A scalable multi-DLP pico-projector system for virtual reality

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) environments can offer immersion, interaction and realistic images to users. A VR system is usually expensive and requires special equipment in a complex setup. One approach is to use Commodity-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) desktop multi-projectors manually or camera based calibrated to reduce the cost of VR systems without significant decrease of the visual experience. Additionally, for non-planar screen shapes, special optics such as lenses and mirrors are required thus increasing costs. We propose a low-cost, scalable, flexible and mobile solution that allows building complex VR systems that projects images onto a variety of arbitrary surfaces such as planar, cylindrical and spherical surfaces. This approach combines three key aspects: 1) clusters of DLP-picoprojectors to provide homogeneous and continuous pixel density upon arbitrary surfaces without additional optics; 2) LED lighting technology for energy efficiency and light control; 3) smaller physical footprint for flexibility purposes. Therefore, the proposed system is scalable in terms of pixel density, energy and physical space. To achieve these goals, we developed a multi-projector software library called FastFusion that calibrates all projectors in a uniform image that is presented to viewers. FastFusion uses a camera to automatically calibrate geometric and photometric correction of projected images from ad-hoc positioned projectors, the only requirement is some few pixels overlapping amongst them. We present results with eight Pico-projectors, with 7 lumens (LED) and DLP 0.17 HVGA Chipset.