3D Printed Devices
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This document discusses using 3D printing to create custom optical elements, called "Printed Optics", that can be embedded in interactive devices. It presents four categories of Printed Optics fabrication techniques: 1) Light Pipes that can guide light through devices for display purposes, 2) Internal Illumination techniques using hollow spaces, 3) Sensing user input by tracking mechanical movements of printed elements, and 4) Embedding optoelectronic components. The document outlines examples like using light pipes in a mobile projector accessory or sensing touch inputs on a device's surface. Overall, it explores how 3D printing optical elements opens up new possibilities for interaction design.
![Printed Optics: 3D Printing of Embedded Optical Elements
for Interactive Devices
Karl D.D. Willis1,2 Eric Brockmeyer1 Scott E. Hudson1,3 Ivan Poupyrev1
Disney Research Pittsburgh1 Computational Design Lab , HCI Institute3
2
4720 Forbes Avenue Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 5000 Forbes Avenue
{karl, eric.brockmeyer, ivan.poupyrev} Pittsburgh, PA 15213
@disneyresearch.com scott.hudson@cs.cmu.edu
a b c d
Figure 1: Custom optical elements are fabricated with 3D printing and embedded in interactive devices, opening up
new possibilities for interaction including: unique display surfaces made from 3D printed ‘light pipes’ (a), novel internal
illumination techniques (b), custom optical sensors (c), and embedded optoelectronics (d).
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
We present an approach to 3D printing custom optical ele- 3D printing is becoming increasingly capable and affordable.
ments for interactive devices labelled Printed Optics. Printed We envision a future world where interactive devices can be
Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to printed rather than assembled; a world where a device with
be directly embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of active components is created as a single object, rather than
an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display a case enclosing circuit boards and individually assembled
surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sen- parts (Figure 2). This capability has tremendous potential
sors, and embedded optoelectronic components can be dig- for rapid high fidelity prototyping, and eventually for produc-
itally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, highly customized tion of customized devices tailored to individual needs and/or
interactive devices. Printed Optics is part of our long term specific tasks. With these capabilities we envision it will be
vision for interactive devices that are 3D printed in their en- possible to design highly functional devices in a digital ed-
tirety. In this paper we explore the possibilities for this vision itor — importing components from a library of interactive
afforded by fabrication of custom optical elements using to- elements, positioning and customizing them, then pushing
day’s 3D printing technology. ‘print’ to have them realized in physical form. In this paper
we explore some of the possibilities for this vision afforded
by today’s 3D printing technology. Specifically, we describe
ACM Classification: H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Pre- an approach for using 3D printed optical elements, Printed
sentation]: User Interfaces. Optics, as one category of components within a greater li-
brary of reusable interactive elements.
Keywords: 3D printing; optics; light; sensing; projection; Custom optical elements have traditionally been expensive
display; rapid prototyping; additive manufacturing. and impractical to produce due to the manufacturing pre-
cision and finishing required. Recent developments in 3D
printing technology have enabled the fabrication of high res-
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for olution transparent plastics with similar optical properties to
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are plexiglasTM . One-off 3D printed optical elements can be
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies designed and fabricated literally within minutes for signifi-
bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or cantly less cost than conventional manufacturing; greatly in-
republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific
permission and/or a fee.
creasing accessibility and reducing end-to-end prototyping
UIST’12, October 7–10, 2012, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. time. 3D printed optical elements also afford new optical
Copyright 2012 ACM 978-1-4503-1580-7/12/10...$15.00. form-factors that were not previously possible, such as fab-](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-1-320.jpg)
![4. Example applications that demonstrate how Printed Optics
can be implemented and used in interactive devices.
In the remainder of this paper we introduce the technology
that enables us to create Printed Optics and outline the fab-
rication process and its capabilities. We then describe four
categories of fabrication techniques for Printed Optics: Light
Pipes, Internal Illumination, Sensing Mechanical Movement,
and Embedded Components. We conclude with discussion of
a b limitations and future research directions. With the continu-
ing emergence of 3D printing technology, we believe now is
Figure 2: We envision future interactive devices that an ideal time to explore the unique capabilities of 3D printed
are 3D printed from individual layers (a) rather than optical elements for interactive devices.
assembled from individual parts (b). These devices
will be fabricated from multiple materials to form active
functional components within a single 3D print. PRINTED OPTICS
3D printing allows digital geometry to be rapidly fabricated
into physical form with micron accuracy. Usable optical el-
ricating structures within other structures, printing multiple ements can be designed and simulated in software, then 3D
materials within a single optical element, and combining me- printed from transparent material with surprising ease and
chanical and optical structures in the same design. affordability. In this section of the paper we describe the fab-
rication process for 3D printing optical elements and discuss
Printed Optics opens up new possibilities for interaction. the unique capabilities that this technology enables.
Display surfaces can be created on arbitrary shaped objects
using 3D printed ‘light pipes’ (Figure 1a). Novel illumina- Fabrication
tion techniques allow the internal space within a 3D printed The fabrication process begins with a digital geometric model
object to be used for illumination and display purposes (Fig- that is converted into a series of slices to be physically fabri-
ure 1b). Custom optical sensors can be 3D printed with cated layer-by-layer. 3D printing of optical quality materials
the structure of interactive devices to sense user input (Fig- typically requires a photopolymer-based process. Each layer
ure 1c). Optoelectronic components can be completely en- is fabricated in sequence by selectively exposing a liquid
closed inside optical elements to produce highly customiz- photopolymer material to an ultra-violet (UV) light source,
able and robust interactive devices (Figure 1d). causing the material to cure into a solid state. Tradition-
ally this has been achieved using ‘stereolithography’, where
Our long term vision to digitally fabricate high fidelity, highly a precise laser is traced through a vat of liquid photopolymer.
customized, ‘ready-to-go’ devices will be a powerful en- Other approaches include controlled exposure to UV light
abling technology for HCI research. Although much of this using a projector, or physical deposition of liquid photopoly-
novel technology is still in the research stage [7, 26, 33], mer in the presence of a UV light source. The fundamental
the simplest forms of 3D printing are rapidly entering the process of layer-by-layer fabrication with photopolymer ma-
mainstream. A recent cover story in The Economist suggests terials is common throughout each approach.
3D printing is the manufacturing technology to “change the
world” [32]. A host of consumer-level 3D printing devices The range of photopolymer materials for 3D printing is rapidly
are now available and the fundamental photopolymer print- expanding, with optical-quality transparent plastic, deformable
ing technology behind Printed Optics has been demonstrated ‘rubber’, and biocompatible polymers available on the mar-
for less than $200 parts cost [21]. It is reasonable to expect ket. In this work we used an Objet Eden260V 3D printer
that inexpensive optical 3D printers will be available to re- and Objet VeroClear transparent material to fabricate opti-
searchers in the very near future. cal elements. VeroClear has similar optical properties to
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), commonly known as
Using today’s 3D printing technology we aim to demonstrate plexiglasTM , with a refractive index of 1.47 (650nm light
that the design of optical systems for interactive devices can source). Several other manufacturers also provide similar
be greatly enhanced. We present the following contributions: transparent materials, including DSM Somos’ Watershed XC
11122 and 3D Systems’ Accura ClearVue.
1. A general approach for using 3D printed optical elements,
Printed Optics, embedded in interactive devices to display The Objet Eden260V has a print resolution of 600 dpi (42 mi-
information and sense user input. crons) that is significantly higher than fused deposition mod-
2. Techniques for displaying information using 3D printed eling (FDM) 3D printers (e.g. Stratasys Dimension, Maker-
optical elements, including the use of 3D printed ‘light Bot, or RepRap) that are typically around 100 dpi (254 mi-
pipes’ and internal air pockets. crons). High resolution printing allows the creation of visibly
smooth models without internal gaps. Model surfaces can be
3. Techniques for sensing user input with 3D printed optical further enhanced with a manual finishing process to achieve
elements, including touch input with embedded sensors, optical clarity. This process consists of removing support
mechanical displacement of 3D printed light guides, and material, sanding the surfaces with incrementally finer sand-
movement sensed along 3D printed mask patterns. paper, and then buffing.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-2-320.jpg)
![Capabilities fabricated in a single 3D print. Simply by changing software
3D printing technology enables the fabrication of custom 3D parameters, light pipes can be created with variable widths,
printed optical elements with unique capabilities that are oth- rounded caps, and joints with other light pipes. In contrast
erwise difficult to achieve. conventional manufacturing requires considerable effort for
individual fiber optic strands to be mechanically assembled,
Multiple Materials Optical elements can be fabricated that fused/deformed with heat, or chemically bonded.
combine multiple chemically disparate materials in a single
model. 3D printers can often use at least two materials si- Internal light pipe geometry can be embedded inside a larger
multaneously: model material and support material. Model model that has its own independent form-factor, such as a
material constitutes the main model itself and support mate- character (Figure 3), mobile device (Figure 4), or tangible
rial is used as a sacrificial material to provide structural sup- chess piece (Figure 5). As each light pipe can be precisely
port under model overhangs and in hollow areas. Typically, fabricated at a given location, the process of light pipe rout-
support material is removed and disposed of once the print- ing to avoid intersections becomes a well defined software
ing process is finished, but can also be embedded inside the problem. One current limitation of 3D printed light pipes
model to guide, block, and diffuse light. A third ‘material’ fabricated on the machine we have available is imperfect
that can be utilized is air, hollow pockets of air can be used light transmission with longer pipes or pipes that curve sig-
to guide and reflect light in a similar manner to mirrors and nificantly. We outline the characteristics of this light loss in
beamsplitters. Advanced 3D printers can combine opaque the Discussion section. We have designed around this limita-
materials with optical quality transparent materials to mask tion to produce functional prototypes, but envision our tech-
and block light. niques can be expanded using future 3D printers that are op-
timized for optical performance.
