Three-dimensional illumination system using dielectric liquid lenses.

ABSTRACT

A 25-pixel illumination system composed of a 5 × 5 dielectric liquid-lens (DLL) zoom module array, 25 light-emission diodes (LEDs), and a secondary optical lens demonstrates 3D light field manipulation. LEDs function as 2D illumination pixels while the DLL module array performs longitudinal illuminance adjustability by zooming each illumination pixel. A test on the similarity of two illuminance patterns between experiments and simulations shows a normalized cross correlation (NCC) higher than 0.8, indicating the feasibility of the system design. Also, the illumination system is further applied to correct a distorted light pattern on a 45° tilt screen as well as to perform light compensation on distance-differential objects.