Virtual Rear Projection: Improving the User Experience with Multiple Redundant Projectors

Abstract

Front projection is an economical method to produce large displays. However, the twin problems of occlusions, which create shadows on the screen, and light projected onto users near the screen, potentially blinding them, makes front projection a poor fit for large upright interactive surfaces. Virtual Rear Projection (VRP) uses multiple redundant front projectors to provide the user experience of using a rear projected display. By using a projector-camera system to mitigate shadows and blinding light, a virtual rear projected display significantly improves upon the user experience of a traditional front projected display, allowing it to replace a rear projected display. In this thesis we characterize the problems caused by shadows and occlusions and develop projection technologies that mitigate shadows and blinding light. We also present a laboratory performance evaluation, and a user evaluation of the technology showing that VRP improves the user experience with respect to traditional front projection.