Structures within Structures As the 3D printing process is
performed additively layer by layer, geometric structures can Example Applications
be fabricated inside other structures to create optical ele- We outline several example applications that demonstrate
ments. For example, areas of transparent material can be uses for 3D printed light pipes.
surrounded by a material with a different refractive index,
to transmit light from point to point using total internal re- Mobile Projector Displays Mobile projectors have enabled a
flection (TIR) through the inside of a model. Opaque mate- range of new interactive systems [6, 30, 38]. The small form-
rials printed within or around a transparent material can be factor of mobile projectors makes them well suited to tangi-
used to block the transmittance of light from one section of ble accessories that can map the projector display onto arbi-
the model to another. This can be used to seal internal com- trary surfaces. We have developed a character accessory that
partments and avoid optical crosstalk, or to minimize light uses 3D printed light pipes to guide projected light through
leakage from the model that may be distracting to the user. the inside of the model and onto outer surfaces. The charac-
ter is 3D printed with a grid of 0.5 mm light pipes leading
Combined Mechanical-Optical Design 3D printed optical from its feet to its eyes (Figure 3a). We paint the outer area of
elements can be designed hand-in-hand with the mechani- the character except for the ends of the light pipes. When the
cal design of a device. For example, optical elements can be feet are attached to a mobile projector, the character’s eyes
integrated into the body of a device to guide light through the become a display surface, responding to user interaction such
model, act as lenses, or house optical sensors. This combined as sound or physical movement (Figure 3b).
approach enables a rich new space for prototyping physical
interfaces with low-cost optical sensors, such as buttons, slid- Mobile Touch Sensing Sensing touch has become an im-
ers, dials, and accelerometers. A single mechanical-optical portant part of interaction with many computing devices [16,
design can greatly reduce the number of individual parts and 17, 27]. 3D printing is well suited to implement touch [5] and
the manual labor required for assembly. Optical fiber bun- grasp [39] sensing on and around mobile devices. 3D printed
dles, that are typically made up of 100s of individual fiber light pipes can sense touch by guiding light from arbitrary
strands, can be 3D printed in a single pass with a solid me-
chanical structure.
3D printed optical elements currently have some limitations.
These include issues of light transmission, surface finishing, Tangible
clarity, and hollow area fabrication. We describe each of Display
Surface
these limitations in the Discussion section. We now intro-
duce four categories of fabrication techniques that demon- 3D Printed
strate the wide range of uses for Printed Optics. Light Pipes
LIGHT PIPES Mobile
Projector
‘Light pipes’ are 3D printed optical elements, similar to op-
tical fiber, that can be used to guide light from point to point. a b
Optical fiber has been used in interactive systems for both
display [3, 10, 18] and sensing purposes [3, 12, 20, 23, 34, Figure 3: A 3D printed mobile projector accessory
39]. Unlike conventional optical fiber, 3D printed light pipes using embedded light pipes (a) to map a projected
allow arbitrary geometries to be created in software and then image onto a characters eyes (b).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-3-320.jpg)
![IR Emitters
Optical Fibers
Tangible
Display
Surface 3D Printed
Light Pipes
Touch Points Source
Display
Linear Sensor Surface
a Array
b
Figure 4: We envision touch sensing using 3D printed
light pipes embedded in the walls of future devices. a b
Our proof-of-concept prototype (a) attaches to a mobile
projector for gestural control of projected content (b). Figure 5: Light pipes are 3D printed inside tangible
objects, such as chess pieces (a), to create additional
display surfaces for tabletop interaction (b).
locations on the surface of a mobile device to a single sen-
sor array. A key advantage of this technique is the ease with
which light pipes can be printed into the walls of a device to ing display space that would otherwise be occluded. Fiducial
create mechanically robust and exceptionally thin (sub mm) markers cut from transparent IR reflecting film (Tigold Cor-
embedded sensing with minimal hardware assembly. poration Type 7232) are adhered to the bottom of each chess
piece. Projected visible light passes through the transparent
We have produced small scale 3D printed prototypes that marker and into the light pipes, while IR light is reflected
demonstrate how light can be piped from a 1.5 mm touch back to an IR camera to track and identity each chess piece.
point onto a 0.336 mm section of a CCD sensor. When scaled
to the size of typical mobile devices however, light loss with Fabrication Techniques
3D printed light pipes currently impacts upon sensing per- 3D printed light pipes function in a similar manner to op-
formance. As a proof-of-concept prototype we instead use tical fiber with light reflecting internally as it travels along
conventional optical fiber embedded in a 3D printed case to the length of the pipe. Internal reflection is caused by a dif-
simulate this sensing technique. We arrange 32 ‘light pipes’ ference in the refractive index of the internal core (through
so they are exposed on the sides of a mobile projector and which light travels) and the external cladding (which sur-
piped back to a single 128 pixel photosensor array (Taos rounds the core) (Figure 6). We fabricate light pipes us-
TSL202R). The TSL202R is capable of frame-rates up to ing model material (Objet VeroClear) for the core and sup-
40,000 hz for extremely responsive touch interaction on (or port material (Objet Support Resin) for the cladding. The
near) the device surface. We use two infrared (IR) LEDs em- model material cures into a rigid transparent material and the
bedded in a laser-cut piece of acrylic to provide constant il- support material into a soft material designed to be easily
lumination. Figure 4a shows our proof-of-concept prototype broken apart for quick removal. The difference in material
demonstrating that the casing of a mobile projector can be density allows for TIR to occur. To create a mechanically
embedded with light pipes for robust touch sensing. Single sound model, we surround the brittle support material with
and multi-touch gestures can be used on the side of the device an outer casing of rigid material. We can fabricate light pipes
to scroll and zoom in on projected content (Figure 4b). down to a thicknesses of 0.25mm core with a cladding layer
thickness of 0.084mm. To create accurate digital geometry,
Tangible Displays Tangible objects have been used to ex- we programmatically generate light pipe grids using Python
tend the display area of tabletop and touchscreen surfaces inside the Rhinoceros 3D application (www.rhino3d.com).
with optical fiber bundles [3, 10, 18] and prisms [19]. One of This geometry can then be exported into a mesh-based for-
the inherent problems with optical fiber is maintaining align- mat suitable for 3D printing.
ment with large numbers or long lengths of fiber during me-
chanical assembly. 3D printed light pipes avoid this issue INTERNAL ILLUMINATION
as individual pipes can be accurately fabricated and enclosed 3D printing is known for its ability to precisely fabricate the
inside a simultaneously printed rigid support structure. Op- outer form of physical objects and has been used to create
timal packing patterns can be produced in software to max- a variety of unique displays [1, 2, 29, 36]. Optically clear
imize light transmission with large display grids. Although material allows for the design and fabrication of inner forms
currently the optical quality is inferior to traditional optical
elements, light pipes do provide a highly accessible and cus- CASING - Model Material
tomizable alternative.
We have developed a set of tangible chess pieces that dis- CORE - Model Material
play content piped from a diffuse illumination tabletop sur-
face. A 62 x 34 grid of 0.5 mm light pipes is embed-
ded in the base of each chess piece and provides a display CLADDING - Support Material
area perpendicular to the tabletop surface (Figure 5). Con-
textual information, such as chess piece location and sug- Figure 6: Light pipes consist of a rigid transparent core,
gested moves, can be displayed on each individual piece us- a soft cladding, and a rigid outer casing.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-4-320.jpg)
![Sheet
Tube
Embedded
Dot Heart Shape
a b
Figure 7: Sheets, tubes, and dots are primitive ele- LED
ments for fabricating reflective pockets of air inside a
3D print. Due to material settling, digital geometry (a)
differs slightly from the actual printed form (b).
Figure 9: A toy character with an embedded heart
shape made from tubes of enclosed air and illuminated
within a 3D printed model. Internal structures can be viewed with an LED.
from the outside and highlighted with illumination. Inter-
nal illumination can be used with interactive devices to dis-
play information ranging from simple indicators to complex to 3D dots using a Z axis depth map. An automated cam-
volumetric displays. In this section of the paper we intro- era calibration routine is used to compensate for any slight
duce techniques for internal illumination by creating reflec- mechanical misalignments.
tive pockets of air within a solid transparent model.
