Application of laser diodes and diffractive imaging in arts

Abstract

In arts, as well as iii entertainment, visual effects are often used to gain the attention of people A striking effect can be t he lilairi reason for the success of an artist's or an entertainment product. Modern optical technologies are very ml erestilig fr sonic artists to lughiliglit their art objects by some nice optical effect.In our paper we report about an unusual hut attractive project between the Berliii Inst it lit of ( )ptlcs and tin Gernian artist Leonore Zimrnermann. The idea of the project was to combine a laser-optical effect with an art print. In this context we have designed a diode laser effect illuminator which can be used to display an image of a lion associated with an art print of Leonore Zimmerniann. The optical key component of this illuminator is a diffractive element the transmission function of which has been computed to obtain the desired object image by exploitat iou of the diffraction effect. The diode laser effect illuminator is a simple device which can be used to display almost arhit rarv images or short image sequences. In combination with printing arts, we hope, it will surprise and fascinate JO )j)le by its nice effects. 126 SPIE Vol. 3285 • 0277-786X198/$1OOO