Valerie Thomas May Well Change the Way We Watch Television

Little Valerie Thomas was fascinated with technology as a child. She often helped her father while he tinkered with radios and other electronics. She borrowed a book from the library titled "The Boy's First Book on Electronics." After all, books for girls interested in electronics were non-existent.

At the time Thomas attended her all-girls high school, the fields of science and technology were still considered inappropriate for young girls to study.

By the time she reached Morgan State University, Thomas' curiosity and fascination with technology had not waned. She was one of only two women to graduate with a degree in physics.

Thomas landed a position with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a data analyst. She ended up managing the "Landsat" project which is an image processing system allowing a satellite to transmit images from space.

At a scientific seminar, Thomas was enthralled with an optical illusion demonstration. Concave mirrors were used to trick an observer into believing a light bulb continued to glow even after it had been unscrewed.

So Thomas began conducting her own experiments using both flat and concave, or curved, mirrors. A flat mirror reflects something which appears to be behind the glass. But the concave mirror actually makes the reflection seem to be in front of the glass. This illusion makes an item appear to exist in a three-dimensional capacity.

Concave mirrors are set up at both ends of transmission. The end result is that the image on the receiving end takes on a three-dimensional effect.

Thomas could see the potential in this illusion, not only for commercial television, but also for NASA's image system.

Thomas applied for a patent for her process in December of 1979 and received Patent No. 4, 229,761 on October 21, 1980 for what she termed the "Illusion Transmitter."

Although holographic reproduction is possible, it is not always feasible. It uses coherent radiation and requires a complicated setup.

The process in the description of Thomas' patent reads, in part: "Optical illusions may be produced by parabolic mirrors wherein such images produced thereby are possessed with three dimensional attributes. The optical effect may be explained by the fact that the human eyes see an object from two view points separated laterally by about six centimeters. The two views show slightly different spatial relationships between near and near distant objects and the visual process fuses these stereoscopic views to a single three dimensional impression. The same parallax view of an object may be experienced upon reflection of an object seen from a concave mirror." [1]

Thomas retired as Associate Chief of the Space Science Data Operations Office at the end of August 1995. She has spoken to numerous groups of students from elementary age to college and adult level. She also mentored students and worked with organizations such as the National Technical Association (NTA) and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), encouraging minorities and women to consider careers in science and technology.

Thomas received the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal.

Thanks to the efforts and invention of Valerie Thomas, 3D may someday replace HD.

[1] Free Patents Online