A novel 3D hand-area space sharing system

This paper describes a new system for sharing a 3D space on workbenches placed at different locations. It consists of flatbed-type autostereoscopic displays based on the one-dimensional (horizontal parallax only) integral imaging (1D-II) method and multi-viewpoint video cameras. Possible applications of the system include a tool for remote instruction, where an instructor can show how to assemble a product from given parts to a worker who is not in front of the instructor but in a different room or factory. The idea of sharing the 3D space at different locations is not new. In the previous applications such as mixed reality, however, since the depth of the reconstructed 3D space was not clearly restricted, it is difficult to improve the image quality of the reconstructed space. In the application presented in this paper, we can obtain a reasonable level of the image quality because the depth of the reconstructed space is clearly limited by the size of the parts on the 3D workbench. A new multi-viewpoint video camera was designed for the application. In this design, each image sensor was placed parallel to the lens with a shift in each direction of the XY coordinate system in a horizontal plane and only a limited region of each image was used to reconstruct the 3D space. An experimental system called the "3D hand-area space sharing system" was implemented using integral imaging 3D displays as well as multi-viewpoint video cameras. As a result, we ascertained that larger display, namely, 8K4K, and interpolation technology are necessary for a multi-viewpoint video camera for the 3D hand-area space sharing system.