Internal Patterns 3D printed tubes are hollow cylinder-like
Example Applications structures printed vertically (Figure 7). Tubes are particularly
We outline several example applications that demonstrate well suited to represent arbitrary shapes inside a 3D printed
uses for internal illumination. model. Because it is not yet possible to enclose arbitrary hol-
low shapes (due to issues of overhang and support material
Volumetric Displays 3D printed internal structures are an extraction), tubes represent a useful approximation. We cre-
enabling technology for static-volume volumetric displays, ated a toy character with a glowing heart embedded inside
allowing precise alignment of 3D pixels within a volume. (Figure 1b). The heart is made from a set of hollow tubes
Although volumetric displays have been implemented in a packed together and illuminated from below with an LED
number of ways [9, 25], 3D printing allows a new level of (Figure 9). Although a simple example, the internal struc-
control over the shape, size, and resolution of the display. tures are very difficult to achieve with other manufacturing
Using the versatility of 3D printing, we implemented a volu- techniques. We found that tubes can be reliably created down
metric display based on Passive Optical Scatterers [28]. to 0.6 mm and packed together with a minimum distance
of 0.6 mm between tubes. This enables relatively good reso-
We explored a mobile form factor for a volumetric display lution to represent arbitrary internal shapes.
by embedding an 4 x 8 x 11 array of 1.2 mm dot-shaped
air pockets (Figure 7) inside a 40 x 80 x 50 mm volume Internal Text 3D printed sheets are flat rectangular air pock-
of transparent 3D printed material (Figure 8). The display ets that can be used to approximate lines (Figure 7). Text
is mounted to a laser-based mobile projector (Microvision within a 3D printed structure can be fabricated to create ro-
ShowWX+). 32 x 32 pixel blocks are used to address each bust signage that is resistant to impact and everyday wear.
of the dots inside the volume. 2D pixel blocks are mapped The optical clarity of the material makes it possible to view
internal text under normal daylight lighting conditions or
with illumination at night. Using 3D printed sheets to fab-
ricate internal text, we created a nixie tube style numeric
Projected Image Z Axis Depth Map
1
2
display (Figure 10a). Individual 3D printed layers with em-
3
4
5
6
bedded numbers are mounted together and side-illuminated
7
8
9
10
11
using either an LED or a mobile projector (Figure 10b).
3D Printed
Volumetric Display Mobile Projector
Figure 8: A mobile volumetric display created with a b
embedded dots of air inside a 3D printed volume. A
sphere is displayed inside the volume by remapping Figure 10: A numeric display (a) created with hollow
2D pixels using a Z axis depth map. sheets of air that reflect light when illuminated (b).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-5-320.jpg)
![Fabrication Techniques
By creating enclosed pockets of air within a solid transpar-
ent model, light intersects with these air pockets and is trans-
mitted or reflected depending on the angle of incidence. By
carefully designing the geometry of the air pockets light can
be guided internally within the model or externally out to- a b
wards the users eye. Air pockets can be created using 3D
printers that deposit small beads of material layer-by-layer
to build up a model. As individual beads of material are de-
posited, they must have a supporting surface beneath them
or they fall down with gravity. However, a small amount
of step-over (overhang) from layer to layer allows for hol-
low areas to be slowly closed. In practice a step-over angle c d
equivalent to 14◦ from vertical allows air pockets to be reli-
ably closed with minimum shape distortion. Greater step- Figure 11: User inputs such as push (a), rotation
over angles cause the material to fall into the air pocket and (b), linear movement (c), and acceleration (d) can be
slowly raise the air pocket location vertically or fill it en- sensed by the displacement of a 3D printed light guide.
tirely. Figure 7 shows a series of primitive elements that can
be fabricated from air pockets. The digital geometry sent to
the printer (left) differs from the actual air pocket shape fab-
ricated (right). This difference is due to beads of material state (Figure 13a). Elastic deformation causes the light guide
settling without direct support structure during the fabrica- to return to a high state when the user releases the button.
tion process. To programmatically generate patterns from the The elasticity of the light guide provides clear haptic feed-
dot, tube, and sheet primitives, we use the Grasshopper envi- back that can be accentuated with small surface detents on
ronment (www.grasshopper3d.com) inside Rhinoceros. This the button shaft.
allows primitive elements to be mapped to lines, enclosed
within solids, or aligned with illumination sources. We sense rotation with a screw dial that gradually lowers to
displace the light guide (Figure 11b). When fully inserted
SENSING MECHANICAL MOVEMENT the receiver returns a low signal and returns to a high state
Optical sensing of mechanical movement has been achieved as the screw dial is extracted. Custom thread pitches can be
in a number of form-factors [8, 15, 31, 35, 37]. Our approach designed for precise control over how quickly the screw dial
uses 3D printing to create custom optical sensing embedded transitions between the two extremes.
in interactive devices. We use low-cost IR emitter/receiver
pairs, to sense common user inputs such as rotation, push, We sense linear movement with a mechanical slider that de-
linear movement, and acceleration. Our approach offers sev- presses the light guide when moved from one side to the other
eral benefits. Firstly, custom sensors can be designed and (Figure 11c). The light guide is angled downward so that it
prototyped with minimal effort. 3D printed sensors allow rests just below the slider at one end and is above the slider
convenient, fast, accurate, and repeatable sensor fabrication. at the other end. As the slider is moved by the user, the light
In many cases only a generic IR emitter-receiver pair are re- guide is displaced to register a low reading.
quired on the electronics side. Secondly, custom sensors can
be embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of a de- We sense acceleration by printing extra material on the end
vice. This enables sensing of user input through the walls of of a light guide to enhance the effects of outside motion (Fig-
a device, greatly simplifies hardware assembly, and produces ure 11d). The extra weight causes the light guide to be dis-
robust high fidelity prototypes. placed when the the user moves the device along an axis per-
pendicular to the light guide. The effects of gravity can also
Example Applications be perceived, as the weighted light guide slumps downwards
We introduce example applications that demonstrate how 3D causing displacement.
printed optical elements can be used to detect common me-
chanical movements.
Sensing Displacement We have developed a library of me-
chanical movements that can be mapped to a displacement
sensing scheme. In this scheme a flexible light guide mounted
below the surface of a device is physically displaced to change
the amount of IR light traveling between an emitter-receiver
pair (Figure 11, 13a). Displacement sensing provides a ver-
satile way to sense a number of user inputs with 3D printed
optical elements. a b
We sense push and pressure with a button that applies linear Figure 12: Rotary motion of a scroll wheel (a) and
force to displace the light guide (Figure 11a). As the user linear motion of a slider (b) can be sensed with IR light
presses the button the receiver changes from a high to a low passing through 3D printed mask material.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-6-320.jpg)
![IR Receiver
HIGH STATE Button IR Emitter IR Receiver Scroll Wheel IR Emitter
HIGH STATE
Light Guide Mask Material
3D Printed
Mask Material Enclosure Acrylic Cap
IR Emitter FTIR IR Receiver
LOW STATE
LOW STATE
Figure 14: FTIR touch sensing embedded within a 3D
printed enclosure.
a b
bedded support material so that a distinctive change in light
Figure 13: Mechanical force moves a 3D printed light
guide below a button (a) and a rotary encoder pattern intensity is registered by the receiver. Figure 13b illustrates
within a scroll wheel (b) from a high state (top) to a low the high (top) and low (bottom) states of a rotary encoder.
state (bottom).
We use standard 3mm or side-look (Honeywell SEP8706)
940nm IR LEDs and light-to-voltage sensors (Taos TSL260R)
Sensing With Encoders We fabricate custom linear and ro- as the emitters and receivers for both displacement and en-
tary encoders with 3D printing by creating a mask pattern coder sensing in this section. Modulation of the emitter-
from two different materials and sensing the change in light receiver pair would provide further robustness to varying am-
transmission through each material as the encoder moves. bient light conditions.
We sense scroll wheel motion by embedding sections of EMBEDDED COMPONENTS
mask material in the body of a scroll wheel (Figure 12a). As 3D printing technology grows in sophistication, we en-
An IR emitter-receiver pair are mounted in the scroll wheel vision it will be possible to automatically ‘drop-in’ compo-
housing on either side. As the scroll wheel is turned, a high- nents during the fabrication process [4, 22, 33], using part
low pattern is returned by the receiver that can be decoded placement robots similar to those employed for PC board
into a relative rotation value based on the mask pattern de- manufacture. Drop-in embedded components are physically
sign. More complex absolute encoding schemes can also robust, enable tight mechanical tolerances, and allow easy
be achieved using the same basic principle with multiple compartmentalization. Combining optical components with
emitter-receiver pairs. transparent materials allows sensing, display, and illumina-
tion to take place through the casing without exposing com-
We sense slider motion by embedding a mask pattern into the ponents directly on the surface of a device. Eventually, we
shaft holding the slider (Figure 12b). An IR emitter-receiver envision it will be possible to 3D print electronic components
pair are mounted inside the slider housing on either side of in their entirety [7, 26]. Although it is not yet possible to
the shaft. As the user moves the slider a high-low pattern is automatically insert or print electronic components on com-
returned to the receiver. mercial 3D printers, it is possible to simulate the results of
embedded optical components by manually inserting them
Fabrication Techniques during the print process. In this section of the paper we in-
Sensing Displacement Our displacement sensing scheme troduce a number of techniques for designing, fabricating,
uses transparent material to create a flexible light guide be- and interacting with optoelectronic components embedded in
tween an IR emitter-receiver pair. Light from the emitter transparent 3D printed enclosures.
travels through a small aperture surrounded by light-blocking
mask (support) material and reflects inside the light guide un- Example Applications
til it meets the receiver. In its normal state light travels into We introduce example applications that demonstrate uses for
the receiver to register a high reading (Figure 13a, top). The 3D printed optical elements with embedded optoelectronic
light guide can be displaced with mechanical force, causing components.
the receiver to register a lower reading (Figure 13a, bottom).
