Morphovision

“Morphovision is a unique display system that interactively transforms and animates a 3D solid object before our eyes. In this system, a model house is rotated at high speed, and is illuminated with special lighting from a digital projector. This enables the model to be distorted into various shapes.

Morphovision is a completely new approach to 3D visual display systems. It is the product of a joint research project between Toshio Iwai and NHK STRL.

When the user touches the operation panel, the model house begins to rotate, and the shape of the solid model becomes distorted. The touch panel has a selection of icons showing different patterns. The distortion can be viewed simultaneously by any number of people, from any angle, without the use of special glasses

The key technology of Morphovision is in the special light set above the rotating model. A digital projector is used to show a narrow line of light. This light is reflected using a polygon mirror, and is applied on the model house. The rotating polygon mirror causes the line to move across the model from left to right, at high speed. As the speed is increased, the full image of the model becomes visible. This is caused by the afterimage effect of human vision. As the model rotates faster, the movement of the light and model are synchronized. At this moment, the distorted house suddenly appears. The type of distortion can be changed by selecting different lighting patterns.

Morphovision employs persistence of vision, which is acharacteristic also utilized in TV systems. Therefore, it holds potential as a new 3D image display technique for TV systems.”[1]

[1]: http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/morphovision/index_e.html