Conformal Scene Generation Display System

The primary objective of the Phase 1 SBIR effort proposed herein is to investigate the feasibility of a novel concept of pure Fiber-Optics Conformal Screen (FOCS) display for scene generation on large curvilinear surfaces in Air Force total weapons systemintegration testing applications within an installed systems test facility (ISTF).Full-up weapons system Human-in-the-Loop simulations (for F-22 or Joint Strike Fighter aircraft with munitions and aircrew) are conducted with a realistic electromagnetic or weather environment. Conventional display techniques, such as cathode ray tube(CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD) projection, or virtual reality Head Mounted Display (HMD), are not particularly suitable for ISTF total weapons system testing, because they require large support infrastructures and electronics that interfere with thesimulated environments, and head mounted displays cause problems for the aircrew and usually are not operationally realistic. Furthermore, these display screens are rigid, and cannot be made conformable to the geometric profiles of canopy.The Fiber-Optics Conformal Screen (FOCS) display technology to be developed in this proposed SBIR effort would eliminate these drawbacks and offer conformal display capability with several unique features, such as no electro-magnetic interference, coollight that does not affect simulated weather conditions, full color, high contrast ratio, high brightness, omnidirectional viewable, and scalability in large screen display fabrication.The commercial markets for display systems are sizable and applications are enormous, including both military (e.g. air traffic control, battle management, submarine navigation, telemedicine in battle field) and commercial (e.g., computer aided design,visualization of multidimensional data, medical imaging, surgery assistance, education, scientific computing, video games, stadium displays, etc.) The conformal display systems will provide a new level of realism and literally add a new dimension to thedynamic interaction between human, computers, and warfare situations. The market for compatible 2D display was about $33 Billion/year in 1998, and is continuously growing. Due to the enormous commercial applications of the low-cost 3D camera technology,the success of Phase 2 program will virtually guarantee non-federal follow-on investment for our Phase 3 product development.