GB2515496A

GB2515496A - A display arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2515496A
Application number: GB1311215.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harry Anscombe
Original assignee: BEAGLE MEDIA Ltd
Current assignee: BEAGLE MEDIA Ltd
Priority date: 2013-06-25
Filing date: 2013-06-25
Publication date: 2014-12-31
Also published as: GB201311215D0

Abstract

A display arrangement based on the Peppers Ghost illusion comprising: a visual display unit 51having a display surface 52; a reflection pyramid 53 comprising a plurality of triangular panes 54, each pane connected on two of its three edges to neighbouring panes to define a pyramid, the third edge 52c of each pane collectively defining a base of the reflection pyramid, each pane being at least partially reflective, wherein the visual display unit 51 is arranged above the reflection pyramid 53 such that at least part of the display surface 52 is at least partially reflected by the reflection pyramid, wherein the display surface is rotationally offset from the base of the pyramid, about a substantially vertical axis 56, by an angle between 30 and 60 degrees.

Description

Title: A display arrangement The Pepper's ghost technique is a well-known illusionary technique, which involves reflecting an image off a partially transparent surface.

Glass both partially transmits and partially reflects light. This is used in a Pepper's ghost illusion by placing a pane of glass at an angle to a person's (the user) line of sight. In other words, the normal of the surface of the pane is at an angle to the user's line of sight. An object (or image) to be reflected is positioned at a distance away from the pane of glass, preferably not in the user's line of sight, such that when the user looks at the pane, they see a reflection of the object on the surface of the pane.

Additionally, due to the fact that the pane of glass transmits light, the user can also see through (at least partially) the pane of glass. The effect is that the reflected object appears, to the user, to be behind the pane of glass. The distance from the perceived object to the user is equal to the distance from the user's eye to the pane of glass, plus the distance from the pane of glass to the object being reflected.

By adjusting the relative lighting on either side of the pane of glass, the relative levels of reflection and light transmission, as perceived by the user, can be altered.

By placing a second object behind the pane of glass, in the location where the user perceives the first object to be, both the reflected first object (or image) and the second object appear to the user to have merged'. Adjusting the lighting on either object can alter the extent of this apparent merging.

The eye-catching nature of the Pepper's ghost illusion has recently been adopted by the advertising industry. The DreamocTM display arrangement offered by RealfictionhM comprises a transparent reflection pyramid arranged below a display unit having a planar display surface. A physical object is placed centrally beneath the reflection pyramid. The distance from a paint on the pyramid ta a paint on the display surface is configured ta be substantially the same as the distance from that point an the pyramid to a paint an the surface (or the central axis) of the physical abject. As a consequence, images displayed on the display screen are perceived by the user to coincide (merge) with the physical abject.

A problem with this arrangement is that a user's eyes may not always be positioned, relative to the reflection pyramid, in a way that optimises the illusion. The higher the point from which the user views the arrangement: the smaller the partian af the pane which reflects the display unit; and the larger the portion of the pane which reflects the surrounding environment. Reflection of the surrounding environment reduces the effect of the illusion.

The present inventian seeks to provide an improved display arrangement.

Accordingly, the present inventian pravides a display arrangement camprising: a visual display unit having a display surface; a reflection pyramid comprising a plurality of triangular panes, each pane connected an two of its three edges to neighbouring panes to define a pyramid, the third edge af each pane collectively defining a base of the reflection pyramid, each pane being at least partially reflective, wherein the visual display unit is arranged above the reflection pyramid such that at least part of the display surface is at least partially reflected by the reflection pyramid, wherein the display surface is rotatianally affset from the base of the pyramid, about a substantially vertical axis, by a predetermined angle.

Preferably, the display surface is rectangular.

Advantageously, the reflection pyramid comprises tour triangular panes, and the third edge of each pane collectively define a rectangular base of the reflection pyramid.

Conveniently, the predetermined angle is between 30 and 60 degrees.

Preterably, the predetermined angle is substantially 45 degrees.

Advantageously, the visual display unit comprises a backlit display screen.

Conveniently, the visual display unit comprises two elongated rectangular display devices arranged side-by-side along their longest edges, together defining the rectangular display surface.

Preferably, the panes are angled with respect to the display surface by between 30 and 60 degrees. Advantageously, the panes are angled with respect to the display surface by substantially 45 degrees.

Conveniently, the display surface and the footprint ot the reflection pyramid are of substantially the same dimensions.

