US-12627788-B2 - Display assembly arranged to create a perception of a three-dimensional scene

US12627788B2US 12627788 B2US12627788 B2US 12627788B2US-12627788-B2

Abstract

A display assembly includes: a scene display screen; a privacy screen mounted over the scene display screen; a first mirror having a reflection side (“the first reflection side”) and a transmission side (“the first transmission side”). The first reflection side is mounted at an angle to the scene display screen for illumination; a background display screen faces the first transmission side for illumination thereof; and a housing arranged about the scene display screen, background display screen and first mirror for reducing ambient light within the housing including an opening for viewing of the reflection side of the first mirror therethrough. An image generation assembly is coupled to the scene display screen for producing a moving scene image thereon. The observer views the background display screen and the scene display screen simultaneously when viewing the reflection side of the first mirror and the privacy screen prevents viewing a secondary scene image.

Inventors

Bruce Robert Dell

Assignees

Axiom Holographics Pty Ltd

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220628
Priority Date: 20210629

Claims (15)

1 . A display assembly for eliciting a perception of a three-dimensional (3D) scene in an observer, the display assembly comprising: a scene display screen; a privacy screen mounted over the scene display screen for reducing viewing angle thereof; a first mirror having a reflection side as a first reflection side and a transmission side as a first transmission side, the first reflection side mounted at an angle to the scene display screen for illumination thereby; a background display screen facing the first transmission side for illumination thereof; a second mirror having a reflection side as a second reflection side and a transmission side as a second transmission side, wherein the second reflection side reflects light transmitted through the first transmission side from the background display screen through the opening for viewing of the background display screen by the observer; a shadow display screen, wherein the shadow display screen is located adjacent the first transmission side; a housing arranged about the scene display screen, the background display screen and the first mirror for reducing ambient light within the housing including an opening for viewing of the reflection side of the first mirror therethrough; and an image generation assembly coupled to the scene display screen for producing a moving scene image thereon; wherein the image generation assembly is configured to produce a shadow image on the shadow display screen wherein the shadow image corresponds to a shadow of the moving scene image; and wherein the display assembly is configured such that the observer views the background display screen and the scene display screen simultaneously when viewing the reflection side of the first mirror and wherein the privacy screen prevents viewing by the observer of a secondary scene image.
2 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first reflection side is mounted at 45±3 degrees to the scene display screen.
3 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the background display screen is mounted at 90±3 degrees to the scene display screen.
4 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second reflection side is mounted at 90±3 degrees to the first reflection side.
5 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shadow display screen is mounted opposite the scene display screen.
6 . The display assembly of claim 5 , wherein an edge portion of the shadow display screen overlaps an edge portion of the scene display screen.
7 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the display assembly includes a foreground display screen.
8 . The display assembly of claim 7 , wherein the foreground display screen is located adjacent the second transmission side.
9 . The display assembly of claim 7 , wherein the image generation assembly is configured to produce a foreground image for display by the foreground display screen.
10 . A display assembly for eliciting a perception of a three-dimensional (3D) scene in an observer, the display assembly comprising: a scene display screen; a privacy screen mounted over the scene display screen for reducing viewing angle thereof; a first mirror having a reflection side as a first reflection side and a transmission side as a first transmission side, the first reflection side mounted at an angle to the scene display screen for illumination thereby; a background display screen facing the first transmission side for illumination thereof; a housing arranged about the scene display screen, background display screen and first mirror for reducing ambient light within the housing including an opening for viewing of the reflection side of the first mirror therethrough; and an image generation assembly coupled to the scene display screen for producing a moving scene image thereon; wherein the observer views the background display screen and the scene display screen simultaneously when viewing the reflection side of the first mirror and wherein the privacy screen prevents viewing by the observer of a secondary scene image, and wherein the moving scene image rotates at a frequency of between three to six times per second.
11 . The display assembly of claim 10 , wherein the moving scene image rotates at a frequency of four times per second.
