Three-dimensional display with a long viewing distance by use of integral photography.

We developed a technique of three-dimensional (3-D) display for distant viewing of a 3-D image without the need for special glasses. The photobased integral photography (IP) method allows precise 3-D images to be displayed at long viewing distances without any influence from deviated or distorted lenses in a lens array. We calculate elemental images from a referential viewing area for each lens and project the corresponding result images to photographic film through each lens. We succeed in creating an image display that appears to have three dimensionality even when viewed from a distance, with an image depth of 5.7 m or more in front of the display and 3.5 m or more behind the display. To the best of our knowledge, the long-distance IP display presented here is technically unique because it is the first report of generation of an image with such a long viewing distance.