Preterably, the rectangular display surface and the footprint of the reflection pyramid are substantially square.

Advantageously, the reflection pyramid is mounted on height-adjustable legs.

Conveniently, the arrangement turther comprises support struts connected between the visual display unit and the reflection pyramid.

Preferably, each support strut is connected at one end to a mid point of the visual display unit and at the other end to a corner of the reflection pyramid.

Advantageously, the base of the reflection pyramid is open, to receive items within the pyramid for display.

Conveniently, the arrangement further comprises a light source arranged beneath the apex of the reflection pyramid.

Overview of the figures Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by reference to the figures in which: FIGURE 1 illustrates a display unit, a partially reflective pane, and an object placed behind the pane; FIGURE 2 illustrates the arrangement of Figure 1, depicting an image being displayed on the display unit and showing the perceived image seen by a user; FIGURE 3 illustrates a side view of the arrangement of Figure 1; FIGURES 4 & 5 illustrate the perceived image seen by a user in different positions; FIGURE 6 illustrates a known display arrangement; FIGURE 7 is a side view of the display arrangement of Figure 6.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a perspective view of a display arrangement according to the present invention; FIGURE 9 illustrates another view ot the display arrangement of Figure 8; FIGURE 10 illustrates a plan view of the display arrangement of Figure 8; FIGURE 11 illustrates the relative configuration of the reflection pyramid and display unit of the display arrangement of Figure 8; and FIGURE 12 illustrates the reflection of the display unit in the reflection pyramid of the display arrangement of FigureS.

Detailed description

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate, generally, the Pepper's ghost illusion.

The illusion requires a display unit 1 having a display surface 2 which displays an image (either static or moving). The illusion further requires an at least partially reflective pane 3. The pane 3 may be glass. The glass may be provided with a coating, to increase its reflective properties. Other suitable part-reflective, part-transparent materials are known. In this example, the plane of the pane 3 is angled 45 degrees relative to the plane of the display surface 2. This angle is not essential.

When an image is displayed on the display unit 1, it reflects off the pane 3.

The effect is that the reflected display appears to the user to be behind the pane 3 of glass. The plane of the reflected display is shown with a dotted line in figures 2 and 3.

With reference to figure 3, a point A on the display unit is perceived by the user to be located at point A', behind the pane 3.

In Figure 1, a physical object 4 (in this example, a bottle) is arranged on the surface 5 behind the pane 3. The object 4 is arranged so that it is positioned within the reflected plane 6 of the display unit. An image 7 displayed on the display unit 2 is preferably configured such that the reflected image is perceived by the user to align with the physical object 4 they see through the pane 3. In Figure 1, the display unit 1 shows an animation 7 of liquid exploding' upwardly from a point. By configuring the position of the animation on the display surface 2, and/or the position of the bottle 4, it appears to the user that the liquid is exploding' from the bottle 4. The physical object 4 and the reflected image 7 are therefore seen to have been merged, tricking the user's eye.

The extent to which the view of the object 4 and the reflected image 7 are merged may be affected by altering the lighting of the object 4 and/or the brightness of the displayed image 7.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate how the illusion operates depending on the viewing angle and position of the user. Figure 4 illustrates the user 8 viewing the apparatus along a line that is generally in the same horizontal plane as the centre point of the pane 3. The dotted line of the right indicates the reflected plane 6 of the reflection of the display unit 1.

Figure 5 illustrates the user 8 viewing the apparatus from a higher position, along a line that is almost in the same horizontal plane as the display surface 2. The dotted line on the right indicates the reflected plane 6 of the reflection of the display unit 1.

It will be noted from Figure 5 that the part 9 of the pane 3 from which the image reflects is smaller than that of Figure 4. In both of Figures 4 and 5, it will be noted that not all of the reflective pane 3 is being utilised to reflect the displayed image. The lower part 10 of the reflective pane 3 will instead reflect the surrounding environment, e.g. the ceiling immediately above or behind the user. This is due to the size of the display unit 1. The same will happen it the user moves closer to the pane 3.

Figure 6 illustrates the known DreamoclM display arrangement 15 mentioned above. The arrangement 15 comprises a reflection pyramid 16 comprising four triangular panes 17, each pane 17 connected on two 18a, 18b of its three edges to neighbouring panes 17 to define a pyramid. The third (bottom) edge 18c of each pane 17 collectively define a rectangular base of the reflection pyramid 16. Each pane 17 is at least partially reflective. The top of the pyramid 16 concealed by the display surface 19 is shown with dotted lines in figure 6.

