Fakespace Introduces Eight Megapixel Active Stereo Projection System

Fakespace Systems Inc. today announced theavailability of the Beacon 8MP, a stereoscopic projection system with anunprecedented 8.85 megapixel native resolution. The incredible spatialdetail possible with the Beacon 8MP is ideal for terascale data and imagecritical applications such as scientific research, vehicle design reviewsand geophysical interpretation and drill planning. Two of these projectorswill be used to create a 10' x 10', 14 megapixel display at the VirtualReality Applications Center (VRAC) of Iowa State University during theHuman Computer Interaction Forum, April 12, 2006.

The Beacon 8MP uses patent-pending shutter technology developed byFakespace to produce active stereo image quality and ultra-high resolutionwithout the need to tile multiple projectors of lesser resolutions. At thecore of the Beacon 8MP projector are two light engines that each display4096 x 2160 resolution and 5,000 lumens of brightness. Electronic shuttersplaced in front of each light engine alternate on and off in rapidsuccession to generate separate left eye and right eye images. When theBeacon shutters are synchronized with electronic shutter glasses, highquality active stereo images can be viewed. Active stereo at this nativeresolution cannot currently be achieved any other way.

The Beacon 8MP eliminates the artifacts of projector blending and tilingfor continuous detail across the entire projected image. If activestereo-capable DLP® projectors were used to create this resolution, up tosix DLP projectors would be required, and they would have to edge matchedinto a tiled array. Edge matching results in visible lines betweenprojectors that are acceptable for some applications, such as automotivestyling. Also, uneven brightness and colors appear across the entire imagedue to hot-spotting of multiple projectors. An alternative to this is edgeblending, which would require up to twelve DLP projectors. While edgeblending eliminates the visible line between projectors, a reduction inpixels results due to the overlap of projectors. Further, electronicand/or optical blending technologies can still introduce visible brightnessand contrast artifacts that require periodic maintenance.

Fakespace also offers the new 8.85 megapixel resolution in a polarized(passive) stereoscopic configuration, where lightweight paper or plasticglasses can be used. However, the Beacon technology creates significantadvantages for applications where image quality is imperative. Thealternate light engine shuttering presents just one image for each eye onthe screen at one time. There isn't any possibility of crosstalk(ghosting), which can occur with polarized systems where both left andright eye images are on the screen all the time. Crosstalk is veryfatiguing for the viewer and reduces the amount of time viewers can work inimmersive environments. Further, image contrast improves when only oneimage is on the screen at a time.

"Beacon 8MP has incredible potential for spatially complex, 3D images usedin critical review sessions such as for vehicle design," said KurtHoffmeister, Vice President of Engineering for Fakespace Systems. "Imaginethe possibility of creating a fully immersive room environment thatdisplays over one hundred million pixels."

About Fakespace Systems Inc.

Fakespace Systems Inc. designs and manufactures advanced interactivevisualization systems, develops custom software applications, andintegrates complete enterprise-wide solutions. Interactive visualizationimproves collaboration, discovery and learning for applications inautomotive, aerospace, biotechnology, education, federal government,geophysical exploration, manufacturing, scientific research, and virtualprototyping. Fakespace is headquartered in Marshalltown, Iowa, USA. Thecompany has global office locations in Canada, Europe, Asia and across theUSA.

More information on Fakespace is available at www.fakespace.com.

For more information:

Jeff BrumFakespace Systems Inc.519-489-0656Email Contact

Wendy LewisFS Communications650-691-1488Email Contact

SOURCE:  Fakespace Systems

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