A range of intermediate values are returned between these Embedded FTIR Sensing Frustrated total internal reflec-
two states. In all cases the flexible light guide is positioned tion (FTIR) based sensing is known for its robust and pre-
just below the surface of the sensor housing and mechani- cise touch-sensing performance. Typically individual com-
cally displaced by outside force. Emitters and receivers are ponents are mounted alongside an optical surface that users
inserted into the housing walls with precisely aligned slots. interact with [13, 17, 27]. In our approach we embed com-
ponents inside the optical surface to produce a very robust
Sensing With Encoders To create rotary and linear encoders and completely enclosed FTIR implementation. In a basic
we use an IR emitter-receiver pair mechanically mounted on configuration, an LED emitter is embedded in a hollow area
either side of a rotary shaft/linear rail. A 3D printed mask within the 3D print and light is emitted directly into a flat
pattern is embedded into the rotary shaft/linear rail to pro- sensing surface (Figure 14). An IR receiver is mounted per-
duce signal changes. The mask pattern is created with em- pendicular to the sensing surface and detects light reflected](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-7-320.jpg)
![3D Printed Cap 3D Printed Cap
Acrylic Cap Insert
Acrylic Cap Insert
IR Emitter
LED Component Insert b
Extra 3D Printed
IR Receiver
Material for
Surface Smoothing
3D Printed 4-Way Reflector
FTIR Touch Surface
3D Printed Lens
Figure 15: Exploded view of a D-pad made with
embedded optoelectronic components. A 3D printed a c
4-way reflector is used to direct light into a custom Figure 17: Optoelectronic components are inserted,
shaped FTIR touch surface. capped, and enclosed inside a 3D printed model to
create a custom lens (a). The quality of the lens sur-
face finish (b) can be improved by depositing additional
by fingers coming into contact with the outer surface. A more uniform layers of material (c).
complex variation of the same sensing technique is shown
in our four-way D-pad sensor (Figure 1d). A flat side-look
LED (Honeywell SEP8706) is embedded facing a four-way the component to be inserted. Support material printing must
reflector that splits light towards four embedded IR receivers be disabled to ensure that it is not deposited inside the com-
(Taos TSL260R) (Figure 15). An analog touch reading is ponent area. If the component is inserted flush with the top of
measured at each of the sensors. As with standard FTIR an the model, printing is continued to completely enclose it in-
approximate measurement of pressure is returned based on side. If an area of air is desired around the component, a laser
the amount of skin contact and light reflectivity. cut transparent acrylic ‘cap’ is affixed above the component
to seal it in before printing continues (Figure 17).
Lenses We embed optoelectronic inside 3D printed plano-
convex and plano-concave lenses to better control the di- Hollow cavities created for components do not have an opti-
rectionality of illumination or optical sensing. The base of cally clear finish (Figure 17b) and it is not practical to sand
the 3D print makes up the planar side of the lens and the or buff these small cavities during the print process. How-
curved lens surface is fabricated below the component then ever, we discovered a unique technique to improve the sur-
smoothed with extra layers of material deposition. Figure 16 face quality of cavities by depositing additional uniform lay-
shows two identical LEDs embedded with 3D printed plano- ers of material. This material is deposited from above and
convave (a) and plano-convex (b) lenses. falls into the cavity in a liquid state to smooth its surface.
Figure 17c shows the improved surface finish achieved when
Beamsplitters We fabricate rudimentary beamsplitters by ten additional layers of material are deposited.
creating prisms in front of embedded components. Based
on the angle of incidence, some light passes through the DISCUSSION
prism and the remainder reflects off in another direction. Fig- 3D printed optical elements have unique limitations that should
ure 16c shows an LED with light being split in two directions be considered during the design and fabrication process.
by the embedded prism.
Light Pipe Transmission
Fabrication Techniques 3D printed light pipes fabricated with our current setup suffer
We manually insert optical components during the 3D print- from limited light transmission. To more accurately charac-
ing process in a similar manner to [22]. The digital geometric terize the conditions under which light loss occurs, we per-
model is designed in such a way that a hollow area is left for formed light measurement tests with light pipes over varying
distances and curvature. To simulate a typical application
scenario we used off-the-shelf components: a red 5mm LED
emitter and a photodiode-based receiver (Taos TSL12S). For
each reading, light was directed into the light pipe with the
emitter and a voltage value measured from the receiver at
the other end. The emitter and detector were coupled to the
a b c test pieces using custom slots, similar to those shown in Fig-
ure 11-13, and without surface finishing.
Figure 16: Two identical LEDs are embedded with
a 3D printed plano-concave (a) and plano-convex (b) For the distance test we compared the light transmittance of
lens. A beam-splitter sends light in two directions (c). a 2mm 3D printed light pipe, to a commercially produced](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-8-320.jpg)
![Sensor Response (Volts) 5 5
1mm
Sensor Response (Volts)
Commercial PMMA
4 4
Optical Fiber
3 3 Straight Light Pipe
2 2
3D Printed
1 1 Curved Light Pipe
Light Pipe
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Length (mm) Arc Radius (mm)
a b
Figure 18: Light transmittance of 3D printed light pipes
compared to commercial optical fiber (a) and transmit-
tance of 50mm 3D printed light pipes in 90◦ arcs with
increasing curvature radius (b).
Model Material
0.5mm Light Pipe
2mm optical fiber made of PMMA. The 3D printed light
pipes consisted of a core, cladding, and casing configuration Support Material
with distances ranging from 10-100mm in 10mm increments. Figure 19: Magnified view of the material intersections
The commercial optical fiber was cut to the same lengths and in 3D printed light pipes.
mounted in a rigid casing. For the curvature test we created
a series of light pipes following a 90◦ arc, each with an in-
crementally larger radius. The length of the light pipes was ing). Flat surface finishing can be performed using power
extended on each end to be precisely 50mm in total length. tools such as a belt sander and buffing wheel. Curved sur-
faces require hand sanding and are more time intensive. Tex-
Figure 18a shows that 3D printed light pipes currently suffer
tured surfaces or surfaces with small micro-facets are diffi-
from increasing light loss with distance. Adding curvature to
cult to perform finishing on without specialized equipment.
a light pipe further increases light loss when compared to a
Internal surfaces can generally not be reached to perform
straight light pipe of equal length (Figure 18b). We believe
manual surface finishing, but applying additional layers of
this limited performance is due to two factors. Firstly, the
uniform material cover can improve the quality of the sur-
contours where two different materials intersect are currently
face (Figure 17c).
not perfectly smooth (Figure 19). Microscopic unevenness
on internal surfaces result in light being lost or redirected Clarity
in unpredictable ways. However, we found the consistency Based on our experiences with the Objet Eden260V, we have
between ten identical 50mm straight prints to be high, with found that the clarity of 3D printed optical elements currently
a standard deviation of 0.0822V when measuring transmit- depends on several factors. Model Thickness: thicker models
tance as previously described. Secondly, although we know tend to lose optical clarity and appear increasingly cloudy.
the refractive index of the core material, no information is Print Direction: the greatest clarity is seen when looking
available for the refractive index of the cladding material. perpendicular to the printed layers, looking parallel to the
Because we use support material that is not intended as an printed layers appears blurrier. UV Exposure: Overexposure
optical material, its performance as cladding is understand- to UV light during the curing process can cause a loss in opti-
ably low. We can assume that the refractive index of each cal clarity, making the model appear yellow in color. Surface
material is close enough to restrict the angle of incidence to Quality: greater clarity can be achieved with extra sanding
a relatively small value and thereby limit internal reflection. steps during the finishing process.
Although the current materials and printing process we use Hollow Areas
are not optimized for optical performance, promising mate- As 3D printed objects are built up layer by layer, hollow areas
rials science research has demonstrated that photopolymer typically require support material inside the hollow. Print-
waveguides can be fabricated in both planar [14] and non- ing completely enclosed hollow areas can seal the support
planar [24] forms with minimal light loss. We are therefore material inside with no means for it to be extracted. Com-
optimistic about the possibilities for fabricating light pipes pletely enclosed hollow areas of air can be fabricated using
in the next generation of optically optimized 3D printers. It jet deposition-based machines by disabling support material
is worth noting that many commercial display technologies and using internal geometry with minimal step-over in the
routinely encounter significant light loss, e.g., resistive touch vertical axis. This requirement for self-supporting geometry
screens reduce display light transmission by up to 20% [11]. limits the design space when creating hollow areas. In the-
ory, internal geometry can be combined with arbitrary exter-
Surface Finishing nal geometry complete with overhangs and support material.
