JP2000275577A - Stereoscopsis optical device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain less-defect stereoscopsis by a relatively easy method from two side-by-side images for stereoscopsis having both-eye parallax. SOLUTION: On one eye of an observer, an optical device consisting of two plane mirrors is mounted and an image viewed with the eye is rotated and moved to an image viewed with the other eye to obtain a natural angle of convergence. A image 1L for the left eye and an image 1R for the right eye which are formed for stereoscopsis and have both-eye parallax are formed side by side, for example, 60 cm before the eyes. The optical device composed of the two plane mirrors 2L and 3L is mounted on one eye, e.g. the left eye 4L; and the left image 1L is observed with the left eye 4L and the right image 1R is observed with the right eye 4R. A center line 5L represents the light beam from the left image 1L to the left eye 4L. Here, 6L is a visual line toward the image viewed with the left eye 4L and 6R is a visual line along which the right eye 4R views the center of the right image 1R.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a binocular stereoscopic optical device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among systems classified into binocular stereoscopic vision, there is a system in which stereoscopic vision is attempted using two plane mirrors for each of two eyes. This will be described with reference to FIG. First, two images (for example, photographs) having binocular parallax are prepared, and the left-eye image 1L is juxtaposed to the left and the right-eye image 1R is juxtaposed to the right. At this time, the distance between the eye and the front image is set to, for example, 60 cm,
An optical device composed of two plane mirrors is attached to both eyes. At this time, the light beam 5L from the left image 1L is reflected by the plane mirrors 2L and 3L and enters the left eye 4L. As a result, the left eye 4L sees the virtual image 1L ′ in the direction of the line of sight 6L. Similarly, the light ray 5R from the right image 1R is reflected by the plane mirrors 2R and 3R, enters the right eye 4R, and sees virtual images 1R ″ in the direction of the line of sight 6R.
1R "can be superimposed almost at the same position by adjusting the angles of the plane mirrors 3L and 3R. That is, the lines of sight 6L and 6R converge on the virtual images 1L 'and 1R". Then, the two virtual images are fused and recognized as a stereoscopic image. Right image 1 viewed with the left eye 4L
Since the left image 1L viewed by R and the right eye 4R is shielded by the plane mirrors 3L and 3R, the image 13 seen is only a stereoscopic image.

[0003]

The method for mounting an optical device composed of two plane mirrors on both eyes has the following problems. 1. An image viewed through an optical device has dimming, coloring, distortion, blur, dirt, and the like, and has a difference in image quality from an image viewed directly with the naked eye. Further, when the back mirror is used with emphasis on cost, there is a problem of a double image. 2. Since the optical device is attached to both eyes, both eyes see images with deteriorated image quality. Therefore, the image quality is not complemented. 3. Requires the same optics for both eyes. This doubles the size, weight and cost. 4. A smooth transition between normal planar and stereoscopic viewing is not possible. That is, the observation is interrupted when the optical device is attached or detached. 5. If an attempt is made to increase the field of view, the size of the device increases. 6. It is impossible to do other work while wearing the viewer.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a left-eye image and a right-eye image having binocular parallax arranged side by side. In a stereoscopic optical apparatus in which an eye is viewed as an image for the right eye, one eye of the observer is left as it is while the other eye of the observer is not.
A stereoscopic optical device is provided, comprising means for mounting an optical device composed of two plane mirrors and adjusting the angle of the plane mirror to rotate the image viewed by the eye in the direction of the image viewed by one naked eye. Solution to the Problems

[0005]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
That is, a left-eye image 1 with binocular parallax created for stereoscopic viewing
L and the image 1R for the right eye are juxtaposed, for example, at a position of 60 cm in front of the eye. An optical device composed of the two plane mirrors 2L and 3L is attached to one eye, for example, the left eye 4L, and the left image 1L is observed by the left eye 4L and the right image 1R is observed by the right eye 4R. In the figure, 5L is represented by a center line as a representative of light rays from the left image 1L to the left eye 4L. 6L is the direction of the image viewed by the left eye 4L, that is, the line of sight. 6R is right eye 4R
Is a line of sight looking at the center of the right image 1R.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an optical device composed of plane mirrors 2L and 3L. In this embodiment, two plane mirrors 2L and 3L are stored in the transparent acrylic case 7. The plane mirror 2L is attached to the shaft 9 so as to be rotatable in order to adjust the direction of the image reflected on the mirror. A projection 11 is provided at an end of the plane mirror 2L,
A screw hole is provided to connect the knob screw 10. The knob screw is fixed to the acrylic case 7 with a stopper. Turn knob 10 to change the length of the exposed portion of the screw and change the angle of the mirror. Put the left eye on the notch 8 and look. In this description, a transparent acrylic case is used for easy understanding of the structure, but it may be opaque or another material. The present invention is configured as described above.

Next, the principle of the present invention will be described. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a light ray 5L from the left image 1L is reflected by the two plane mirrors 2L and 3L and enters the left eye 4L. As a result, the left eye 4L
Sees the virtual image 1L 'in the direction of the line of sight 6L. On the other hand, the right image 1R and the left image 1L are directly observed by the right eye 4R.
The virtual image 1L 'can be substantially overlapped with the right image 1R viewed by the right eye 4R by adjusting the angle of the plane mirror 2L or 3L. That is, the lines of sight 6L and 6R of both eyes converge on these images.
As a result, the two images 1L 'and 1R are merged and recognized as a stereoscopic image. Further, it is possible to make the right image 1R invisible from the left eye 4L. As a result, the left image viewed by the right eye 4R is arranged on the left of the stereoscopic image, and the observer can see the two images 12R.
You will see.

