My research interests include ‘uninstrumented’ 3D display technologies such as volumetric displays and holography. Especially, I am interested in combining applied physics (e.g. wave-front control of sound and light) with end-user engineering (e.g. high-performance computing and hardware design) to create novel 3D interfaces. My concept of 3D displays include not only displaying 3D visual images but also audio and haptics content. My goal is to develop a display system that can provide realistic multimodal user experiences, without the need to wear headsets as well as other devices (e.g. headphones, controllers, data-gloves).

My PhD mainly focused on a design method of unique 3D structures containing multiple 2D images, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning book ‘Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid’. The designed structures can display different images when viewed from different directions and thus can be used as a directional display. I also worked on developments of new types of volumetric displays and high-performance computing for real-time holographic displays.

Recently, I have been working on using phased arrays of ultrasound transducers. The ultrasound waves that I am using are simply mechanical energy that move through the air while making the air particles vibrate. By controlling this mechanical energy in 3D space, we can create content what we see, hear and touch. I am aiming to create a novel 3D interface, which is like 3D holograms portrayed in popular science-fiction movies, by making use of such ultrasound’s unique ability of directly controlling matter in real world.