A new type of 3D outdoor big screen is being developed by Trilite Technologies together with the Vienna University of Technology. In addition to the big screen version they have also been working on a miniaturized RGB pico-version of this new 3D projector suitable for integration into mobile devices.

The new type of big screen display replaces the RGB LEDs used in conventional displays with pixels made up of a red, a green and a blue (RGB) laser diode together with a movable micro-mirror. These so-called ‘Trixels’ open up the possibility to steer different image information to the viewer´s left and right eye, thereby enabling 3D without glasses for thousands of viewers.

The miniaturized pico projector version of this new technology is intended for use in devices such as smart phones, smart watches and smart glasses. “We have not yet seen embedded pico projectors in these devices mainly due to the large size of current RGB laser modules”, said Dr. Franz Fidler, CTO of TriLite. “While others are using complex and therefore large micro-optics, we are encasing a red, green and blue laser into one single hermetic package containing one single micro-lens.”

This novel approach reduces the size of the RGB laser module to just 9.1 x 5.5 x 5.3 mm and the weight to just 1.5 grams, making the light source extremely suitable for embedding in portable devices. Dr. Franz Fidler further highlighted that “with the further reduction of size, TriLite’s RGB laser module opens up the possibility of virtual reality smart glasses projecting image information directly into the wearer’s eyes, and smartphones as well smart watches to feature embedded pico projectors”. TriLite Technologies is planning to demonstrate both products at the Photonics West 2015 exhibition held in San Francisco, CA, USA between February 10th and 12th.

Picture copyright TU Wien