Input system for moving integral imaging using full HD camcoder and fly's eye lens

Abstract

Integral imaging is one of the best methods of 3D display because not only horizontal but also vertical parallax is obtained without having to wear special glasses. It is possible to create content for integral imaging with either CG or live action, and the latter is advantageous in that time-consuming modeling is not necessary as long as real objects are available. Moreover, if the displayed 3D images are moving, a more realistic impression of sensation is obtained. However, considerably large and expensive machines have been necessary to shoot moving integral images up until now. In order to cope with this issue, we developed a simple system of input for moving integral imaging in which a household full-HD digital camcorder and a fly's eye lens are combined. The video data recorded on the flash memory is then moved to a PC and converted into a form that is appropriate for 3D display with our original software. The extended fractional view method that we had previously developed was used for the 3D display. By using it, a wide range of LCDs, normal PCs and several fly's eye lenses available on the market can be combined quite freely, because the ratio between the lens pitch and dot pitch is no longer restricted to integer numbers. Our experiments revealed that the proposed system of input could capture moving 3D images of sufficient quality.