OKU Laboratory

Aerial Display Based on Drones and the Laser Display

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In the world of Science Fiction, technology that projects images into the air is often depicted, and various methods have been proposed in the real world as well. Recently, there has been growing interest in performances using "dynamic projection mapping," which follows moving objects and continuously projects images onto them. If dynamic projection mapping could be applied to the distant moving object, such as a screen suspended from a drone, it could be useful as a new method for an aerial display. However, when projecting images from projection equipment placed on the ground onto a target flying at a distance, the projection distance is thought to be at least several tens of meters, and at most several hundred meters, so it had been difficult to perform dynamic projection mapping onto such distant targets using existing technology.
 

Here, our laboratory proposes a system that combines a telescopic three-mirror gaze control system and a laser display to achieve dynamic projection mapping onto a distant object, and we suggest applying this developed system to aerial display. The telescopic three-mirror gaze control system is an improved version of "Saccade Mirror 3", enabling high-speed gaze control targeting a distant object. This system allows for high-speed gaze control targeting a screen suspended from a drone flying at a distance. The laser display is a system consisting of a laser and two galvanometer mirrors, where the mirrors move at high speed to control the laser beam, using the afterimage of the laser light to draw patterns. Since the laser can project patterns over long distances, combining the laser display with the telescopic three-mirror gaze control system enables dynamic projection mapping onto a distant object. Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of the proposed system, and Figure 2 shows the prototype system.

To confirm whether the prototype system can actually be utilized for aerial display, we conducted an experiment involving dynamic projection mapping onto a screen suspended from a drone flying 36 meters away. The result of the experiment is shown in the video. From the result, we confirmed that the prototype system can be used for aerial display.