| Pepper's Ghost was invented
by Professor John Henry Pepper and English engineer Henry Dircks
in the 19th Century. The Eyeliner™ 3D Projection System was
conceived by Mr Uwe Maass, who designed the system after researching
the old theatre illusion Pepper’s Ghost.
Introduced into theatres in the 1860’s,
Pepper’s Ghost startled theatre goers with an effect that
allowed live people or objects to slowly materialize into a scene.
This illustration shows one early variation from the perspective
of the stage.
In this case the "ghost" is an actor
located forward of and below the stage floor. The glass pane illustrates
the reflection of the offstage "ghost" while the leftmost
"ghost" simulates what the audiences actually see. Later
versions of the invention included a lens to improve on the image
but this was as far as Professor Pepper and Engineer Dircks managed
to take the illusion, the main stumbling block being the inherent
weight of glass and the fact that when a really large piece was
set at a 45 degree angle it would brake under its own weight.
Pepper’s Ghost images have also been achieved
in the past using screens made from gauze, Perspex and semi-mirrored
glass. Generally, image sizes above 6m² (say 3x2) have been
achieved only by welding sheets of glass/Perspex together, resulting
in join lines spoiling the clarity or reality of the image.
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Musion® Eyeliner™ System
is a whole new way of projecting video to create the illusion of
life-size, full colour, 3D moving images. All of the images used
on a Musion® Eyeliner™ System are 3-dimensional images,
but projected as two-dimensional images into a 3D stage set. The
mind of the audience creates the 3D illusion. This means that production
costs are minimal, needing only a single camera lens for filming
and a single projector for the playback.
The Walt Disney Company has further pioneered
the Pepper’s Ghost Techniques since the 1960’s using
the effect to thrill visitors in their Disneyland Theme Parks around
the world.
Eyeliner™ is protected by patents in the
United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Eurasia & key countries
worldwide. Further patents are also pending worldwide. Broadly,
the US and EP Patents granted in 1999 describe an inventive and
novel method for constructing a stage allowing the projection of
moving virtual images that are ‘floating’ upon that
stage.
In particular, the invention relates to the use
of a transparent foil stretched across the path of the projector
as a screen, the foil having similar reflective properties to semi-mirrored
glass. The Musion® Eyeliner™ Foil boasts many advantages
over glass, including portability, versatility and safety.
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