In current generation 3D printers, unfinished surfaces appear In practice, the 3D printer we made use of did not allow se-
smooth and transparent to the naked eye, but not optically lective use of support material; it must be either enabled or
clear. Unfinished surfaces can be used when some amount disabled for each print. This restriction, however, can be re-
of light scattering is acceptable, however to maximize light solved with an improved software interface to the 3D printer.
passing to/from the interior of a 3D printed optical element,
surface finishing should be performed (i.e. sanding and buff- Despite these limitations, by demonstrating the capabilities](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/printedoptics-paper-121012095144-phpapp01/85/3D-Printed-Devices-9-320.jpg)
3D Printed Devices
- 1. Printed Optics: 3D Printing of Embedded Optical Elements for Interactive Devices Karl D.D. Willis1,2 Eric Brockmeyer1 Scott E. Hudson1,3 Ivan Poupyrev1 Disney Research Pittsburgh1 Computational Design Lab , HCI Institute3 2 4720 Forbes Avenue Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 5000 Forbes Avenue {karl, eric.brockmeyer, ivan.poupyrev} Pittsburgh, PA 15213 @disneyresearch.com scott.hudson@cs.cmu.edu a b c d Figure 1: Custom optical elements are fabricated with 3D printing and embedded in interactive devices, opening up new possibilities for interaction including: unique display surfaces made from 3D printed ‘light pipes’ (a), novel internal illumination techniques (b), custom optical sensors (c), and embedded optoelectronics (d). ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION We present an approach to 3D printing custom optical ele- 3D printing is becoming increasingly capable and affordable. ments for interactive devices labelled Printed Optics. Printed We envision a future world where interactive devices can be Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to printed rather than assembled; a world where a device with be directly embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of active components is created as a single object, rather than an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display a case enclosing circuit boards and individually assembled surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sen- parts (Figure 2). This capability has tremendous potential sors, and embedded optoelectronic components can be dig- for rapid high fidelity prototyping, and eventually for produc- itally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, highly customized tion of customized devices tailored to individual needs and/or interactive devices. Printed Optics is part of our long term specific tasks. With these capabilities we envision it will be vision for interactive devices that are 3D printed in their en- possible to design highly functional devices in a digital ed- tirety. In this paper we explore the possibilities for this vision itor — importing components from a library of interactive afforded by fabrication of custom optical elements using to- elements, positioning and customizing them, then pushing day’s 3D printing technology. ‘print’ to have them realized in physical form. In this paper we explore some of the possibilities for this vision afforded by today’s 3D printing technology. Specifically, we describe ACM Classification: H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Pre- an approach for using 3D printed optical elements, Printed sentation]: User Interfaces. Optics, as one category of components within a greater li- brary of reusable interactive elements. Keywords: 3D printing; optics; light; sensing; projection; Custom optical elements have traditionally been expensive display; rapid prototyping; additive manufacturing. and impractical to produce due to the manufacturing pre- cision and finishing required. Recent developments in 3D printing technology have enabled the fabrication of high res- Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for olution transparent plastics with similar optical properties to personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are plexiglasTM . One-off 3D printed optical elements can be not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies designed and fabricated literally within minutes for signifi- bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or cantly less cost than conventional manufacturing; greatly in- republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. creasing accessibility and reducing end-to-end prototyping UIST’12, October 7–10, 2012, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. time. 3D printed optical elements also afford new optical Copyright 2012 ACM 978-1-4503-1580-7/12/10...$15.00. form-factors that were not previously possible, such as fab-
- 2. 4. Example applications that demonstrate how Printed Optics can be implemented and used in interactive devices. In the remainder of this paper we introduce the technology that enables us to create Printed Optics and outline the fab- rication process and its capabilities. We then describe four categories of fabrication techniques for Printed Optics: Light Pipes, Internal Illumination, Sensing Mechanical Movement, and Embedded Components. We conclude with discussion of a b limitations and future research directions. With the continu- ing emergence of 3D printing technology, we believe now is Figure 2: We envision future interactive devices that an ideal time to explore the unique capabilities of 3D printed are 3D printed from individual layers (a) rather than optical elements for interactive devices. assembled from individual parts (b). These devices will be fabricated from multiple materials to form active functional components within a single 3D print. PRINTED OPTICS 3D printing allows digital geometry to be rapidly fabricated into physical form with micron accuracy. Usable optical el- ricating structures within other structures, printing multiple ements can be designed and simulated in software, then 3D materials within a single optical element, and combining me- printed from transparent material with surprising ease and chanical and optical structures in the same design. affordability. In this section of the paper we describe the fab- rication process for 3D printing optical elements and discuss Printed Optics opens up new possibilities for interaction. the unique capabilities that this technology enables. Display surfaces can be created on arbitrary shaped objects using 3D printed ‘light pipes’ (Figure 1a). Novel illumina- Fabrication tion techniques allow the internal space within a 3D printed The fabrication process begins with a digital geometric model object to be used for illumination and display purposes (Fig- that is converted into a series of slices to be physically fabri- ure 1b). Custom optical sensors can be 3D printed with cated layer-by-layer. 3D printing of optical quality materials the structure of interactive devices to sense user input (Fig- typically requires a photopolymer-based process. Each layer ure 1c). Optoelectronic components can be completely en- is fabricated in sequence by selectively exposing a liquid closed inside optical elements to produce highly customiz- photopolymer material to an ultra-violet (UV) light source, able and robust interactive devices (Figure 1d). causing the material to cure into a solid state. Tradition- ally this has been achieved using ‘stereolithography’, where Our long term vision to digitally fabricate high fidelity, highly a precise laser is traced through a vat of liquid photopolymer. customized, ‘ready-to-go’ devices will be a powerful en- Other approaches include controlled exposure to UV light abling technology for HCI research. Although much of this using a projector, or physical deposition of liquid photopoly- novel technology is still in the research stage [7, 26, 33], mer in the presence of a UV light source. The fundamental the simplest forms of 3D printing are rapidly entering the process of layer-by-layer fabrication with photopolymer ma- mainstream. A recent cover story in The Economist suggests terials is common throughout each approach. 3D printing is the manufacturing technology to “change the world” [32]. A host of consumer-level 3D printing devices The range of photopolymer materials for 3D printing is rapidly are now available and the fundamental photopolymer print- expanding, with optical-quality transparent plastic, deformable ing technology behind Printed Optics has been demonstrated ‘rubber’, and biocompatible polymers available on the mar- for less than $200 parts cost [21]. It is reasonable to expect ket. In this work we used an Objet Eden260V 3D printer that inexpensive optical 3D printers will be available to re- and Objet VeroClear transparent material to fabricate opti- searchers in the very near future. cal elements. VeroClear has similar optical properties to Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), commonly known as Using today’s 3D printing technology we aim to demonstrate plexiglasTM , with a refractive index of 1.47 (650nm light that the design of optical systems for interactive devices can source). Several other manufacturers also provide similar be greatly enhanced. We present the following contributions: transparent materials, including DSM Somos’ Watershed XC 11122 and 3D Systems’ Accura ClearVue. 1. A general approach for using 3D printed optical elements, Printed Optics, embedded in interactive devices to display The Objet Eden260V has a print resolution of 600 dpi (42 mi- information and sense user input. crons) that is significantly higher than fused deposition mod- 2. Techniques for displaying information using 3D printed eling (FDM) 3D printers (e.g. Stratasys Dimension, Maker- optical elements, including the use of 3D printed ‘light Bot, or RepRap) that are typically around 100 dpi (254 mi- pipes’ and internal air pockets. crons). High resolution printing allows the creation of visibly smooth models without internal gaps. Model surfaces can be 3. Techniques for sensing user input with 3D printed optical further enhanced with a manual finishing process to achieve elements, including touch input with embedded sensors, optical clarity. This process consists of removing support mechanical displacement of 3D printed light guides, and material, sanding the surfaces with incrementally finer sand- movement sensed along 3D printed mask patterns. paper, and then buffing.
