Keehoon Hong

Recent progress in three-dimensional information processing based on integral imaging

Recently developed integral imaging techniques are reviewed. Integral imaging captures and reproduces the light rays from the object space, enabling the acquisition and the display of the three-dimensional information of the object in an efficient way. Continuous effort on integral imaging has been improving the performance of the capture and display process in various aspects, including distortion, resolution, viewing angle, and depth range. Digital data processing of the captured light rays can now visualize the three-dimensional structure of the object with a high degree of freedom and enhanced quality. This recent progress is of high interest for both industrial applications and academic research.

Full-color lens-array holographic optical element for three-dimensional optical see-through augmented reality

A novel system of optical see-through augmented reality (AR) is proposed by making use of a holographic optical element (HOE) with full-color and lens-array functions. The full-color lens-array HOE provides see-through property with three-dimensional (3D) virtual images, for it functions as a conventional lens array only for Bragg-matched lights. An HOE recording setup was built, and it recorded a 30 mm × 60 mm sized full-color lens-array HOE by using the techniques of spatial multiplexing for large-area recording and wavelength multiplexing for full-color imaging. The experimental results confirm that the suggested full-color lens-array HOE can provide the full-color 3D virtual images in the optical see-through AR system.

Reconstruction of three-dimensional occluded object using optical flow and triangular mesh reconstruction in integral imaging

We proposed a reconstruction method for the occluded region of three-dimensional (3D) object using the depth extraction based on the optical flow and triangular mesh reconstruction in integral imaging. The depth information of sub-images from the acquired elemental image set is extracted using the optical flow with sub-pixel accuracy, which alleviates the depth quantization problem. The extracted depth maps of sub-image array are segmented by the depth threshold from the histogram based segmentation, which is represented as the point clouds. The point clouds are projected to the viewpoint of center sub-image and reconstructed by the triangular mesh reconstruction. The experimental results support the validity of the proposed method with high accuracy of peak signal-to-noise ratio and normalized cross-correlation in 3D image recognition.

A frontal projection-type three-dimensional display

In a typical auto-stereoscopic three-dimensional display, the parallax barrier or lenticular lens is located in front of the display device. However, in a projection-type auto-stereoscopic display, such optical components make it difficult to display elemental images on the screen or to reconstruct a three-dimensional image, even though a projection-type display has many advantages. Therefore, it is necessary to use a rear projection technique in a projection-type auto-stereoscopic display, despite the fact that this is an inefficient use of space. We propose here a frontal projection-type auto-stereoscopic display by using a polarizer and a quarter-wave retarding film. Since the proposed method uses a frontal projection scheme and passive polarizing components, it has the advantage of being both space saving and cost effective. This is the first report that describes a frontal projection-type auto-stereoscopic display based on a parallax barrier and integral imaging by using a projector. Experimental results that support the proposed method are provided.

Accommodative Response of Integral Imaging in Near Distance

Objective evaluation results using optometric device to measure accommodative responses in viewing a real object and integral imaging are presented. From the empirical results between the real object and an integrated three-dimensional (3D) image, we find that over 73% of participants keep eyes on the real integrated 3D image instead of a display panel. The results also show the participants do not recognize a mismatch between the accommodative response and the convergence of the eye, which used to be believed as one of the major factors to cause visual fatigue in viewing near-distance integral imaging. Seventy-one normal adult subjects (23 ~ 38 years old) participated in the experiment, and accommodative response measurement results of the real integrated image show a statistically significant concordance with real objects.

Real-time integral imaging system for light field microscopy.

We propose a real-time integral imaging system for light field microscopy systems. To implement a 3D live in-vivo experimental environment for multiple experimentalists, we generate elemental images for an integral imaging system from the captured light field with a light field microscope in real-time. We apply the f-number matching method to generate an elemental image to reconstruct an undistorted 3D image. Our implemented system produces real and orthoscopic 3D images of micro objects in 16 frames per second. We verify the proposed system via experiments using Caenorhabditis elegans.

Recent progress in see-through three-dimensional displays using holographic optical elements [Invited].

The principles and characteristics of see-through 3D displays are presented. We especially focus on the integral-imaging display system using a holographic optical element (IDHOE), which is able to display 3D images and satisfy the see-through property at the same time. The technique has the advantage of the high transparency and capability of displaying autostereoscopic 3D images. We have analyzed optical properties of IDHOE for both recording and displaying stages. Furthermore, various studies of new applications and system improvements for IDHOE are introduced. Thanks to the characteristics of holographic volume grating, it is possible to implement a full-color lens-array holographic optical element and conjugated reconstruction as well as 2D/3D convertible IDHOE. Studies on the improvements of viewing characteristics including a viewing angle, fill factor, and resolution are also presented. Lastly, essential issues and their possible solutions are discussed as future work.

Plasmonic cavity-apertures as dynamic pixels for the simultaneous control of colour and intensity

Despite steady technological progress, displays are still subject to inherent limitations in resolution improvement and pixel miniaturization because a series of colours is generally expressed by a combination of at least three primary colour pixels. Here we propose a structure comprising a metal cavity and a nanoaperture, which we refer to as a cavity-aperture, to simultaneously control the colour and intensity of transmitted light in a single pixel. The metal cavity constructs plasmonic standing waves to organize the spatial distribution of amplitudes according to wavelength, and the nanoaperture permits light with a specific wavelength and amplitude to pass through it, depending on the nanoaperatures relative position in the cavity and the polarization state of the incident light. Therefore, the cavity-aperture has the potential to function as a dynamic colour pixel. This design method may be helpful in developing various photonic devices, such as micro-imaging systems and multiplexed sensors.

Effect of fundamental depth resolution and cardboard effect to perceived depth resolution on multi-view display.

In three-dimensional television (3D TV) broadcasting, we find the effect of fundamental depth resolution and the cardboard effect to the perceived depth resolution on multi-view display is important. The observer distance and the specification of multi-view display quantize the expressible depth range, which affect the perception of depth resolution of the observer. In addition, the multi-view 3D TV needs the view synthesis process using depth image-based rendering which induces the cardboard effect from the relation among the stereo pickup, the multi-view synthesis and the multi-view display. In this paper, we analyze the fundamental depth resolution and the cardboard effect from the synthesis process in the multi-view 3D TV broadcasting. After the analysis, the numerical comparison and subjective tests with 20 participants are performed to find the effect of fundamental depth resolution and the cardboard effect to the perceived depth resolution.

Depth enhancement of integral imaging by using polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films and a dual-depth configuration.

In spite of their many advantages, limited image depth still remains as an obstacle to three-dimensional displays based on integral imaging. In this Letter, by combining multiple polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films and a dual-depth configuration, we propose a method to enhance the depth range of the integral imaging display system.