RePro3D: Naked-Eye 3D Display Lets You “Touch” Virtual 3D Characters (Video)

Here’s a 3D screen of a different kind: a research team at Japan’s Keio University has developed a display that allows users to “touch” virtual 3D characters. The way the so-called RePro3D works is that it combines a naked-eye, full-parallax 3D display with a tactile interface that lets users manipulate virtual objects in a 3D environment with their fingers.

The makers explain:

RePro3D is a full-parallax 3D display system suitable for interactive 3D applications. The approach is based on a retro-reflective projection technology in which several images from a projector array are displayed on a retro-reflective screen. When viewers look at the screen through a half mirror, they see a 3D image superimposed on the real scene without glasses.

The whole system looks a bit hacky at this point, but the plan is to further improve RePro3D and use it for interactive 3D applications (i.e. games) in the future.

Here’s a video that provides more insight (shot by DigInfo TV in Tokyo, in English):