Looking Glass Documentation
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  • Looking Glass User Guide
  • NEW! โœจLooking Glass Goโœจ
  • Displays
    • ๐Ÿ”ฎLooking Glass Go
      • โšกGet Started with Looking Glass Go
      • ๐Ÿ“ฑUsing the Go Mobile App
      • ๐Ÿ”†Liteformsโ„ข
      • ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธStandalone and Desktop Modes
      • ๐Ÿ”ŒPower and LED States
      • ๐Ÿช„Default Playlist
      • โญ๏ธWhat's Next?
      • ๐Ÿ‘œAccessories
      • โš™๏ธAdvanced Playlist Creation
      • โš™๏ธManual Firmware Update
      • โ“Common Troubleshooting Issues
    • ๐Ÿ”ฎLooking Glass 16" Light Field Displays
      • ๐Ÿช„Looking Glass 16" Light Field Display (Landscape)
      • ๐Ÿช„Looking Glass 16" Light Field Display (Portrait)
      • โ“Common Troubleshooting Issues
    • ๐Ÿ”ฎLooking Glass 32" Light Field Displays
      • ๐Ÿช„Looking Glass 32" Light Field Display (Landscape)
      • ๐Ÿช„Looking Glass 32" Light Field Display (Portrait)
      • โ“Common Troubleshooting Issues
    • ๐Ÿ”ฎLooking Glass 65" Light Field Display
    • ๐Ÿ”ฎLooking Glass Portrait
      • โšกGet Started with Looking Glass Portrait
      • ๐ŸŽ‡Demo Holograms
      • โ“Common Troubleshooting Issues
  • Software Tools
    • ๐Ÿ“šOverview
    • ๐ŸŒ‰Looking Glass Bridge
      • โœจUsing Looking Glass Bridge
      • ๐ŸชŸDisplay Settings on Windows
      • ๐ŸŽDisplay Settings on macOS
      • ๐ŸงDisplay Settings on Linux
      • ๐Ÿ‘ทTroubleshooting
    • ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธLooking Glass Studio
      • ๐Ÿ“šUsing Looking Glass Studio
      • RGB-D Photo / Video
      • Quilt Images / Video
      • iPhone Portrait Photos
      • Android Depth Photos
        • Samsung Portrait Mode
      • Light Field Photosets
      • Exporting Holograms
      • Troubleshooting
    • ๐ŸงŠLooking Glass Blocks
      • โœจConvert any image into a hologram
      • โฌ†๏ธUploading, editing and sharing Quilts
      • ๐ŸฅฝViewing your holograms on different platforms
    • ๐ŸŽฌHologram Video
    • ๐Ÿ”†Liteformsโ„ข
      • ๐ŸชŸGet Started on Windows
      • ๐ŸŽGet Started on MacOS
      • ๐Ÿง™Making Custom Liteforms
      • ๐ŸชConfigure Liteforms for Kiosk Setup
    • ๐Ÿ‘€Looking Glass Model Viewer
    • ๐ŸงชExperiments
      • ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธMedia Encoder
      • โฉLooking Glass Media Encoder
  • Key Concepts
    • ๐Ÿ”‘Hologram 101
      • ๐ŸŽ‰Making great holograms
      • ๐ŸŒŽHolograms in the real world
      • ๐Ÿ‘พHolograms, but virtual
    • ๐Ÿ”How does Looking Glass Work?
    • ๐Ÿ“ธVirtual Camera
    • ๐ŸงŠ3D Design Guidelines
      • Lighting
      • Post-Processing
      • Scene Composition
      • Materials & Textures
      • Performance
    • ๐Ÿ’กQuilts
      • ๐ŸŽฌQuilt Video Encoding
    • ๐Ÿ’กLight Fields
      • โšกLinear Light Field Capture
    • ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธFilming a Looking Glass
  • Creator Tools
    • ๐ŸŽจOverview
    • ๐Ÿ”ŒUnity
      • โšกUsing Unity with Looking Glass
      • Setting up your Development Environment
      • Example Scenes
      • Prefabs
        • Hologram Camera
        • 3D Cursor
        • Dual Monitor Application
      • Script Reference
        • HologramCamera.cs
        • LKGDisplaySystem.cs
        • QuiltCapture.cs
        • Cursor3D.cs
        • OrbitControls.cs
        • BlockUploader.cs
        • MobileDMAController.cs
        • iOS Sample Scene Scripts
