A Scalable Framework for High-Resolution Immersive Displays

Abstract

We introduce an immersive display framework that is scalable, easily re-configurable, and does not constrain the display surface geometry. The system achieves very-high resolution display through synchronized rendering and display from multiple PCs and light projectors. The projectors can be placed in a loose configuration and calibrated at run time. A full display is composed of these underlying display devices by blending overlapping regions and pre-warping imagery to correct for distortions due to display surface shape and the viewer's position. The effect is a perceptually correct display of a single high-resolution frame buffer.

A major contribution of the work is the addition of cameras into the display environment that assist in calibration of projector positions and the automatic recovery of the display surface shape. In addition, a straightforward synchronization framework is introduced that facilitates communication between the multiple rendering elements for calibration, tracking the user's viewing position, and synchronous endering of a uniform, perceptually correct image.

Indexing terms:

• Projector-based display
• Tiled display
• Computer vision
• immasive reality
• Calibration

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher Jaynes

Christopher Jaynes received a BS in computer science from the University of Utah. He received his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst under the supervision of Drs. Edward Riseman and Allen Hanson. In 1998 he joined the department of computer science at the University of Kentucky. He is an assistant professor and director of the Metaverse Lab, a laboratory dedicated solving the technical problems related to immersive environments and augmented reality. In 2000 he was the recipient of an NSF CAREER award, a program that recognizes outstanding young researchers. His primary interests include calibration, motion tracking and understanding, and video surveillance using large-scale sensor networks, and visualization systems. Dr. Jaynes is a member of the ACM and the IEEE and serves as reviewer for a number of international technical journals.

Stephen Webb

Stephen Webb received a BS in Computer Science and is currently pursuing a MS in computer science, both at the University of Kentucky. His research interests are in computer vision and visually immersive display environments.

R Matt Steele

Matt Steele is a PhD student at the University of Kentucky. He received a BS degree in Physics and a BA in English at the University of Kentucky in 2000. He is currently studying ways of building an immersive display from a reconfigurable, loosely-constrained system of projectors and cameras. He is particularly interested in the problem of continuous, automatic detection and correction of calibration error.