Lenticular Objects: 3D Printed Objects with Lenticular Lens Surfaces That Can Change their Appearance Depending on the Viewpoint

Abstract

This thesis describes a method that makes 3D objects appear differently under different viewpoints. We accomplished this by 3D printing lenticular lenses across the curved surface of objects. By calculating the lens distribution and the corresponding surface color patterns, we can determine which appearance is shown to the user at each viewpoint.

We built a 3D editor that takes as input the 3D model, and the visual appearances, i.e. images, to show at different viewpoints. Our editor then calculates the corresponding lens placement and the underlying color patterns. On export, the user can use ray tracing to live preview the resulting appearance from multiple angles. The 3D model, color pattern, and lenses are then 3D printed in one pass on a multi-material 3D printer to create the final 3D object.

To determine the best fabrication parameters for 3D printing lenses, we printed lenses of different sizes and tested various post-processing techniques. To support a large number of different appearances, we compute the lens geometry that supports a large number of viewpoints while protruding least from the object geometry. Finally, we demonstrate our system in practice with a range of use cases for which we show the simulated and physical results side by side.