High-Contrast Projection Mapping under Light Field Illumination with LED Display and Aperiodic Lens Array

Area of Science:

• Computer Vision
• Optics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Projection Mapping (PM) offers shared augmented reality experiences without special devices.
• Current PM systems require dark environments, limiting practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome the "dark-room constraint" of Projection Mapping.
• To enable high-contrast PM in bright environments.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel target-excluding lighting method using an LED display panel and an optimized aperiodic lens array.
• Implemented computational techniques for lens placement optimization and dynamic PM luminance pattern calculation.
• Designed a system for light-field illumination that selectively illuminates the environment while avoiding the projection target.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-contrast Projection Mapping in bright environments.
• Reproduced natural soft shadows comparable to typical lighting.
• Demonstrated a compact system with a large effective light source area and precise spatial controllability.

Conclusions:

• The proposed target-excluding lighting method effectively enables Projection Mapping in bright conditions.
• The system offers a practical solution for augmented reality experiences without specialized user equipment.
• Further research can explore dynamic PM applications with this novel illumination technique.