12 . A method for creating a perception of a 3D object in an observer, the method comprising: displaying to the observer a reflection of a 2D moving scene image corresponding to the 3D object with a reflective side of a partially silvered mirror; displaying a background image at a location behind the partially silvered mirror, relative to the observer; wherein the background image is transmitted through a transmission side of the partially silvered mirror to the observer; displaying a shadow image corresponding to the moving 2D display on a shadow display screen and reflecting the shadow image for viewing on an apparent plane at ninety degrees to an apparent viewing plane of the moving scene image; and limiting the viewing range of the observer to see the moving 2D display to thereby prevent formation of a secondary image of the moving 2D display.
13 . The method of claim 12 , including displaying a foreground image in front of the moving scene image.
14 . The display assembly of claim 1 , wherein the moving scene image rotates at a frequency of between three to six times per second.
15 . The display assembly of claim 10 , wherein the moving scene image rotates at a frequency of four times per second.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS The present invention claims priority from Australian provisional patent application No. 2021901966 filed 29 Jun. 2021, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for creating a visual display that appears to a human viewer as a three-dimensional (3D) scene such as an object or group of objects. Such displays are eye catching and may be used for advertising and marketing purposes as well as in other applications. BACKGROUND Any references to methods, apparatus or documents of the prior art are not to be taken as constituting any evidence or admission that they formed, or form part of the common general knowledge. Humans are drawn to three dimensional effects and such effects are eye catching and attention gaining so that they are useful for a multitude of purposes where it is advantageous to be able to attract the gaze of people. Such purposes include advertising and marketing displays. Many systems that create a perception of a three-dimensional object require special apparatus for tracking the position of the viewer and that the viewer wears stereoscopic glasses. For example, in PCT/AU2018/050754 by the present Inventor, there is described a virtual object display system which allows two different users to simultaneously view the same virtual object from different positions. That system makes use of viewer tracking and stereoscopic projection systems. In contrast, it would be desirable if a simple visual effect assembly were provided that does not require the viewer to be tracked and which does not require the viewer to wear special glasses. It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional visual effect assembly for a displaying a scene that appears to be three-dimensional and which does not require the use of special glasses, for a user to form a perception that the scene is three dimensional. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a display assembly for eliciting a perception of a three-dimensional (3D) scene in an observer, the display assembly comprising: a scene display screen;a privacy screen mounted over the scene display screen for reducing viewing angle thereof;a first mirror having a reflection side (“the first reflection side”) and a transmission side (“the first transmission side”), the first reflection side mounted at an angle to the scene display screen for illumination thereby;a background display screen facing the first transmission side for illumination thereof; anda housing arranged about the scene display screen, background display screen and first mirror for reducing ambient light within the housing including an opening for viewing of the reflection side of the first mirror therethrough; andan image generation assembly coupled to the scene display screen for producing a moving scene image thereon;wherein the observer views the background display screen and the scene display screen simultaneously when viewing the reflection side of the first mirror and wherein the privacy screen prevents viewing by the observer of a secondary scene image. In embodiment the first reflection side is mounted at 45±3 degrees to the scene display screen or preferably at 45 degrees. In an embodiment the background display screen is mounted at 90±3 degrees to the scene display screen or preferably at 90 degrees. In an embodiment the display assembly includes a second mirror having a reflection side (“second reflection side”) and a transmission side (“second transmission side”), wherein the second reflection side reflects light transmitted through the first transmission side from the background display screen through the opening for viewing of the background display screen by the observer. In an embodiment the second reflection side is mounted at 90±3 degrees to the first reflection side or preferably at 90 degrees. In an embodiment the display assembly includes a shadow display screen. In an embodiment the shadow display screen is mounted opposite the scene display screen. In an embodiment an edge portion of the shadow display screen overlaps an edge portion of the scene display screen. In an embodiment the shadow display screen is located adjacent the first transmission side. In an embodiment the image generation assembly is configured to produce a shadow image wherein the shadow image corresponds to a shadow of the virtual moving scene image. In an embodiment the display assembly includes a foreground display screen. In an embodiment the foreground display screen is located adjacent the second transmission side. In an embodiment the image generation assembly is configured to produce a foreground image for display by the foreground display screen. In an embodiment the virtual moving scene image rotates at a frequency of between three to six times per second. In an embodiment the virtual moving scene image rot