          • ChangeInteractionModality.cs
          • XYSlider.cs
          • XYSpotlight.cs
          • AudioRotateControl.cs
          • ModelController.cs
          • DemoIOSUIController.cs
          • PageHandler.cs
          • PageConnectHandler.cs
          • PageCalibrateHandler.cs
          • PageTestHandler.cs
          • DynamicAlcove.cs
      • Package Integrations
        • Built-in Render Pipeline Post-Processing
      • Developing for iOS
      • Depth of Field and Other Post-Processing Effects
      • Quilt Video Audio and Playback
      • Developing for Ultraleap Hand Tracking on Looking Glass
      • Looking Glass Pro (Legacy)
      • Additional Support
      • Change Log
    • ๐ŸนBlender
    • ๐Ÿ”ŒUnreal Engine
      • ๐Ÿ—’๏ธChange Log and Old Versions
      • ๐Ÿ’ฝInstalling the Unreal Engine plugin
      • ๐ŸŽฅUsing the Unreal Engine Plugin
        • Using the HoloPlay Capture
        • Exporting Quilt Images and Video with Sequencer
      • Accessing HoloPlay Data with Blueprint Scripting
      • Packaging the Project
      • Unreal Engine 4 (Legacy Support)
        • Unreal Engine 4 Quick Start
          • Using the HoloPlay Capture
          • Exporting Quilt Images and Video with Sequencer
    • ๐ŸŒWebXR
      • ๐Ÿ”ถPlayCanvas
      • 3๏ธโƒฃ3๏ธโƒฃ Three.JS
      • โš›๏ธReact-Three-Fiber
      • ๐ŸŒˆSpline
  • Tutorials
    • ๐Ÿ“ฑRunning Looking Glass Displays with iOS Devices
    • โ“‚๏ธCapturing Light Fields in Maya
    • ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ”ฌUsing ShaderToy with Looking Glass
    • ๐ŸŽจSculpting with Adobe Medium and Looking Glass
    • ๐Ÿ”Turn Videogames Holographic with Refract
    • ๐Ÿ–๏ธBuilding with Leap Motion
  • Developer Docs
    • โš™๏ธLooking Glass Bridge SDK
      • ๐Ÿช›Web Application Integration
      • ๐Ÿ”ŒIntegrating Native Applications
      • ๐Ÿ““Native Function Reference
    • ๐ŸฆLooking Glass Core Migration Guide
  • Third Party Software
    • ๐Ÿ—ก๏ธ3D Slicer
    • ๐Ÿ”ฌVTK (Visualization Toolkit)
    • ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธParaView
    • ๐Ÿ”ฉCommunity Made Tools & Projects
  • Legacy Software
    • ๐Ÿ“ก3D Model Importer
      • 3D Model Importer App Guide
      • 3D Model Importer App Reference
    • ๐ŸŽญDiorama
      • Change Log
    • ๐ŸŽž๏ธDepth Recorder
    • ๐Ÿ“ธLightfield Photo App
    • ๐ŸLooking Glass Core Overview
    • ๐Ÿฝ๏ธLooking Glass Core SDK
      • C API Overview
        • HoloPlayCore.h
          • State Functions
          • General-Query-Functions
          • Device-Query-Functions
        • libHoloPlayCore.h
        • HoloPlayShaders.h
    • ๐Ÿ”ฐLooking Glass Core JS
      • API
        • HoloPlayCore.Client
        • HoloPlayCore.Message
        • HoloPlay Service Related
        • examples
  • Legacy Hardware
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass 8.9"
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass 15.6"
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass 8K
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass 16"
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass 32"
    • ๐Ÿ”ปLooking Glass Pro
  • ๐Ÿ’ฌContact Us
  • ๐Ÿ› ๏ธFAQ & Troubleshooting
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On this page
  • The Multi-View Display
  • Animated Diagram
  • The Quilt
  • Example Quilt on Display
  • The Zero-Parallax Plane
  • Parallax and Blur
  • Interactive example of Parallax and Blur
  • Blur Remediation

