Volumetric printing is a
three-dimensional
In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...
digital-to-physical
imaging technology
Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image).
Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images.
...
developed in 2013 that uses ink or other pigments suspended in a volume to form a full-color volumetric scene in physical space. It is a static version of
volumetric display
A volumetric display device is a display device that forms a visual representation of an object in Three-dimensional space, three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image of traditional screens that simulate depth through a number of di ...
. Volumetric prints are
auto-stereoscopic, full
parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...
(in both horizontal and vertical viewing arrangements) and can be viewed by multiple viewers in regular room lighting.
A volumetric print can be thought of as a reconstructed
light field
A light field, or lightfield, is a vector-valued function, vector function that describes the amount of light flowing in every direction through every point in a space. The space of all possible ''light rays'' is given by the Five-dimensional space ...
based on the scattering of light by distributed pigments in volume. Any three-dimensional scene can be volumetrically printed, although biological specimens and volumetrically X-rayed objects (i.e., CT scans) are thought to be particularly well suited to this type of imaging.
Procedure
There are several methods for producing a volumetric print, the most common being an index-matched stack of hundreds of sheets of thin clear material (most often PMMA, also known as Lucite or acrylic). Each sheet in the volumetric stack is printed with a color slice of a digital 3D model, placed in a vacuum chamber, and then injected with a fluid matching the
index of refraction
In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is the ratio of the apparent speed of light in the air or vacuum to the speed in the medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refrac ...
of the sheet material.
Volumetric printing has been called "Hologram 2.0" by a company marketing the
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
. Volumetric prints however are not produced in the same manner as
hologram
Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...
s, in that there is no interference pattern generated or used in basic volumetric prints.
See also
*
Bubblegram
A bubblegram (also known as laser crystal, Subsurface Laser Engraving, 3D crystal engraving or vitrography) is a solid block of glass or transparent plastic that has been exposed to laser beams to generate three-dimensional space, three-dimensi ...
References
External links
What Is Vinyl Inkjet Printing?Silk Screen Printing Machine
3D printing processes
3D imaging
{{Printmaking-stub