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DisneyPatent applicationAR, VR & displaysInterest 8/10

Disney patents wide-angle display that projects 3D images into open space

Disney has filed a patent for a display system that creates 3D images floating in the air without a screen. It uses multiple stations with mirrors and special reflectors to bounce light so that the images overlap in a shared viewing area.

Why it mattersThis technology could allow groups of people to walk around and interact with large, screen-free 3D visuals, potentially changing how audiences experience entertainment or information.

In the filing’s own words

A wide-angle, retroreflective real image display system that produces real images that can be viewed and interacted with by a group of people who can move about a space to view the real image. In one embodiment, the display system includes a plurality of display stations, each including a light source, beamsplitter, and retroreflector. The display stations are rotated relative to adjacent display stations so that light reflected off the retroreflectors at least partially overlaps in a viewing space to form the real image. In other embodiments, the display system includes a retroreflector, beamsplitter, light source, and a first and second reflector. At least a portion of the light from the light source is reflected by the first reflector and transmitted through the beamsplitter, retroreflected off the retroreflector and reflected off the beamsplitter to the second reflector and directed to the viewing space to form the real image.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A display system comprising: a plurality of display stations positioned and configured such that, in operation, the plurality of display stations generate a real image in a viewing space, each display station of the plurality of display stations comprising: a light source comprising at least one of a display or an illuminated object, the light source configured to emit light; a beamsplitter; and a retroreflector, wherein the beamsplitter is rotated about a first axis at an offset angle relative to the retroreflector, wherein, for each display station, at least a portion of the light emitted from the light source is: directed to reflect off the beamsplitter to the retroreflector, retroflected by the retroreflector toward the beamsplitter, and transmitted through the beamsplitter into the viewing space as retroflected light from that display station, wherein the plurality of display stations are rotated relative to each other such that the retroreflected light from each display station at least partially overlaps in the viewing space to form the real image.

Facts

Company
Disney (DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.)
Official title
DISPLAY SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING WIDE-ANGLE, RETROREFLECTIVE REAL IMAGES
Publication number
US20260287803A1
Application number
19684625
Filed
May 21, 2026
Published
Sep 24, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

G02B 5/12 Physics & computingG02B 5/10 Physics & computingG02B 30/54 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.