P3D Re: Stereo Laser Light Show

[Tom Hubin <thubin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gabriel Jacob wrote:

<snip>

> P.S. I don't know what other applications Larry was thinking
> of, but how about using this principal to project stereo
> laser shows instead of the regular 2-D kind? Has it been
> done?
> 
> Gabriel

Hello Gabriel,

Fun idea but some details need to be considered.

A polarization preserving screen is needed. The laser shows that I have
seen use a foggy sky or a large wall for a screen of convenience. These
make shift screens do not preserve polarization. 

Also, the mirror systems used to point the beams may rotate the beams as
well. Only people wearing polarized lenses would ever notice this. This
just means careful consideration of the pointing optics.

They often use acousto-optic modulators to control the light intensity.
These can sometimes alter the polarization of the laser. But this is
very consistant so it just needs to be compensated for.

And last, they may be using a so-called randomly polarized laser. Lasers
are never really randomly polarized. What they really mean is that the
polarization is arbitrary, capricious, and by no means final. In other
words, the polarization just drifts with temperature. It can flip or
rotate full circle in nanoseconds or seconds or minutes or hours. A
laser with a well defined polarization is a must. 

Tom Hubin
thubin@xxxxxxxxx



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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3313
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