- 3. Capabilities fabricated in a single 3D print. Simply by changing software 3D printing technology enables the fabrication of custom 3D parameters, light pipes can be created with variable widths, printed optical elements with unique capabilities that are oth- rounded caps, and joints with other light pipes. In contrast erwise difficult to achieve. conventional manufacturing requires considerable effort for individual fiber optic strands to be mechanically assembled, Multiple Materials Optical elements can be fabricated that fused/deformed with heat, or chemically bonded. combine multiple chemically disparate materials in a single model. 3D printers can often use at least two materials si- Internal light pipe geometry can be embedded inside a larger multaneously: model material and support material. Model model that has its own independent form-factor, such as a material constitutes the main model itself and support mate- character (Figure 3), mobile device (Figure 4), or tangible rial is used as a sacrificial material to provide structural sup- chess piece (Figure 5). As each light pipe can be precisely port under model overhangs and in hollow areas. Typically, fabricated at a given location, the process of light pipe rout- support material is removed and disposed of once the print- ing to avoid intersections becomes a well defined software ing process is finished, but can also be embedded inside the problem. One current limitation of 3D printed light pipes model to guide, block, and diffuse light. A third ‘material’ fabricated on the machine we have available is imperfect that can be utilized is air, hollow pockets of air can be used light transmission with longer pipes or pipes that curve sig- to guide and reflect light in a similar manner to mirrors and nificantly. We outline the characteristics of this light loss in beamsplitters. Advanced 3D printers can combine opaque the Discussion section. We have designed around this limita- materials with optical quality transparent materials to mask tion to produce functional prototypes, but envision our tech- and block light. niques can be expanded using future 3D printers that are op- timized for optical performance. Structures within Structures As the 3D printing process is performed additively layer by layer, geometric structures can Example Applications be fabricated inside other structures to create optical ele- We outline several example applications that demonstrate ments. For example, areas of transparent material can be uses for 3D printed light pipes. surrounded by a material with a different refractive index, to transmit light from point to point using total internal re- Mobile Projector Displays Mobile projectors have enabled a flection (TIR) through the inside of a model. Opaque mate- range of new interactive systems [6, 30, 38]. The small form- rials printed within or around a transparent material can be factor of mobile projectors makes them well suited to tangi- used to block the transmittance of light from one section of ble accessories that can map the projector display onto arbi- the model to another. This can be used to seal internal com- trary surfaces. We have developed a character accessory that partments and avoid optical crosstalk, or to minimize light uses 3D printed light pipes to guide projected light through leakage from the model that may be distracting to the user. the inside of the model and onto outer surfaces. The charac- ter is 3D printed with a grid of 0.5 mm light pipes leading Combined Mechanical-Optical Design 3D printed optical from its feet to its eyes (Figure 3a). We paint the outer area of elements can be designed hand-in-hand with the mechani- the character except for the ends of the light pipes. When the cal design of a device. For example, optical elements can be feet are attached to a mobile projector, the character’s eyes integrated into the body of a device to guide light through the become a display surface, responding to user interaction such model, act as lenses, or house optical sensors. This combined as sound or physical movement (Figure 3b). approach enables a rich new space for prototyping physical interfaces with low-cost optical sensors, such as buttons, slid- Mobile Touch Sensing Sensing touch has become an im- ers, dials, and accelerometers. A single mechanical-optical portant part of interaction with many computing devices [16, design can greatly reduce the number of individual parts and 17, 27]. 3D printing is well suited to implement touch [5] and the manual labor required for assembly. Optical fiber bun- grasp [39] sensing on and around mobile devices. 3D printed dles, that are typically made up of 100s of individual fiber light pipes can sense touch by guiding light from arbitrary strands, can be 3D printed in a single pass with a solid me- chanical structure. 3D printed optical elements currently have some limitations. These include issues of light transmission, surface finishing, Tangible clarity, and hollow area fabrication. We describe each of Display Surface these limitations in the Discussion section. We now intro- duce four categories of fabrication techniques that demon- 3D Printed strate the wide range of uses for Printed Optics. Light Pipes LIGHT PIPES Mobile Projector ‘Light pipes’ are 3D printed optical elements, similar to op- tical fiber, that can be used to guide light from point to point. a b Optical fiber has been used in interactive systems for both display [3, 10, 18] and sensing purposes [3, 12, 20, 23, 34, Figure 3: A 3D printed mobile projector accessory 39]. Unlike conventional optical fiber, 3D printed light pipes using embedded light pipes (a) to map a projected allow arbitrary geometries to be created in software and then image onto a characters eyes (b).
- 4. IR Emitters Optical Fibers Tangible Display Surface 3D Printed Light Pipes Touch Points Source Display Linear Sensor Surface a Array b Figure 4: We envision touch sensing using 3D printed light pipes embedded in the walls of future devices. a b Our proof-of-concept prototype (a) attaches to a mobile projector for gestural control of projected content (b). Figure 5: Light pipes are 3D printed inside tangible objects, such as chess pieces (a), to create additional display surfaces for tabletop interaction (b). locations on the surface of a mobile device to a single sen- sor array. A key advantage of this technique is the ease with which light pipes can be printed into the walls of a device to ing display space that would otherwise be occluded. Fiducial create mechanically robust and exceptionally thin (sub mm) markers cut from transparent IR reflecting film (Tigold Cor- embedded sensing with minimal hardware assembly. poration Type 7232) are adhered to the bottom of each chess piece. Projected visible light passes through the transparent We have produced small scale 3D printed prototypes that marker and into the light pipes, while IR light is reflected demonstrate how light can be piped from a 1.5 mm touch back to an IR camera to track and identity each chess piece. point onto a 0.336 mm section of a CCD sensor. When scaled to the size of typical mobile devices however, light loss with Fabrication Techniques 3D printed light pipes currently impacts upon sensing per- 3D printed light pipes function in a similar manner to op- formance. As a proof-of-concept prototype we instead use tical fiber with light reflecting internally as it travels along conventional optical fiber embedded in a 3D printed case to the length of the pipe. Internal reflection is caused by a dif- simulate this sensing technique. We arrange 32 ‘light pipes’ ference in the refractive index of the internal core (through so they are exposed on the sides of a mobile projector and which light travels) and the external cladding (which sur- piped back to a single 128 pixel photosensor array (Taos rounds the core) (Figure 6). We fabricate light pipes us- TSL202R). The TSL202R is capable of frame-rates up to ing model material (Objet VeroClear) for the core and sup- 40,000 hz for extremely responsive touch interaction on (or port material (Objet Support Resin) for the cladding. The near) the device surface. We use two infrared (IR) LEDs em- model material cures into a rigid transparent material and the bedded in a laser-cut piece of acrylic to provide constant il- support material into a soft material designed to be easily lumination. Figure 4a shows our proof-of-concept prototype broken apart for quick removal. The difference in material demonstrating that the casing of a mobile projector can be density allows for TIR to occur. To create a mechanically embedded with light pipes for robust touch sensing. Single sound model, we surround the brittle support material with and multi-touch gestures can be used on the side of the device an outer casing of rigid material. We can fabricate light pipes to scroll and zoom in on projected content (Figure 4b). down to a thicknesses of 0.25mm core with a cladding layer thickness of 0.084mm. To create accurate digital geometry, Tangible Displays Tangible objects have been used to ex- we programmatically generate light pipe grids using Python tend the display area of tabletop and touchscreen surfaces inside the Rhinoceros 3D application (www.rhino3d.com). with optical fiber bundles [3, 10, 18] and prisms [19]. One of This geometry can then be exported into a mesh-based for- the inherent problems with optical fiber is maintaining align- mat suitable for 3D printing. ment with large numbers or long lengths of fiber during me- chanical assembly. 3D printed light pipes avoid this issue INTERNAL ILLUMINATION as individual pipes can be accurately fabricated and enclosed 3D printing is known for its ability to precisely fabricate the inside a simultaneously printed rigid support structure. Op- outer form of physical objects and has been used to create timal packing patterns can be produced in software to max- a variety of unique displays [1, 2, 29, 36]. Optically clear imize light transmission with large display grids. Although material allows for the design and fabrication of inner forms currently the optical quality is inferior to traditional optical elements, light pipes do provide a highly accessible and cus- CASING - Model Material tomizable alternative. We have developed a set of tangible chess pieces that dis- CORE - Model Material play content piped from a diffuse illumination tabletop sur- face. A 62 x 34 grid of 0.5 mm light pipes is embed- ded in the base of each chess piece and provides a display CLADDING - Support Material area perpendicular to the tabletop surface (Figure 5). Con- textual information, such as chess piece location and sug- Figure 6: Light pipes consist of a rigid transparent core, gested moves, can be displayed on each individual piece us- a soft cladding, and a rigid outer casing.
