Adjusting parallax barriers

1. A device comprising:

a display screen to display a stereoscopic image to a viewer, the stereoscopic image comprising a right-eye image and a left-eye image;

a sensor to measure a first distance between the viewer and the device;

a first parallax barrier that covers a surface of the display screen, the surface transmitting the stereoscopic image toward the viewer, wherein the first parallax barrier comprises a predetermined number of parallax barrier clusters that are parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another by a barrier cluster pitch distance, and wherein each of the parallax barrier clusters includes a predetermined number of parallax barrier elements that are parallel to one another and parallel to the parallax barrier clusters and spaced apart from one another by a barrier element pitch distance;

one or more processors configured to:

determine the first distance based on output from the sensor;

determine a second distance between a right eye of the viewer and a left eye of the viewer;

move the parallax barrier elements in each parallax barrier cluster based on the first distance and the second distance to change the barrier element pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier elements in the respective parallax barrier cluster, the changing of the barrier element pitch distance inversely changing the barrier cluster pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier clusters by the change to the barrier element pitch distance times the number of parallax barrier elements in the parallax barrier cluster minus one parallax barrier element, and wherein the changes in barrier element pitch distance and barrier cluster pitch distance are variable and not limited to a predetermined incremental amount or multiple thereof; and

emit, from the display screen and through spaces between the parallax barrier clusters, light rays from the right-eye image toward the right eye of the viewer and light rays from the left-eye image toward the left eye of the viewer.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes at least one of:

a tablet computer, a cellular phone, and a laptop computer.

3. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a camera to capture an image of a face of the viewer, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

auto-focus the image of the face;

detect an image of the left eye in the image of the face;

detect an image of the right eye in the image of the face; and

determine the second distance between the right eye and the left eye based on the detected images of the right eye and the left eye.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes a sensor for auto-focusing a camera.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of:

an infrared sensor, an ultrasound sensor, a range-finder, and a proximity sensor.

6. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a second parallax barrier that overlays the first parallax barrier, wherein the second parallax barrier includes parallax barrier clusters that run perpendicularly to the first parallax barrier clusters.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

turn the first parallax barrier transparent when the device is in a portrait mode; and

turn the second parallax barrier transparent when the device is in a landscape mode.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine an angle between light rays from the right eye image to the right eye of the viewer and light rays from the left-eye image to the left eye of the viewer.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first parallax barrier includes an upper layer and a lower layer, and wherein each of the parallax barrier clusters includes parallax barrier elements that belong to either the upper layer or the lower layer.

10. A method comprising:

determining a first distance between a viewer and a display of a device, wherein the display comprises a first parallax barrier including a predetermined number of parallax barrier clusters that are parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another by a barrier cluster pitch distance, and wherein each of the parallax barrier clusters includes a predetermined number of parallax barrier elements that are parallel to one another and parallel to the parallax barrier clusters and spaced apart from one another by a barrier element pitch distance;

determining a second distance between a right eye of the viewer and a left eye of the viewer;

moving the parallax barrier elements in each parallax barrier cluster based on the first distance and the second distance to change the barrier element pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier elements in the respective parallax barrier cluster, the changing of the barrier element pitch distance inversely changing the barrier cluster pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier clusters by the change to the barrier element pitch distance times the number of parallax barrier elements in the parallax barrier cluster minus one parallax barrier element, and wherein the changes in barrier element pitch distance and barrier cluster pitch distance are variable and not limited to a predetermined incremental amount or multiple thereof; and

emitting, from the display and through spaces between the parallax barrier clusters, light rays of a right-eye image of a stereoscopic image and a left-eye image of the stereoscopic image to the right eye of the viewer and the left eye of the viewer, respectively.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the first distance includes: measuring the first distance based on an auto-focusing component.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the second distance between the right eye of the viewer and the left eye of the viewer includes:

detecting an image of a right eye in an image of a face of the viewer;

detecting an image of a left eye in the image of the face of the viewer; and

determining the second distance based on the detected image of the right eye and the detected image of the left eye.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the device includes a second parallax barrier over the first parallax barrier, the second parallax barrier including parallax barrier clusters that run perpendicular to the first parallax barrier clusters.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

turning the first parallax barrier transparent when the device is in a portrait mode for displaying stereoscopic images; and

turning the second parallax barrier transparent when the device is in a landscape mode for displaying stereoscopic images.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing one or more processors executing the instructions to:

determine a first distance between a viewer and a display of a device based on an output of an auto-focusing component, wherein the display comprises a first parallax barrier including a predetermined number of parallax barrier clusters that are parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another by a barrier cluster pitch distance, and wherein each of the parallax barrier clusters includes a predetermined number of parallax barrier elements that are parallel to one another and parallel to the parallax barrier clusters and spaced apart from one another by a barrier element pitch distance;

capture an image of a face of the viewer;

detect an image of a right eye of the viewer and an image of a left eye of the viewer in the image of the face of the viewer;

determine a second distance between the right eye of the viewer and the left eye of the viewer based on the image of the right eye and the image of the left eye;

move the parallax barrier elements in each parallax barrier cluster based on the first distance and the second distance to change the barrier element pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier elements in the respective parallax barrier cluster, the changing of the barrier element pitch distance inversely changing the barrier cluster pitch distance between adjacent pairs of parallax barrier clusters by the change to the barrier element pitch distance times the number of parallax barrier elements in the parallax barrier cluster minus one parallax barrier element, and wherein the changes in barrier element pitch distance and barrier cluster pitch distance are variable and not limited to a predetermined incremental amount or multiple thereof; and

emit, from the display and through the spaces between the parallax barrier clusters, light rays of a right-eye image of a stereoscopic image and a left-eye image of the stereoscopic image to the right eye of the viewer and the left eye of the viewer, respectively.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions include instructions for causing the one or more processors executing the instructions to:

determine an angle between light rays from the right eye image to the right eye of the viewer and light rays from the left-eye image to the left-eye of the viewer.