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  1. Key Concepts

How does Looking Glass Work?

Learn how Looking Glass displays create 3D, group viewable holographic images.

PreviousHolograms, but virtualNextVirtual Camera

Last updated 7 months ago

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The Multi-View Display

In order to produce holograms, Looking Glass provides up to 100 discrete views of a 3d scene and presents these views over a view cone roughly 58ยฐ wide. This arrangement of views tricks the visual perception system into seeing 3D objects in two major ways:

  • by changing the user's aspect on the scene as they move their head around it (parallax)

  • by presenting different perspectives to each eye (stereo vision)

Animated Diagram

The diagram below illustrates the way in which the Looking Glass directs the different images. In the diagram, you'll see:

  • Top Center is a bird's eye view of the Looking Glass display.

  • Inside the Looking Glass is also a top-down view of the 3d model that it is programmed to display -- a stick with a ring and two spheres attached to it.

  • Top Right is the 2D image that's being displayed per each view perspective. The corresponding view perspective is indicated by the dark black lines attached to the Looking Glass.

  • Top Left is an image that shows all 45 views simultaneously -- what we call a quilt. Also in this diagram, an animated red box to identify which subsection of the quilt is being displayed for each given view angle.

The Quilt

Here's a close up of the quilt image shown in the above diagram:

Example Quilt on Display

When the above quilt is displayed on a real Looking Glass, this is the result:

Here, the incrementing numbers illustrate how the eye sees a different perspective as the viewer moves from side to side. This is what creates the illusion of 3D.

Note: If you are following along in person, there's a suggestion to close one eye to avoid eye strain. This suggestion is only for this specific quilt and for people who are looking at this effect in person. The reason is that when you look at the display with two eyes, the yellow numbers behave in a perceptually confusing way. Closing one eye removes this confusion.

The Zero-Parallax Plane

Inside Looking Glass' render volume, different depths have different optical properties. The depth where things look sharpest is at the Zero-Parallax Plane. The animated diagram below illustrates the Zero-Parallax Plane, as identified by a red line in the middle of the display.

Objects that reside on the zero parallax plane don't move as the viewer moves their head around. For example, the sphere in the middle lies on this plane, meaning it shows up in the same pixel-space position for all 45 views.

Objects that are nearer or further than the plane, however, undergo parallax. As your head moves to the right, for example, the foreground sphere moves left and the red ring in the background moves right.

Parallax and Blur

Let's take a look at how parallax affects image quality.

When you look at the Looking Glass, each eye actually sees many views, not just one view. In the following screenshot, you can see that this camera's perspective captures views 37-41 in varying intensities:

The upside to this layering of views is that as your head moves around, you don't discretely hop from one view to the next, but instead, cross-fade amongst many. This makes the visual experience more fluid and natural.

The downside is that it introduces blur. You can see this in the above image by comparing how sharp the different portions of the model look.

  • The sphere in the middle looks sharp. This is because it exhibits zero parallax, so its pixel representation across many views remains consistent.

  • The foreground sphere and the red ring in the background look blurry. This is because they exhibit some parallax, meaning they show up in different pixel locations based on perspective. Therefore, they appear blurry in this shot because the camera is actually seeing an amalgam of perspectives 37-41.

Interactive example of Parallax and Blur

Another way to look at how parallax affects blur is to take a look at this demo, where the text bounces in and out across the zero-parallax plane:

If you are interacting with the demo, you can press the up and down arrow keys to manually move the text.

Blur Remediation

Composition

The best way to account for this parallax-induced blurring is to put important content on the zero-parallax plane. Text will look sharpest here, and 3D models begin to look very crisp and sharp when very near the plane.

Depth of Field Blurring

Because the blur is a result of many discrete images being mixed into one, the blurring, especially for objects with a lot of parallax, reveals the discrete views which can be sometimes jarring. This noise can be reduced by applying a depth of field blur, which is available on some of the plugins we publish.

The bottom left of the quilt is the left-most angle of the scene, and the top right is the right-most angle. Developers are welcome to tinker with this to manually produce their own quilts, but in general, is responsible for converting various existing 3d environments (Unity, three.js, etc...) into quilt images. For more technical information check out the .

๐Ÿ”
Looking Glass software
quilt doc
Multiplex diagram
Quilt
On Looking Glass
Close up on animation
Close up on Looking Glass
Moving Text
DOF explanation
Multiplex diagram showing multiple views and perspectives of a 3D object
Animation showing 3D object and its multiple perspective views
3D object displayed on a real Looking Glass device showing quilt image result
Close-up of quilt image showing multiple views of a 3D object from various angles
Close-up on Looking Glass display showing a 3D object with multiple views
DOF explanation on a Looking Glass holographic display
Moving text displayed on a Looking Glass holographic display