The director of studies Knut Langhans can look back at over 30 years of experience in the school system. In addition to his normal tuition at the Vincent-Lübeck-Gymnasium, a college preparatory high school in Stade near Hamburg, the graduate physicist has overseen a wide range of school student projects. One project that has understandably gained international recognition is the FELIX 3D-Display. The volumetric image display technology of the FELIX 3D-Display provides a realistic stereoscopic image in three physical dimensions and can be viewed from almost any angle without visual aids.
The project team has developed a stereoscopic display unit known as the "FELIX 3D-Display". This display comprises of a transparent cylinder-shaped stereoscopic screen, in which with the help of laser beams a finite number of light spots are produced on a rotating helical projection surface. Using a raster process, these form a three-dimensional, color image. In contrast to a hologram that can only be viewed from one extremely limited angle, the FELIX 3D-Display constitutes its own three-dimensional cosmos. The viewer can freely move around the display and gaze at the colored object from all sides.
Areas of application
Until now, spatial situations or motional sequences could only be evaluated by, for instance, producing a perspective image on a two-dimensional screen. In such situations, the technology with volume displays provides a completely new outlook.
The areas of application for the technology are extremely widespread and, for example, include:
- Visualisation of multi-dimensional data structures
- Aerial surveillance and air-traffic control
- Medicine, e.g. computer-tomography
- Chemistry and physics, e.g. analysis of molecular structures
- Flow simulation
- CAD and robotics
- Education
- Art, entertainment and advertising
Sebastian Reil from the research group comments: "COHERENT has now been supporting the FELIX 3D-Display project and the continuous upgrading of the laser laboratory with the various new laser types that were necessary for the project for over 10 years. As manufacturer of the best solid state lasers for our purposes - due to their extreme compactness and reliability which are essential requirements for our project - Coherent has been generously supporting us and were even able to help us at very short notice after a loss that we occurred during a journey abroad. We would once again like to express our appreciation for this support without which our project would not have been able to develop to the scale that it has now reached!"
The purpose of this work is to give young people the chance to receive future-oriented and practical vocational training while they are still at school. This not only includes additional qualifications and competences in a scientific-technical field, but also in project management.
Sebastian Reil continues: "This aim can, of course, only be achieved with the support of companies and research institutes. COHERENT has made a major contribution over the years in helping this aim to be achieved. Thank you very much!"
The Felix3D-Display uses the Helix3D-method that was patented by its inventor Prof. Rüdiger Hartwig in 1976.
With this method, laser beams are projected onto a quickly rotating helix (=screw, spiral) in a transparent tube, which generates light spots that as a whole produce a three-dimensional image. In his patent specifications, Prof. Hartwig cited, among other things, air traffic control as a possible area of application where the three-dimensional representation would be able to indicate the height and distance of the aircraft.
The project team has developed a stereoscopic display unit known as the "FELIX 3D-Display". This display comprises of a transparent cylinder-shaped stereoscopic screen, in which with the help of laser beams a finite number of light spots are produced on a rotating helical projection surface. Using a raster process, these form a three-dimensional, color image. In contrast to a hologram that can only be viewed from one extremely limited angle, the FELIX 3D-Display constitutes its own three-dimensional cosmos. The viewer can freely move around the display and gaze at the colored object from all sides.
Areas of application
Until now, spatial situations or motional sequences could only be evaluated by, for instance, producing a perspective image on a two-dimensional screen. In such situations, the technology with volume displays provides a completely new outlook.
The areas of application for the technology are extremely widespread and, for example, include:
- Visualisation of multi-dimensional data structures
- Aerial surveillance and air-traffic control
- Medicine, e.g. computer-tomography
- Chemistry and physics, e.g. analysis of molecular structures
- Flow simulation
- CAD and robotics
- Education
- Art, entertainment and advertising
Sebastian Reil from the research group comments: "COHERENT has now been supporting the FELIX 3D-Display project and the continuous upgrading of the laser laboratory with the various new laser types that were necessary for the project for over 10 years. As manufacturer of the best solid state lasers for our purposes - due to their extreme compactness and reliability which are essential requirements for our project - Coherent has been generously supporting us and were even able to help us at very short notice after a loss that we occurred during a journey abroad. We would once again like to express our appreciation for this support without which our project would not have been able to develop to the scale that it has now reached!"
The purpose of this work is to give young people the chance to receive future-oriented and practical vocational training while they are still at school. This not only includes additional qualifications and competences in a scientific-technical field, but also in project management.
Sebastian Reil continues: "This aim can, of course, only be achieved with the support of companies and research institutes. COHERENT has made a major contribution over the years in helping this aim to be achieved. Thank you very much!"
The Felix3D-Display uses the Helix3D-method that was patented by its inventor Prof. Rüdiger Hartwig in 1976.
With this method, laser beams are projected onto a quickly rotating helix (=screw, spiral) in a transparent tube, which generates light spots that as a whole produce a three-dimensional image. In his patent specifications, Prof. Hartwig cited, among other things, air traffic control as a possible area of application where the three-dimensional representation would be able to indicate the height and distance of the aircraft.
