[Philip Lelyveld comment: This is an excellent, comprehensive, readable overview of where things stand and where research is heading. If you are interested in the topic, go to the link and read the full article.]
[Photonics]
Clever use of electro-optics, lens arrays, diffusers and software advances the multidimensional way of seeing
The broad field of autostereoscopic display – the creation of imagery that appears three-dimensional without requiring the use of additional eyewear1,2 – is evolving. Optical engineers continue to push 3-D display technologies to match depictions in science fiction movies. It’s 2012, after all – can’t one simply buy a “holographic video display” that snaps into a DVI port and generates a cubic meter of full-color, occlusion-bearing, utterly natural imagery?
Well, almost.
There is much to consider in our journey, with 38 species of stereoscopic and autostereoscopic displays in 3D@Home’s taxonomy, and several possible classifications.3,4 (Reference 3 is a recommended starting point for technically oriented newcomers to the topic.)
The 3-D display is just one element of a broad pipeline spanning content generation, or acquisition, to the production of a 3-D image (Figure 1). …
Read the full story here: http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=50765