The technique of generating autostereoscopic 3D images has been around and is being used in displays, but still getting them into mobile devices has been a discomforting task. But now with a new thin-film technology developed by 3M, the cellphones could be done to show images in 3D and that too viewable without the need for special glasses.
The developed technology referred to as Vikuiti 3-D is based on prism-shaped reflective structures stuck behind polymer film with tiny microlenses in front. These components steer light through a LCD display placed ahead of the film. There are two light-emitting diodes on either side of the film which allow the light to pass, letting it hit the waveguide that strikes the light back on the film to make the light be steered in two different directions. This is how two different images are created for the viewer’s left and right eyes, making him believe that he’s seeing two images at the same time.
To get this technique to fit into phone displays which are small in size, 3M has used a microreplication process, which is a printing technique used to produce structures tens of micrometers thick in a film just 75 micrometers thick. It may be long before we can see this technique being instated for real because a complete 3D system for mobiles means the phone’s capability to take pictures and video in 3D and also make it feasible to send them around. So we may just have to wait on this.
Via: TechnologyReview
