a substantially spherical convex screen;
- means for making moving pictures visible on the screen;
- a substantially spherical concave mirror; and
- an area for a distribution of movie watchers located between the substantially spherical convex screen and the substantially spherical concave mirror, wherein for each said movie watcher: a substantially identical reflection from the substantially spherical concave mirror of the moving pictures on the substantially spherical convex screen will be received at the movie watcher's retinas; and substantially all of the movie watchers in the area can see a three dimensional view of the moving pictures.
11. The motion picture theater as defined in claim 10, wherein the area for the distribution of movie watchers is suitable for a stadium seating arrangement.
12. The motion picture theater as defined in claim 10, wherein the substantially spherical concave mirror does not extend beyond the area for the distribution of movie watchers.
13. A movie theater comprising:
- a viewing area for any movie watcher therein to view optical scenes;
- a screen displaying the optical scenes; and
- a mirror in which each said movie watcher can see a reflection of the optical scenes displayed by the screen, whereby: at the same instant in time, an identical image of each said optical scene is put on the right and left eyes of each said movie watcher in the viewing area; and substantially all movie watchers in the viewing area can perceive each said optical scene in three dimensions.
14. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein the viewing area for any movie watcher is suitable for a stadium seating arrangement.
15. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein each said movie watcher's left and right eyes will see any point in any said optical scene displayed on the screen as reflected in the mirror with about 1 arc minutes difference between each said eye.
16. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein each said movie watcher's left and right eyes will see any point in any said optical scene displayed on the screen as viewed in the mirror as appearing to be at a distance of beyond 716 feet from the screen.
17. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein the mirror is composed of a plurality of spherical concaved mirrors.
18. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein each said optical scene includes a picture having horizontal movement relative to a camera that took the picture.
19. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein an intersecting of optical rays from any given point in one said optical scene can be used to determine the spatial location of said point in the one said optical scene in the viewing area, whereby the brain of any given movie watcher in the viewing area can cognize the depth information already contained in the pictures in the optical scenes as the brain cognizes the horizontal motion of the pictures relative to the camera.
20. The movie theater as defined in claim 13, wherein the putting means causes intersecting rays from any given point in said optical scene to determine the spatial location of said point in the optical scenes in the viewing area while allowing the brain of any said viewer in the viewing area to cognize the depth information already contained in the pictures in the optical scenes as the brain cognizes the horizontal motion relative to the camera that is contained in the pictures in the optical scenes.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 21, 2006
Publication Date: May 10, 2007
Inventors: Robert Collender (Glendale, CA), Michael Collender (Glendale, CA)
Application Number: 11/614,797
International Classification: H04N 13/04 (20060101);