The apex 20 of the pyramid 16 lies in the same plane as the display surface 19.

A rear-projection visual display unit (only the screen is shown) is arranged above the reflection pyramid 16 for reflection by the panes 17 of the pyramid 16. The footprint of the pyramid 16 is intentionally the same size as the footprint of the display surface 19. Vertical support struts 21 are provided between each corner of the display unit and each respective corner of the reflection pyramid 16.

Figure 7 schematically illustrates the display arrangement of figure 7 from the side. It will be noted that the arrangement is very similar to that shown in figures 1 to 5, albeit with a reflection pane 17 on each side, allowing a user 8 to view the arrangement from different angles.

Consequently, the arrangement shown in figures 6 and 7 suffers from the same problems discussed above in relation to figures 4 and 5. The positions from which a user 8 can view the reflection pyramid 16 and adequately experience the illusion are limited.

The present invention provides a display apparatus which seeks to alleviate

the problems associated with the prior art.

Figures 8 to 10 illustrate display arrangement 50 comprising a visual display unit 51 having a rectangular display surface 52 and a reflection pyramid 53.

The reflection pyramid 53 comprises four triangular panes 54. Each pane 54 is connected on two 55a, 55b of its three edges to neighbouring panes 54 to define a pyramid 53. The third edge 55c of each pane 54 collectively defines a rectangular base of the reflection pyramid 53. Each pane 54 is at least partially reflective.

The visual display unit 51 is arranged above the reflection pyramid 53 such that at least part of the display surface 52 of the visual display unit 51 is at least partially reflected by the panes 54 of the reflection pyramid 53.

Further, the display surface 52 is rotationally offset from the rectangular base of the pyramid 53, about a substantially vertical axis 56, by a predetermined angle a. That is to say, an edge of the display surface is angled with respect to a lower edge of the reflection pyramid.

Conveniently, the predetermined angle a is between 30 and 60 degrees.

Preferably, as shown in figures 8 to 10, the angle is 45 a degrees.

The vertical axis 56 about which the display surface 52 is rotationally offset runs through the apex 57 of the reflection pyramid 53.

Preferably, the footprint of the reflection pyramid 53 is substantially square.

Preferably, the footprint of the display surface 52 is substantially square.

Preferably, the footprint of the display unit 51 is substantially square.

As illustrated in Figure 10, this relative rotational offset a means that part 58 of the display unit 51 overhangs the reflection pyramid 53. In other words, part 58 of the display unit 51 (and thus display surface 52) extends beyond the footprint of the reflection pyramid 53.

Conversely, part 59 of the reflection pyramid 53 "underhangs" the display unit 51. In other words, part 59 of the reflection pyramid 53 extends beyond the footprint of the display unit 51. The area of the overhanging part 58 is preferably equal to the area of the "underhanging" part 59.

Viewed from above, the display unit 51 and reflection pyramid 53 appear to define an 8-point star, each point being equally radially spaced (by 45 degrees).

Figure 11 shows a plan view of the reflection pyramid 53, and an outline of the display unit 51. In this embodiment, the display surface 52 is not square. The display unit is comprised of two rectangular display devices 51a, Sib (for example a wide-screen monitor) arranged side by side. The long side of one display device 51a is arrangement adjacent the long side of the second display device Sib. Preferably, the bezel of each device Sia, Sib is thin such that the apparent gap between the respective display surfaces of the display devices Sia, Sib is minimised.

Conveniently, a long side of each display device Sia, Sib is aligned with the edges 55a, 55b of the reflection pyramid 53. With reference to figure ii, a long side of each display device Sia, Sib lies in a vertical plane 60 that also includes two opposing edges 5Sa, 55b of the pyramid 53 and the apex 57 of the pyramid 53.

Figure i2 illustrates the reflection pyramid 53 from one side, such that only one triangular pane 54 is visible. The display unit is not shown. The diagonal shading denotes the portion 61 of the pane 54 that will reflect the display surface 52 above, in use. It will be noted that the lower part of the portion 61 terminates at the bottom edge 55c of the pane 54. The full extent of the centre line of the pane 54, from the apex 57 down to the midpoint of the lower edge 55c, is reflecting the display surface 52. At the viewing angle shown in Figure 12, (equivalent to that shown in figure 4) the overhanging part of the display surface is not reflected by the pyramid 53.

