Holographic volumetric 3D displays

Abstract

The development of a true three-dimensional display that can recreate the light field of an object or scene has been a research goal over the past century. This has recently intensified with the increase in content and proliferation of 3D data across many fields of science and engineering. The literature says that the best approaches to the problem includes holography. The research community has been busy developing the ideal holographic display. However, there are considerable technological challenges that must be overcome before this is a viable proposition. The solutions proposed in this thesis turn the problem around and take a bottom-up view, rather than the traditional top-down one. It turns out that placing certain constraints on the image enables practical implementations of holographic displays. The approach begins with low information content building up towards higher resolution displays by exploring various techniques aimed at improving performance. The work starts with empirical experimental methods that lead to a framework with theory, numerical methods, simulations and tools to design displays. The results are large, bright displays viewable under ambient conditions with human interaction. The work opens up a new avenue of research that lies between volumetric technology and contemporary holographic display research.