- 5. Sheet Tube Embedded Dot Heart Shape a b Figure 7: Sheets, tubes, and dots are primitive ele- LED ments for fabricating reflective pockets of air inside a 3D print. Due to material settling, digital geometry (a) differs slightly from the actual printed form (b). Figure 9: A toy character with an embedded heart shape made from tubes of enclosed air and illuminated within a 3D printed model. Internal structures can be viewed with an LED. from the outside and highlighted with illumination. Inter- nal illumination can be used with interactive devices to dis- play information ranging from simple indicators to complex to 3D dots using a Z axis depth map. An automated cam- volumetric displays. In this section of the paper we intro- era calibration routine is used to compensate for any slight duce techniques for internal illumination by creating reflec- mechanical misalignments. tive pockets of air within a solid transparent model. Internal Patterns 3D printed tubes are hollow cylinder-like Example Applications structures printed vertically (Figure 7). Tubes are particularly We outline several example applications that demonstrate well suited to represent arbitrary shapes inside a 3D printed uses for internal illumination. model. Because it is not yet possible to enclose arbitrary hol- low shapes (due to issues of overhang and support material Volumetric Displays 3D printed internal structures are an extraction), tubes represent a useful approximation. We cre- enabling technology for static-volume volumetric displays, ated a toy character with a glowing heart embedded inside allowing precise alignment of 3D pixels within a volume. (Figure 1b). The heart is made from a set of hollow tubes Although volumetric displays have been implemented in a packed together and illuminated from below with an LED number of ways [9, 25], 3D printing allows a new level of (Figure 9). Although a simple example, the internal struc- control over the shape, size, and resolution of the display. tures are very difficult to achieve with other manufacturing Using the versatility of 3D printing, we implemented a volu- techniques. We found that tubes can be reliably created down metric display based on Passive Optical Scatterers [28]. to 0.6 mm and packed together with a minimum distance of 0.6 mm between tubes. This enables relatively good reso- We explored a mobile form factor for a volumetric display lution to represent arbitrary internal shapes. by embedding an 4 x 8 x 11 array of 1.2 mm dot-shaped air pockets (Figure 7) inside a 40 x 80 x 50 mm volume Internal Text 3D printed sheets are flat rectangular air pock- of transparent 3D printed material (Figure 8). The display ets that can be used to approximate lines (Figure 7). Text is mounted to a laser-based mobile projector (Microvision within a 3D printed structure can be fabricated to create ro- ShowWX+). 32 x 32 pixel blocks are used to address each bust signage that is resistant to impact and everyday wear. of the dots inside the volume. 2D pixel blocks are mapped The optical clarity of the material makes it possible to view internal text under normal daylight lighting conditions or with illumination at night. Using 3D printed sheets to fab- ricate internal text, we created a nixie tube style numeric Projected Image Z Axis Depth Map 1 2 display (Figure 10a). Individual 3D printed layers with em- 3 4 5 6 bedded numbers are mounted together and side-illuminated 7 8 9 10 11 using either an LED or a mobile projector (Figure 10b). 3D Printed Volumetric Display Mobile Projector Figure 8: A mobile volumetric display created with a b embedded dots of air inside a 3D printed volume. A sphere is displayed inside the volume by remapping Figure 10: A numeric display (a) created with hollow 2D pixels using a Z axis depth map. sheets of air that reflect light when illuminated (b).
- 6. Fabrication Techniques By creating enclosed pockets of air within a solid transpar- ent model, light intersects with these air pockets and is trans- mitted or reflected depending on the angle of incidence. By carefully designing the geometry of the air pockets light can be guided internally within the model or externally out to- a b wards the users eye. Air pockets can be created using 3D printers that deposit small beads of material layer-by-layer to build up a model. As individual beads of material are de- posited, they must have a supporting surface beneath them or they fall down with gravity. However, a small amount of step-over (overhang) from layer to layer allows for hol- low areas to be slowly closed. In practice a step-over angle c d equivalent to 14◦ from vertical allows air pockets to be reli- ably closed with minimum shape distortion. Greater step- Figure 11: User inputs such as push (a), rotation over angles cause the material to fall into the air pocket and (b), linear movement (c), and acceleration (d) can be slowly raise the air pocket location vertically or fill it en- sensed by the displacement of a 3D printed light guide. tirely. Figure 7 shows a series of primitive elements that can be fabricated from air pockets. The digital geometry sent to the printer (left) differs from the actual air pocket shape fab- ricated (right). This difference is due to beads of material state (Figure 13a). Elastic deformation causes the light guide settling without direct support structure during the fabrica- to return to a high state when the user releases the button. tion process. To programmatically generate patterns from the The elasticity of the light guide provides clear haptic feed- dot, tube, and sheet primitives, we use the Grasshopper envi- back that can be accentuated with small surface detents on ronment (www.grasshopper3d.com) inside Rhinoceros. This the button shaft. allows primitive elements to be mapped to lines, enclosed within solids, or aligned with illumination sources. We sense rotation with a screw dial that gradually lowers to displace the light guide (Figure 11b). When fully inserted SENSING MECHANICAL MOVEMENT the receiver returns a low signal and returns to a high state Optical sensing of mechanical movement has been achieved as the screw dial is extracted. Custom thread pitches can be in a number of form-factors [8, 15, 31, 35, 37]. Our approach designed for precise control over how quickly the screw dial uses 3D printing to create custom optical sensing embedded transitions between the two extremes. in interactive devices. We use low-cost IR emitter/receiver pairs, to sense common user inputs such as rotation, push, We sense linear movement with a mechanical slider that de- linear movement, and acceleration. Our approach offers sev- presses the light guide when moved from one side to the other eral benefits. Firstly, custom sensors can be designed and (Figure 11c). The light guide is angled downward so that it prototyped with minimal effort. 3D printed sensors allow rests just below the slider at one end and is above the slider convenient, fast, accurate, and repeatable sensor fabrication. at the other end. As the slider is moved by the user, the light In many cases only a generic IR emitter-receiver pair are re- guide is displaced to register a low reading. quired on the electronics side. Secondly, custom sensors can be embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of a de- We sense acceleration by printing extra material on the end vice. This enables sensing of user input through the walls of of a light guide to enhance the effects of outside motion (Fig- a device, greatly simplifies hardware assembly, and produces ure 11d). The extra weight causes the light guide to be dis- robust high fidelity prototypes. placed when the the user moves the device along an axis per- pendicular to the light guide. The effects of gravity can also Example Applications be perceived, as the weighted light guide slumps downwards We introduce example applications that demonstrate how 3D causing displacement. printed optical elements can be used to detect common me- chanical movements. Sensing Displacement We have developed a library of me- chanical movements that can be mapped to a displacement sensing scheme. In this scheme a flexible light guide mounted below the surface of a device is physically displaced to change the amount of IR light traveling between an emitter-receiver pair (Figure 11, 13a). Displacement sensing provides a ver- satile way to sense a number of user inputs with 3D printed optical elements. a b We sense push and pressure with a button that applies linear Figure 12: Rotary motion of a scroll wheel (a) and force to displace the light guide (Figure 11a). As the user linear motion of a slider (b) can be sensed with IR light presses the button the receiver changes from a high to a low passing through 3D printed mask material.
- 7. IR Receiver HIGH STATE Button IR Emitter IR Receiver Scroll Wheel IR Emitter HIGH STATE Light Guide Mask Material 3D Printed Mask Material Enclosure Acrylic Cap IR Emitter FTIR IR Receiver LOW STATE LOW STATE Figure 14: FTIR touch sensing embedded within a 3D printed enclosure. a b bedded support material so that a distinctive change in light Figure 13: Mechanical force moves a 3D printed light guide below a button (a) and a rotary encoder pattern intensity is registered by the receiver. Figure 13b illustrates within a scroll wheel (b) from a high state (top) to a low the high (top) and low (bottom) states of a rotary encoder. state (bottom). We use standard 3mm or side-look (Honeywell SEP8706) 940nm IR LEDs and light-to-voltage sensors (Taos TSL260R) Sensing With Encoders We fabricate custom linear and ro- as the emitters and receivers for both displacement and en- tary encoders with 3D printing by creating a mask pattern coder sensing in this section. Modulation of the emitter- from two different materials and sensing the change in light receiver pair would provide further robustness to varying am- transmission through each material as the encoder moves. bient light conditions. We sense scroll wheel motion by embedding sections of EMBEDDED COMPONENTS mask material in the body of a scroll wheel (Figure 12a). As 3D printing technology grows in sophistication, we en- An IR emitter-receiver pair are mounted in the scroll wheel vision it will be possible to automatically ‘drop-in’ compo- housing on either side. As the scroll wheel is turned, a high- nents during the fabrication process [4, 22, 33], using part low pattern is returned by the receiver that can be decoded placement robots similar to those employed for PC board into a relative rotation value based on the mask pattern de- manufacture. Drop-in embedded components are physically sign. More complex absolute encoding schemes can also robust, enable tight mechanical tolerances, and allow easy be achieved using the same basic principle with multiple compartmentalization. Combining optical components with emitter-receiver pairs. transparent materials allows sensing, display, and illumina- tion to take place through the casing without exposing com- We sense slider motion by embedding a mask pattern into the ponents directly on the surface of a device. Eventually, we shaft holding the slider (Figure 12b). An IR emitter-receiver envision it will be possible to 3D print electronic components pair are mounted inside the slider housing on either side of in their entirety [7, 26]. Although it is not yet possible to the shaft. As the user moves the slider a high-low pattern is automatically insert or print electronic components on com- returned to the receiver. mercial 3D printers, it is possible to simulate the results of embedded optical components by manually inserting them Fabrication Techniques during the print process. In this section