Trade-offs in Light Field Streaming, Processing and Display Requirements for High and Low Fidelity Applications

The number of 3D media applications is growing exponentially and each application has its own set of required visual depth cues. Many of these applications call for high fidelity holographic imagery with a large number of visual depth cues (e.g., stereopsis, accommodation, occlusion, lighting, shading, shadows, etc.) and thus demand extreme computing power and pixel densities. Typical field of light display (FoLD) systems for such applications employ large numbers of GPUs and LCOS or MEMS DLP spatial light modulators, driving the system cost into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In addition to these ‘high fidelity’ 3D applications, others require only minimal depth cues (e.g., stereopsis and accommodation). Displays for such applications tend to have far lower computing power requirements and system cost. For example, FoLD-enabled smartphones are set to enter the consumer market in early 2018; these devices have limited computational resources and the displayed light-fields typically utilize a small number of distinct views. Additionally, the Navy is in immediate need of FoLD technologies for its AEGIS Display System to reduce cognitive load and enable improved weapons-targeting pairing and visualization of potential threats. Such FoLD solutions must perform real-time multi-view rendering without a cluster of PCs and reduce the Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) by a minimum of 75%.

In this talk we will examine a number of applications, such as Command and Control, CAD, SAR, Games/Movies, and Medical Imaging; their associated display technologies and computational requirements; and the need for all to be compliant with a universal set of standards.

Holochip focuses on light-field graphics processing architecture and display systems, VR/AR systems and focus-tunable lens technology.

Samuel Robinson, VP Engineering, Holochip Corporation

Samuel Robinson received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering and Physics at Iowa State University and has deep experience in engineering, vision systems, and 3D scanning technologies.

Since joining Holochip in 2011 Sam has been developing advanced imaging technologies, including machine vision systems, focus-tunable lenses, and VR/AR displays. More recently Sam has been leading Holochip’s light-field display program.