Handheld projector

The Nikon Coolpix S1000pj compact camera projecting an image using its built in projector.

A Handheld projector (also known as a pocket projector or mobile projector or pico projector) is an emerging technology that applies the use of a projector in a handheld device. It is a response to the emergence of compact portable devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and digital cameras, which have sufficient storage capacity to handle presentation materials but little space to accommodate an attached display screen. Handheld projectors involve miniaturized hardware and software that can project digital images onto any nearby viewing surface, such as a wall or bookshelf. An important design characteristic of a handheld projector is the ability to project a clear image, regardless of the physical characteristics of the viewing surface.

Overview

Major advances in imaging technology have allowed the introduction of hand-held (pico) type projectors. The concept was introduced by Explay in 2003 and shown to various consumer electronics player. Their solution was publicly announced through their relationship with Kopin in January 2005 ^[1] The first public showcase was by Digislide at the ANZA tech conference in October 2006. Insight Media market research ^[2] divided the leading players in this application into micro-display makers (e.g. TI's DLP , Himax, Micron and Syndiant LCoS and Microvision and bTendo MEMS scanners) light source makers (e.g. Lumileds, Osram, Cree LEDs and Corning, Nichia, Mitsubishi Lasers) and module makers (e.g. Jabil/Sypro DLP with LED, 3M LCoS with LED, Explay LCoS with Laser). Manufacturers have produced handheld projectors exhibiting high-resolution, good brightness, and low energy consumption in a slightly larger format than pico. However most LED projectors of the current pico size as of May 2009 have been widely criticised for having insufficient brightness for everyday use in a normally lit room.

Most micro projectors such as Digislide's Digishow, 3M’s MPro, Aiptek’s V10, and BeamBox's R-1 currently employ a single LED LCOS imager chip which is recognized to offer lower cost, high resolution, and fast response, although with higher power consumption and larger size. Other projectors such as WowWee's Cinemin Swivel and Optoma’s PK101 employ TI’s DLP technology. While slightly lower in resolution than their LCOS counterparts and less robust due to the tiny mirrors used in DLP technology, 3LED DLP projectors are generally regarded as having a better color balance and lower power consumption as opposed to single LED units. Laser scanning projectors such as Microvision's PicoP and bTendo offer very good color gamut and very low power consumption due to the use of lasers as the light source and also present an image that is always in focus. However eye-safety and high speckle noise in the image remain a major challenge. A market analysis by Insight Media^[3] identifies newer LCoS and Laser projectors such as Explay(*Explay out off bussines and was closed at 10.2009) Colibri as offering a better mix of high resolution, speckle free, eye safe image of LCoS with the small size lowest power consumption and always focused image of lasers.

Applications

Handheld projector can be used for similar applications than small conventional projectors. Since 2008^[4] researchers study applications that are specifically designed for handheld projectors often using prototypes of mobile phones with an integrated projector.

Picture browsing

Recent mobile phones have the ability to store thousands of photos and can be used to take photos with resolutions up to several mega pixel. Viewing the photos, however, is usually restricted by the phones' small displays. Projector phones are an opportunity to share photos with a larger audience compared to conventional phones' displays^[5]. It has been found in a study that participants preferred to view and share photos co-presently with projector phones compared to using conventional mobile phones^[6]. The large projected mobile display facilitated simultaneous group viewing of pictures by all group members, which is currently not possible using a single mobile device. Furthermore, face-to-face in the moment experiences occurred and were shared amongst the group through viewing, resulting in active discussion and further enhanced the viewing experience.

Gaming

Handheld projectors, in particular projector phones, could offer new possibilities for mobile gaming. An exemplary realization was demonstrated with the adaptation of the Playstation 3 game LittleBigPlanet. Players can sketch a 2D world on a sheet of paper or use an existing physical configuration of objects and let the physics engine simulate physical procedures in this world to achieve game goals^[7].

Hand gesture recognition

Size reduction of mobile devices is often limited by the size of the used display. Apart from the display a complete phone can be, for example, integrated in a headset. It has been demonstrated that pico projectors integrated in headsets could be used as interaction devices e.g. using additional hand and finger tracking^[8][9].

Footnotes

References

• Brennesholtz, M (2008). "Market Segment Analysis: Pico-Projectors", Insight Media

See also

• Eyetap

External links

This article or section might contain promotional material and other spam. This is generally not encyclopedic content, and may be removed by anyone when identified. If you are familiar with the content of the external links, please help by removing promotional links in accordance with Wikipedia:External links. (You can help!)

• Buyers Guide
• Technology Review Article about the emerging handheld projectors
• Popular Science Report
• New York Times article about pocket projectors