Project acronym: HELIUM3D

Project name: High Efficiency Laser Based Multi User Multi Modal 3D Display

Start date: January 2008

Duration: 3 years

Project Participants:

De Montfort University, UK

Philips Consumer Lifestyle, NL

Barco, BE

University College London, UK

Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, DE

Eindhoven University of Technology, NL

Koç University, TR

Nanjing University, CN

Priority: 7th Framework Programme, ICT-2007-1-3.2 Organic and large-area electronics, visualisation and display systems

Contract number: 215280

Total cost: €4,215,000

Total Effort: 30 person-years

Commission funding: €2,800,000

Contact: Ian Sexton

Project Main Goals

HELIUM3D is creating a 3D display that will extend the state of the art in autostereoscopic (glasses free) displays. The HELIUM3D display technology addresses the effficiency and colour limitations of current and next generation displays by developing a new display technology based on direct-view RGB laser projection via a low loss transparent display screen to the eyes of viewers.

The fundamental features of the display are:

• Support for multiple viewers
• Allow for viewer freedom of movement
• Motion parallax to all viewers
• High brightness and colour gamut
• Viewer gesture/interaction tracking
• User-centred design, ensuring that future products are "fit for purpose" in terms of perception and usability

Several viewing modes are possible including: motion parallax (the 'look around' capability) to each viewer, privacy of viewing from other viewers, a different camera viewpoint to each viewer and also conventional 2D to all viewers providing backward compatibility when necessary. This giyes a display with a very wide range of applications and modes of operation.

The display and its viewer interaction technology will serve both consumer and professional applications. 3D television and 3D video gaming are the most important consumer applications, in which viewer gesture recognition can be a natural replacement for remote controls and game controllers.

The display also has a broad potential in professional applications, including medical imaging, video conferencing, engineering design, and oil and gas exploration. In these applications, gesture recognition can be the basis for device-less hands-free interaction within the 3D object viewing space.

The HELIUM3D project builds upon and adyances key technologies deyeloped in the EU funded 3DTV Network of Excellence, the MUTED(Multi-User3D Television Display) and the ATTEST (Advanced Three-Dimensional Television Systems) projects. Helium3D will lay the foundations for an autostereoscopic video display capable of being developed into a product that will be in use within the next ten years.