FELIX 3D display: An interactive tool for volumetric imaging

The FELIX 3D Display belongs to the class of volumetric displays using the swept volume technique. It is designed to display images created by standard CAD applications, which can be easily imported and interactively transformed in real-time by the FELIX control software. The images are drawn on a spinning screen by acousto-optic, galvanometric or polygon mirror deflection units with integrated lasers and a color mixer. The modular design of the display enables the user to operate with several equal or different projection units in parallel and to use appropriate screens for the specific purpose. The FELIX 3D Display is a compact, light, extensible and easy to transport system. It mainly consists of inexpensive standard, off-the-shelf components for an easy implementation. This setup makes it a powerful and flexible tool to keep track with the rapid technological progress of today. Potential applications include imaging in the fields of entertainment, air traffic control, medical imaging, computer aided design as well as scientific data visualization. The FELIX 3D project team has evolved from a scientific working group of students and teachers at a normal High School in Germany. Despite minor funding resources within this non-commercial group considerable results have been achieved.