Until now, creating large-scale 3D displays meant that perfectly aligned monitors were needed to avoid having visual disruptions like gaps and seams. Arranging that kind of precise alignment was tricky, took time to set up, and often required specialized equipment and skilled technicians. All of which cost money.

What's more, traditional methods needed specific types of monitors, further increasing expenses and limiting accessibility. And set-up mistakes were really costly: misalignment issues resulted in noticeable visual disruptions, breaking the seamless 3D experience and making the technology both less practical and less popular to use.

But times are changing.

NTT has developed a system that uses transparency perception to get around these constraints, enabling 3D displays that can cope with unevenly arranged monitors. By taking advantage of the brain's ability to complete missing visual information, the technology offers a seamless 3D experience—even with gaps and different monitor types. This means no more need for specialized equipment; a regular set of 3D glasses, such as you might get when you go to watch a 3D movie, are enough.

What's the big secret? Two words: "modal completion."

Modal completion is the brain's ability to fill in missing parts of a visual scene to create a complete image, even when only part of it is visible. By adjusting the brightness of images to induce transparency perception, the system tricks the brain into seeing a continuous 3D image that appears to extend beyond the physical constraints of the monitors being used.

The system's ease of setup is another big advantage. It uses a camera and unique ID patterns to calibrate the positions of multiple monitors, which gives accurate alignment with minimal effort. It's an easy setup process, combined with using regular displays, that makes the technology versatile and cost-effective.

By combining human perceptual science with innovative display techniques, NTT's large-scale 3D display system not only gets around existing limitations, but also opens up new avenues for creative and powerful visual experiences across multiple industries. The potential applications are vast and as the technology continues to evolve it will change how we interact with and perceive digital content.

And it's only going to get better. Future NTT research aims to refine the technology further by exploring how different gap sizes and content arrangements affect the brain's ability to complete images. We will see the world very differently, very soon.

For further information, please see this link:
https://group.ntt/en/newsrelease/2024/06/17/240617d.html

If you have any questions on the content of this article, please contact:
NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group
Public Relations
nttrd-pr@ml.ntt.com

NTT—Innovating the Future

Daniel O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor joined the NTT Group in 1999 when he began work as the Public Relations Manager of NTT Europe. While in London, he liaised with the local press, created the company's intranet site, wrote technical copy for industry magazines and managed exhibition stands from initial design to finished displays.

Later seconded to the headquarters of NTT Communications in Tokyo, he contributed to the company's first-ever winning of global telecoms awards and the digitalisation of internal company information exchange.

Since 2015 Daniel has created content for the Group's Global Leadership Institute, the One NTT Network and is currently working with NTT R&D teams to grow public understanding of the cutting-edge research undertaken by the NTT Group.