When the viewer changes their viewing position -such as the change indicated in figures 4 and 5 -the overhanging part 58 of the display surface 52 will then be reflected by the pane 54. The reflection of the corner of the overhanging part 58 of the display surface 52 will now be incident with the mid point of the lower edge 55c of the pane 54.

It will be noted that the left 62a and right 62b corners of the pane 54 do not reflect the display surface 52. However, this is not important, since only the area under the apex 57 of the reflection pyramid 53 is preferably used to display objects, in use.

The overhang created by the rotational offset of the display surface 52 with respect to the reflection pyramid 53 allows a greater range of movement of the user 8 whilst optimising the visual effect.

A skilled person looking to improve the prior art arrangement shown in figures 6 and 7 might seek to increase the footprint of the display surface, such that it overhangs the reflection pyramid 16 all the way around. However, such an arrangement would require a much larger display surface, which increases costs. Moreover, the large overhanging display unit may restrict the viewing angles of users. Still further, the portion of the enlarged display surface overhanging the lower corners of the reflection pyramid would be redundant in use.

A benefit of the present invention is that by rotationally offsetting the display surface 52 relative to the reflection pyramid 53, the display surface 53 of a given display unit 52 is more efficiently utilised than if the display surface 53 was not rotationally offset.

As shown in figures 8 and 9, the reflection pyramid 53 is preferably mounted on height-adjustable legs 63.

The display arrangement 50 comprises support struts 64 connected between the visual display unit 51 and the reflection pyramid 53. In the embodiment shown, each support strut 64 is connected at one end to a mid point of the visual display unit 51 and at the other end to a corner of the reflection pyramid 53. In another embodiment (not shown), each support strut 64 may be connected at one end to a mid point of one lower edge 55c of the reflection pyramid 53, and at the other end to a corner of the visual display unit 51.

There may be more or fewer than 4 support struts.

As shown in Figure 8, the base of the reflection pyramid 53 is preferably open, to receive items within the pyramid 53 for display. A light source (not shown) is preferably arranged beneath or within the apex 57 of the reflection pyramid 53, to illuminate an object below.

In the embodiment described, the pyramid comprises four triangular panes. In another embodiment, there may be more or fewer panes. For example, there may be three panes, defining a pyramid with a triangular footprint. The display surface of such an embodiment would also be triangular, and rotationally offset about a vertical axis.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A display arrangement comprising: a visual display unit having a display surface; a reflection pyramid comprising a plurality of triangular panes, each pane connected on two of its three edges to neighbouring panes to define a pyramid, the third edge of each pane collectively defining a base of the reflection pyramid, each pane being at least partially reflective, wherein the visual display unit is arranged above the reflection pyramid such that at least part of the display surface is at least partially reflected by the reflection pyramid, wherein the display surface is rotationally offset from the base of the pyramid, about a substantially vertical axis, by a predetermined angle.
2. A display arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the display surface is rectangular.
3. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the reflection pyramid comprises four triangular panes, and the third edge of each pane collectively define a rectangular base of the reflection pyramid.
4. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the predetermined angle is between 30 and 60 degrees.
5. A display arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined angle is substantially 45 degrees.
6. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the visual display unit comprises a backlit display screen.
7. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the visual display unit comprises two elongated rectangular display devices arranged side-by-side along their longest edges, together defining the rectangular display surface.
8. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the panes are angled with respect to the display surface by between 30 and 60 degrees.
9. A display arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the panes are angled with respect to the display surface by substantially 45 degrees.
10. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the display surface and the footprint of the reflection pyramid are of substantially the same dimensions.
11. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the rectangular display surface and the footprint of the reflection pyramid are substantially square.
12. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the reflection pyramid is mounted on height-adjustable legs.
13. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, further comprising support struts connected between the visual display unit and the reflection pyramid.
14. A display arrangement according to claim 13, wherein each support strut is connected at one end to a mid point of the visual display unit and at the other end to a corner of the reflection pyramid.
15. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the base of the reflection pyramid is open, to receive items within the pyramid for display.
16. A display arrangement according to any preceding claim, further comprising a light source arranged beneath the apex of the reflection pyramid.
17. A display arrangement as herein described with reference to the figures.
18. Any novel matter or combination thereof herein described.