WO2002061491A1

WO2002061491A1 - Three-dimensional image displaying system

Info

Publication number: WO2002061491A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000684
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nam-Kyu Ahn; Kyoung-Yong Kim; Chang-Young Lee; Choong-Sun Park; Choul-Woo Park
Original assignee: Dma Korea Co.Ltd
Priority date: 2001-01-30
Filing date: 2001-04-24
Publication date: 2002-08-08
Also published as: KR20020063792A

Abstract

A three-dimensional image displaying system has a image display unit in which a spherical mirror is used to form a three dimensional image of an object. The system also has a computer unit which is connected to the image display unit. When a user touches the three-dimensional image displayed in the image display unit, an infrared sensor detects the touch and then a predetermined application software is initiated in the computer unit.

Description

THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE DISPLAYING SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image

displaying system, and more particularly, to such a system which displays a

real image having a three-dimensional effect of an object and allows

application software in connection with the object to be executed when a

user touches the image.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Recently, three-dimensional displaying apparatuses have been

developed, in which a real image of an object is formed so that a user may

view the image with a three-dimensional effect as if it were a real object.

However, the conventional three-dimensional displaying apparatuses merely

display images, and they cannot provide information in connection with the

object displayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional

displaying system which not only displays a three-dimensional image of an

object using a concave spherical mirror, but also allows application software

in connection with the object to be executed in response to an infrared-

detecting unit when a user touches the three-dimensional image. It is another object of the present invention to provide a three-

dimensional displaying system having various displaying effects, by rotating

or moving an object with or without auxiliary illumination.

To achieve these objects, as embodied and broadly described herein,

a three-dimensional image displaying system according to the invention

comprises:

an image display unit including a concave spherical mirror for

forming a three-dimensional image of an object, and an infrared-detecting

unit placed around the image for sensing a touch of the image when a user

touches the image; and

a computer unit, connected to the infrared-detecting unit of the

image display unit, for executing predetermined application software when

the user touches the image.

The image display unit has a partition for hiding the object to prevent

it from being viewed so that only the image of the object is seen. The image

display unit may also have a beamsplitter to adjust the position of the object.

The infrared-detecting unit of the image display unit has an infrared-

emitting device for emitting infrared rays, and a detecting device for receiving

infrared rays from the infrared-emitting device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings provide a further understanding of the invention, and together with the Detailed Description, explain the principles

of the invention. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a three-dimensional image displaying system according

to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows an image display unit of the present invention;

Fig. 3 shows an infrared-detecting unit in the image display unit of

Fig. 2;

Figs. 4a and 4b illustrate a reflection-detecting mode and a

transmission-detecting mode of the infrared-detecting unit, respectively;

Fig. 5 illustrates optical principles of the image display unit;

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment of an image display unit which has

auxiliary illumination;

Fig. 7 shows another embodiment of the image display unit

according to the present invention; and

Fig. 8 shows another embodiment of the image display unit which

has various color effects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the

accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals indicate the same

elements herein.

Fig. 1 shows a three-dimensional image displaying system according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1 , the three-dimensional image

displaying system includes an image display unit 10, and a computer unit 20

connected to the image display unit 10.

The image display unit 10 has a concave spherical mirror for forming

a real image of an object, and a partition for hiding the object to keep it from

direct view so that only the image of the object is seen. The partition may be

implemented in various forms, as shown in Fig. 2 and Figs. 6-8.

Referring to Fig. 2, a first embodiment of the image display unit 10

will be explained. The image display unit 10 has a concave spherical mirror

120 for forming a real image 150 of an object 110, and a partition 130 for

hiding the object to keep it from direct view. A case 140 is formed to fix both

the spherical mirror 120 and the partition 130. The object 110 may be

mounted on either the partition 130 or the case 140.

The partition 130 can be formed in various shapes. The partition

130 preferably has a front wall 131 which blocks a part of the spherical mirror

120, and horizontal wall 132 which is parallel to an optical axis of the

spherical mirror 120. A transparent window 190 is preferably placed behind

the position of the image 150 between the case 140 and the horizontal wall

132 of the partition 130 in order to prevent contaminants such as dust from

getting into the image display unit 10.

When the object 1 10 cannot emit light itself, a light-emitting device such as a light bulb or a light emitting diode is mounted under the object 1 10

on the partition 130 or the case 140, and then fits into the object 1 10.

Separate auxiliary lamps can also be made available, as shown in Fig. 6.

One or more lamps 160 may be placed around or behind the object 1 10, with

a translucent shading sheet 180 to prevent an image of the lamps 160 from

forming .

A support 300 for supporting the image display unit 10 has a hinge

member 310 to adjust the tilt of the image display unit to the eye of the user.

A support capable of adjusting height may also be employed, although it is

not shown in the drawings.