Here, the effect of the distance between the two mirrors will be described. In FIG. 3, the virtual image 1L 'does not completely overlap with the image 1R viewed by the right eye 4R, and is located at a distance between the mirrors, and should appear to be smaller by that distance.
m, a value that can be ignored for a viewing distance of 60 cm,
If the left eye 4L is moved to the left, the difference is offset. Also, it has been found that a certain difference in size as an eye characteristic does not hinder stereoscopic vision.

Next, the operation of the two plane mirrors will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a ray 5L from an image is reflected at a point A on a plane mirror 2L and at a point B on a plane mirror 3L. The angle of incidence and the angle of reflection on the plane mirror 2L are α, and the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection on the plane mirror 3L are β. An angle between the two plane mirrors 2L and 3L is θ2, and a point at which the extension line intersects is D. The angle between the ray 5L and the line of sight 6L is θ1, and the intersection is C. In the triangle ABC, 2α + (2∠R−2β) + θ1 = 2∠R or θ1 = 2 (β−α) In the triangle ABD, α + (2∠R−β) + θ2 = 2∠R ie θ2 = β-α Therefore, θ1 = 2θ2, that is, the direction in which the virtual image is seen is a direction obtained by adding an angle twice as large as the angle between the two plane mirrors 2L and 3L to the direction of the light ray 5L.

In order to perform stereoscopic viewing using the optical device shown in FIG. 2, the user holds the device in his left hand, puts the notch 8 in the left eye, and looks at the right image with both eyes. In this case, an angle shift about the horizontal axis causes a tilt error of the image, and an angle shift about the depth axis causes a vertical position error of the image, which hinders stereoscopic vision. The angle shift about the vertical axis affects the size of the visual field but does not affect the image shift.

When the optical device whose angle has been adjusted is gradually moved, for example, from the left of the left eye to the front of the left eye, the plane image gradually changes from the left to a stereoscopic image. That is, the plane image smoothly transitions to a stereoscopic image and also smoothly transitions in the opposite direction.
When this optical device is used, one image can be made to coexist with a solid and a plane, for example, a left half is a three-dimensional image and a right half is a two-dimensional image.

In the above description, the case where the optical apparatus is mounted on the left eye has been described. However, it is obvious that the present invention can be realized even if the optical apparatus is mounted on the right eye. However, in this case, it is necessary to use the optical device to be mounted on the left eye with the left and right reversed.

[0013]

The present invention produces the following effects. 1. There is no restriction on viewing distance because no lens or the like is used. 2. Utilizes the reflection of a plane mirror and eliminates the chromatic aberration and distortion seen in the prism system. 3. The distance between the two mirrors does not matter as long as it is used at a normal viewing distance, and does not hinder stereoscopic vision at all. 4. Since the moving angle of the reflection image can be increased, a large image can be handled. 5. Even if the image using the optical device is degraded in image quality, the other eye is the naked eye, and the degradation in image quality is complemented in binocular vision. For this reason, a better stereoscopic image can be observed as compared with the method in which the optical device is attached to both eyes. 6. Since the present optical device is for one eye, the size, weight and cost are reduced by half compared to the optical device for both eyes. 7. Since the basic size is small, there is room to make the mirror larger and support a large screen. 8. Stereoscopic vision can be obtained immediately by simply applying the optical device to only one eye. Therefore, the transition between the planar view and the stereoscopic view is free. Also, a three-dimensional and two-dimensional coexisting image is possible. 9. Since one eye is always naked, other operations can be performed while the optical device is mounted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a stereoscopic optical device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a stereoscopic optical device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the principle of a stereoscopic optical device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of two plane mirrors according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the principle of a conventional method of mounting two plane mirrors on both eyes.

[Explanation of symbols]

1L Left image 1L 'Virtual image of left image viewed by left eye 1R Right image 1R "Virtual image of right image viewed by right eye 2L Plane mirror for left eye part 1 2R Plane mirror for right eye part 1 3L Plane mirror for left eye part 2 3R Right eye 4L Left eye 4R Right eye 5L Ray from left image to left eye 5R Ray from right image to right eye 6L Line of sight to left image by left eye 6R Line of sight to right image by right eye 7 case Reference Signs List 8 Notch 9 Planar mirror rotation axis 10 Screw with rotation angle adjusting knob 11 Projection with screw hole 12 Image seen when using this optical device 13 Image seen when using conventional binocular optical device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stereoscopic optical apparatus in which left-eye and right-eye images having binocular parallax are juxtaposed, wherein a left eye views a left-eye image and a right eye views a right-eye image. One of the eyes of the observer remains naked, and the other eye of the observer is equipped with an optical device composed of two plane mirrors, and by adjusting the angle of the plane mirror, the image seen by the eye is seen by one eye. A stereoscopic optical device comprising means for rotating and moving in the direction of the image to be viewed.