of the paper we in- Sensing Displacement Our displacement sensing scheme troduce a number of techniques for designing, fabricating, uses transparent material to create a flexible light guide be- and interacting with optoelectronic components embedded in tween an IR emitter-receiver pair. Light from the emitter transparent 3D printed enclosures. travels through a small aperture surrounded by light-blocking mask (support) material and reflects inside the light guide un- Example Applications til it meets the receiver. In its normal state light travels into We introduce example applications that demonstrate uses for the receiver to register a high reading (Figure 13a, top). The 3D printed optical elements with embedded optoelectronic light guide can be displaced with mechanical force, causing components. the receiver to register a lower reading (Figure 13a, bottom). A range of intermediate values are returned between these Embedded FTIR Sensing Frustrated total internal reflec- two states. In all cases the flexible light guide is positioned tion (FTIR) based sensing is known for its robust and pre- just below the surface of the sensor housing and mechani- cise touch-sensing performance. Typically individual com- cally displaced by outside force. Emitters and receivers are ponents are mounted alongside an optical surface that users inserted into the housing walls with precisely aligned slots. interact with [13, 17, 27]. In our approach we embed com- ponents inside the optical surface to produce a very robust Sensing With Encoders To create rotary and linear encoders and completely enclosed FTIR implementation. In a basic we use an IR emitter-receiver pair mechanically mounted on configuration, an LED emitter is embedded in a hollow area either side of a rotary shaft/linear rail. A 3D printed mask within the 3D print and light is emitted directly into a flat pattern is embedded into the rotary shaft/linear rail to pro- sensing surface (Figure 14). An IR receiver is mounted per- duce signal changes. The mask pattern is created with em- pendicular to the sensing surface and detects light reflected
- 8. 3D Printed Cap 3D Printed Cap Acrylic Cap Insert Acrylic Cap Insert IR Emitter LED Component Insert b Extra 3D Printed IR Receiver Material for Surface Smoothing 3D Printed 4-Way Reflector FTIR Touch Surface 3D Printed Lens Figure 15: Exploded view of a D-pad made with embedded optoelectronic components. A 3D printed a c 4-way reflector is used to direct light into a custom Figure 17: Optoelectronic components are inserted, shaped FTIR touch surface. capped, and enclosed inside a 3D printed model to create a custom lens (a). The quality of the lens sur- face finish (b) can be improved by depositing additional by fingers coming into contact with the outer surface. A more uniform layers of material (c). complex variation of the same sensing technique is shown in our four-way D-pad sensor (Figure 1d). A flat side-look LED (Honeywell SEP8706) is embedded facing a four-way the component to be inserted. Support material printing must reflector that splits light towards four embedded IR receivers be disabled to ensure that it is not deposited inside the com- (Taos TSL260R) (Figure 15). An analog touch reading is ponent area. If the component is inserted flush with the top of measured at each of the sensors. As with standard FTIR an the model, printing is continued to completely enclose it in- approximate measurement of pressure is returned based on side. If an area of air is desired around the component, a laser the amount of skin contact and light reflectivity. cut transparent acrylic ‘cap’ is affixed above the component to seal it in before printing continues (Figure 17). Lenses We embed optoelectronic inside 3D printed plano- convex and plano-concave lenses to better control the di- Hollow cavities created for components do not have an opti- rectionality of illumination or optical sensing. The base of cally clear finish (Figure 17b) and it is not practical to sand the 3D print makes up the planar side of the lens and the or buff these small cavities during the print process. How- curved lens surface is fabricated below the component then ever, we discovered a unique technique to improve the sur- smoothed with extra layers of material deposition. Figure 16 face quality of cavities by depositing additional uniform lay- shows two identical LEDs embedded with 3D printed plano- ers of material. This material is deposited from above and convave (a) and plano-convex (b) lenses. falls into the cavity in a liquid state to smooth its surface. Figure 17c shows the improved surface finish achieved when Beamsplitters We fabricate rudimentary beamsplitters by ten additional layers of material are deposited. creating prisms in front of embedded components. Based on the angle of incidence, some light passes through the DISCUSSION prism and the remainder reflects off in another direction. Fig- 3D printed optical elements have unique limitations that should ure 16c shows an LED with light being split in two directions be considered during the design and fabrication process. by the embedded prism. Light Pipe Transmission Fabrication Techniques 3D printed light pipes fabricated with our current setup suffer We manually insert optical components during the 3D print- from limited light transmission. To more accurately charac- ing process in a similar manner to [22]. The digital geometric terize the conditions under which light loss occurs, we per- model is designed in such a way that a hollow area is left for formed light measurement tests with light pipes over varying distances and curvature. To simulate a typical application scenario we used off-the-shelf components: a red 5mm LED emitter and a photodiode-based receiver (Taos TSL12S). For each reading, light was directed into the light pipe with the emitter and a voltage value measured from the receiver at the other end. The emitter and detector were coupled to the a b c test pieces using custom slots, similar to those shown in Fig- ure 11-13, and without surface finishing. Figure 16: Two identical LEDs are embedded with a 3D printed plano-concave (a) and plano-convex (b) For the distance test we compared the light transmittance of lens. A beam-splitter sends light in two directions (c). a 2mm 3D printed light pipe, to a commercially produced
- 9. Sensor Response (Volts) 5 5 1mm Sensor Response (Volts) Commercial PMMA 4 4 Optical Fiber 3 3 Straight Light Pipe 2 2 3D Printed 1 1 Curved Light Pipe Light Pipe 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Length (mm) Arc Radius (mm) a b Figure 18: Light transmittance of 3D printed light pipes compared to commercial optical fiber (a) and transmit- tance of 50mm 3D printed light pipes in 90◦ arcs with increasing curvature radius (b). Model Material 0.5mm Light Pipe 2mm optical fiber made of PMMA. The 3D printed light pipes consisted of a core, cladding, and casing configuration Support Material with distances ranging from 10-100mm in 10mm increments. Figure 19: Magnified view of the material intersections The commercial optical fiber was cut to the same lengths and in 3D printed light pipes. mounted in a rigid casing. For the curvature test we created a series of light pipes following a 90◦ arc, each with an in- crementally larger radius. The length of the light pipes was ing). Flat surface finishing can be performed using power extended on each end to be precisely 50mm in total length. tools such as a belt sander and buffing wheel. Curved sur- faces require hand sanding and are more time intensive. Tex- Figure 18a shows that 3D printed light pipes currently suffer tured surfaces or surfaces with small micro-facets are diffi- from increasing light loss with distance. Adding curvature to cult to perform finishing on without specialized equipment. a light pipe further increases light loss when compared to a Internal surfaces can generally not be reached to perform straight light pipe of equal length (Figure 18b). We believe manual surface finishing, but applying additional layers of this limited performance is due to two factors. Firstly, the uniform material cover can improve the quality of the sur- contours where two different materials intersect are currently face (Figure 17c). not perfectly smooth (Figure 19). Microscopic unevenness on internal surfaces result in light being lost or redirected Clarity in unpredictable ways. However, we found the consistency Based on our experiences with the Objet Eden260V, we have between ten identical 50mm straight prints to be high, with found that the clarity of 3D printed optical elements currently a standard deviation of 0.0822V when measuring transmit- depends on several factors. Model Thickness: thicker models tance as previously described. Secondly, although we know tend to lose optical clarity and appear increasingly cloudy. the refractive index of the core material, no information is Print Direction: the greatest clarity is seen when looking available for the refractive index of the cladding material. perpendicular to the printed layers, looking parallel to the Because we use support material that is not intended as an printed layers appears blurrier. UV Exposure: Overexposure optical material, its performance as cladding is understand- to UV light during the curing process can cause a loss in opti- ably low. We can assume that the refractive index of each cal clarity, making the model appear yellow in color. Surface material is close enough to restrict the angle of incidence to Quality: greater clarity can be achieved with extra sanding a relatively small value and thereby limit internal reflection. steps during the finishing process. Although the current materials and printing process we use Hollow Areas are not optimized for optical performance, promising mate- As 3D printed objects are built up layer by layer, hollow areas rials science research has demonstrated that photopolymer typically require support material inside the hollow. Print- waveguides can be fabricated in both planar [14] and non- ing completely enclosed hollow areas can seal the support planar [24] forms with minimal light loss. We are therefore material inside with no means for it to be extracted. Com- optimistic about the possibilities for fabricating light pipes pletely enclosed hollow areas of air can be fabricated using in the next generation of optically optimized 3D printers. It jet deposition-based machines by disabling support material is worth noting that many commercial display technologies and using internal geometry with minimal step-over in the routinely encounter significant light loss, e.g., resistive touch vertical axis. This requirement for self-supporting geometry screens reduce display light transmission by up to 20% [11]. limits the design space when creating hollow areas. In the- ory, internal geometry can be combined with arbitrary exter- Surface Finishing nal geometry complete with overhangs and support material. In current generation 3D printers, unfinished surfaces appear In practice, the 3D printer we made use of did not allow se- smooth and transparent to the naked eye, but not optically lective use of support material; it must be either enabled or clear. Unfinished surfaces can be used when some amount disabled for each print. This restriction, however, can be re- of light scattering is acceptable, however to maximize light solved with an improved software interface to the 3D printer. passing to/from the interior of a 3D printed optical element, surface finishing should be performed (i.e. sanding and buff- Despite these limitations, by demonstrating the capabilities
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