An infrared-detecting unit 400 is placed on the horizontal wall 132 of

the partition 130 around the position of the image 150. As shown in Fig. 3,

the infrared-detecting unit 400 has an infrared-emitting device 410 for

emitting infrared rays, a detecting device 420 for receiving infrared rays from

the infrared-emitting device, and a microprocessor (not shown), so that the

infrared-detecting unit 400 may detect a touch of a user when the user

touches the image 150 with the hand or any appropriate tool such as a pen.

When a user touches the image 150 with the hand or tool during infrared ray

emission from the infrared-emitting device 410, the hand or tool reflects the

infrared rays to the detecting device 420 (a reflection-detecting mode), or the

hand or tool blocks the infrared rays (a transmission-detecting mode). Accordingly, the microprocessor determines the touch of the user.

In the reflection-detecting mode as shown in Fig. 4a, the infrared-

emitting device 410 emits infrared rays according to driving signals from a

microprocessor (not shown), and the detecting device 420 is positioned to

receive the infrared rays from the infrared-emitting device 410. (See Fig. 4a

(a).) When a user touches the image 150 with the hand or tool 30, the

infrared rays reflect from the hand or tool 30 to the detecting device 420.

(See Fig. 4a (b).) The microprocessor detects the change of rays which is

detected by the detecting device 420, and then generates predetermined

data codes to the computer unit 20 through a connecting cable 500, as

shown in Fig. 1.

Next, referring to Fig. 4b, the transmission-detecting mode will be

described. The infrared-emitting device 410 emits infrared rays according to

driving signals from a microprocessor (not shown), and the detecting device

420 is positioned to receive the infrared rays from the infrared-emitting

device 410. (See Fig. 4a (a).) When a user touches the image 150 with the

hand or tool 30, the infrared rays are blocked by the hand or tool 30, and

thereby they do not arrive at the detecting device 420. (See Fig. 4a (b).) The

microprocessor detects the change, and then generates predetermined data

codes to the computer unit 20 through a connection cable 500.

The computer unit 20 may be a general desktop computer or a notebook computer. The computer unit 20 has predetermined application

software therein, which is executed in response to the data codes from the

infrared-detecting unit 400. The application software may be an Internet

browser which connects to a specific Internet site. When the object 110 is a

specific article, the application software may also include introductory or

exemplary software relating to the article.

The operation of the present invention is as follows.

Referring to Fig. 5, the image formation of a spherical mirror will be

described. When the center of curvature is C, the mirror formula is defined

as follows:

[Formula 1]

1 1 _ 1 n i J

where So is a distance between a vertex of the spherical mirror and the

object;

Si is a distance between the vertex and the real image 150;

f is a focal length of the spherical mirror; and

R (R = 2f) is a radius of curvature of the spherical mirror.

Table 1 shows the relation between the object and image.

Therefore, when the distance between the object 1 10 and the

spherical mirror 120 is larger than the focal length f of the spherical mirror

120, an inverted real image is formed.

Now referring back to Fig. 2, when the object 110 is either a light-

emitting article or an article fixed on a light-emitting device, the light from the

object 1 10 functions as a light source without any auxiliary illumination.

Otherwise, the lamp 160 is used to provide illumination to the object 1 10 as

shown in Fig. 6 when the object 1 10 itself cannot emit light. The light emitted

or reflected from the object 110 reflects from the spherical mirror 120 to form

the real image 150 of the object 1 10 in a certain place. The distance

between the object 1 10 and the spherical mirror 120 may be adjusted in

order to obtain a desirable size of the image, but it must always be larger

than the focal length of the spherical mirror 120 to form a real image.

The object 110 or the auxiliary lamp 160, if any, may be adjusted to

be brighter or darker so that the image 150 is also brighter or darker,

resulting in obtaining various displaying effects. Further, sound facilities (not

shown) may be used with the image display unit. For example, suitable

sound effects from the sound facilities may be used in accordance with variations of the brightness of the image, resulting in maximizing the

displaying effects.

The user may enjoy a three-dimensional image 150 which is

displayed in the image display unit 10, with various displaying effects, and

they may further touch the image 150 with the hand or any tool. Directions

such as "Please touch the article when you want to know detailed

information of the article" may be attached to the image display unit 10.

When the user touches the image 150 of the object, the infrared-

detecting unit 400 detects the touch of the user by reflection- or

transmission- detection, and generates corresponding data codes to the

computer unit 20. The data codes are received by the computer unit 20

through the connecting cable 500, and the predetermined application

software programs are then executed by the data codes in the computer unit

20. The predetermined application software may be introductory or

exemplary software relating to the article or a manufacturer of the article, and

it may also be an Internet browser which is connected to a specific site. The

application software program may be executed at a predetermined time

interval after the touch of the user, and then end, if necessary.

Now referring to Fig. 7, the second preferred embodiment of the

image display unit 10 will be described. The image display unit as shown in

Fig. 7 is similar to that shown in Fig.2, but it is different in that it has a beamsplitter 200 so that the position of the object 1 10 may be changed.

