Democratising Multi‐Projector Displays

Abstract As data exploded with the advent of smartphones in the first decade of this century, the world entered an era of experiences. The advent of VR/AR headsets a decade later brought us into the age of experiences. VR/AR headsets have transformed the way people experience data, especially in gaming and entertainment. However, headsets in their current form factor can be cumbersome, sometimes causing fatigue with long‐duration use. They can be particularly isolating for applications that need multiple individuals to collaborate together. Spatially augmented reality (SAR) using multiple projectors aims to bring the surround, large field‐of‐view (FOV) collaborative experiences out of VR/AR headsets by merging digital content from multiple projectors with the physical environment around users. The vision is to use multiple projectors to project digital imagery on everyday surfaces surrounding users by employing cameras to understand the surface for correct merging of the digital with the physical. This paper presents a detailed state‐of‐the‐art survey of advancements in methodologies for multi‐projector aggregation to achieve SAR and state‐of‐the‐art hardware technologies (such as cameras, projectors, and interaction devices) available today to build multi‐projector‐based displays and interaction environments. Most importantly, we look at this space not only from the perspective of research and development, but also from the practical challenges and considerations in the deployment of such systems.