A problem with projectors, especially if they are going to work via a smartphone setup in random locations, is projecting a regular image. The researchers who developed the projector at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena were able to solve this problem with a little biomimicry:
“Our projector consists of hundreds of tiny microprojectors in an array, each of which generates a complete image” explains Marcel Sieler, a scientist at IOF. “This technology, known as ‘array projection’, is modeled on nature – on the compound eye found in some insects – and with it for the first time we can create very thin and bright LED projection systems with tremendous imaging properties.”