The beamsplitter 200 of the image display unit 10 according to the

second preferred embodiment transmits a part of the light from the object

1 10 and reflects the remainder. The image display unit 10 further has a

concave spherical mirror 120 for forming a real image 150 from the light

reflected from the beamsplitter 200, and a partition 130 for hiding the object

to prevent it from being viewed. A case 140 is formed to fix both the

spherical mirror 120 and the partition 130. The object 1 10 may be mounted

on either the partition 130 or the case 140.

Similar to the image display unit of Fig. 2, when the object 1 10

cannot emit light itself, a light emitting device such as light bulb or a light

emitting diode is mounted under the object 1 10 on the partition 130 or the

case 140 and then fits into the object 1 10. Separate auxiliary lamps also

may be made available.

An infrared-detecting unit 400 is placed on the horizontal wall 132 of

the partition 130 around the position of the image 150, and is used in either a

reflection-detecting mode or a transmission-detecting mode, similar to that of

Fig. 2 or Fig. 3.

When the beamsplitter 200 is used in the image display unit of Fig. 7,

it is possible to lay the object flat. Therefore, the image display unit of Fig. 7

is especially useful when it is not possible to hang the object upside down. Additionally, the image display unit as shown in Fig. 2 or 7 may have

openings on the front wall to provide various displaying effects. At least one

opening 133 is formed on the front wall 131 of the partition 130. Further, a

translucent sheet 134 is attached over each opening 133. Therefore, when

either the object is a light-emitting article or separate light-emitting devices

such as LEDs or lamps 160 are used, some of the light from the object or the

light-emitting devices are transmitted through the translucent sheet 134 to

enhance the displaying effects. The translucent sheet 134 may have various

colors to provide users with various color effects when lighting up.

It is possible to rotate or move the object when it is connected to

driving motors (not shown) mounted on the partition or case. When the

object rotates or moves, the real image of the object accordingly rotates or

moves. Therefore, a user can see the moving or rotating images and enjoy

the various three-dimensional effects. Further, sound facilities may be used

to produce sound effects, thereby maximizing the displaying effects.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications

and variations can be made to the system of the present invention without

departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present invention

covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come

within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABLITY A three-dimensional display system according to the present

invention displays a real image that causes the illusion that a real object

exists in space, by using a spherical mirror. When the user touches the real

image, application software programs are executed. If the application

software is an Internet browser, a user who is not familiar with the Internet or

computers may easily connect to the Internet.

The image display unit according to the present invention has

various three-dimensional effects including moving or rotating effects of the

images, lighting effects, and sound effects. A direct touch of the image

drives the application software to provide the user with feelings of cyber

space.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional image displaying system, comprising:

an image display unit including a concave spherical mirror for

forming a three-dimensional image of an object, and an infrared-detecting

unit placed around the image for sensing a touch of the image when a user

touches the image; and

a computer unit, connected to the infrared-detecting unit of the

image display unit, for executing predetermined application software when

the user touches the image.

2. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the image display unit further comprises a partition for

hiding the object to prevent the object from being viewed so that only the

image of the object is seen.

3. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 2, wherein the image display unit further comprises a beamsplitter for

partially transmitting light and partially reflecting the remainder, so that the

light from the object is reflected from the beamsplitter and then to the

spherical mirror to form the real image.

4. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 2, wherein the image display unit further comprises:

a case for fixing both the spherical mirror and the partition; and a transparent window placed behind the image, between the case

and the partition.

5. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the infrared-detecting unit of the image display unit

comprises:

an infrared-emitting device for emitting infrared rays; and

a detecting device for receiving infrared rays from the infrared-

emitting device.

6. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 5, wherein the infrared-detecting unit employs a transmission-sensing

mode or a reflection-sensing mode.

7. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the image display unit further comprises an adjusting unit

for adjusting a height or tilt of the image display unit with respect to the eye

of the user.

8. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the partition of the image display unit comprises a horizontal

wall and a front wall, the front wall including at least one opening with a

translucent sheet to cover the opening.

9. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the image display unit further comprises a moving unit, connected to the object, for moving or rotating the object.

10. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein a distance between the object and the spherical mirror is

longer than a distance between a vertex of the spherical mirror and the focal

point of the spherical mirror.

11. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , further comprising:

sound facilities for producing sound effects.

12. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the image display unit further comprises:

at least one lamp, placed around the object, for illuminating the

object; and

a shading sheet, placed between the lamp and the object, for

shading the lamp to prevent the spherical mirror from forming an image of

the lamp.

13. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 1 , wherein the image display unit further comprises a light-emitting

device, placed under the object so that the light-emitting device fits into the

object.

14. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 12, wherein the brightness of the lamp is adjustable.

15. The three-dimensional image displaying system as recited in

claim 13, wherein the brightness of the light-emitting device is adjustable.