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Domain: rickleephoto.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to rickleephoto.com.

Comments · 7

  1. Re:It's obvious by bjs555 · · Score: 0 · on Are There Affordable Low-DPI Large-Screen LCD Monitors?

    Here's another Fresnel lens with a mount made for a computer monitor:
    http://www.ergoindemand.com/lcd-computer-magnifier-filter.htm
    Some gamers claim a Fresnel lens makes the gaming experience more realistic since your eyes remain focused at close to infinity. See, for example:
    http://www.rickleephoto.com/rlcoll.htm

  2. Re:Soldiers of the sea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Voters Vote Yes, County Says No

    I'm a U.S. Marine.

    The distinction between sailor, soldier, and Marine is important to us.

    Just thought I'd chime in.


    Indeed it is. Mod the parent up, tell him thank you and when he is done tell him Welcome Home. And let's make it a welcome home immediately on arrival this time.

    I was first introduced to that song on EFnet by Roy Minier who was the founder of Flight Deck Software till PTSD influenced him to sell it. Things went downhill for quite a while, even to the point he was in very bad shape when a friend stopped in and he was hospitalized and then placed in an old folks home, later efforts were made to move him from the less then suitable home and he ended up with modified powered wheel-chair that he was found of. Having made the decision to leave the world of chat rooms not long after that, I have no idea if he is even still alive, him or numerous other Vietnam vets that I met there, including some Australian veterans. Some of their poetry etc is located on the internet, much of which was exchanged and sometimes written on the spot in those chatrooms. Such a poem was Fire Mission.

    To each and every one of them though, I wish them peace of mind, welcome home and thank you very much and that goes to every veteran who stood up for the rest of us, regardless of politics.
  3. Depth up close? by AndroidCat · · Score: 1, Informative · on Massive Multiplayer Gaming Warehouses On The Way

    Tinkering with a fresnel lens to get a larger virtual display with depth. (Haven't tried this, don't know how well it works.)

  4. Multiple Screens, HMDs, and Virtual Presence by cr0sh · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Tom's Hardware Reviews Multi-Display Gaming
    It seems that the better our 3D first person games get, the more push there is for the goal of total immersion. Why it has taken this long, I don't know. The graphics are there, but the means to immerse oneself into them are not. Gamers are finding they want more, but they are also find that to get it, they will have to spend some dough.

    Enter multiple monitors. This is a good solution, but gamers will likely find that the solution may be unwieldy and expensive. Furthermore, it will still lack the depth that they seek to immerse themselves into the game. Lastly, the edges of the monitors will ultimately get in the way, though this is a minor problem compared to the expense and the need for a large desk.

    One thing that is rarely discussed or seen is how to get better depth from a single (or multi) monitor setup. The way to do it, which the simulator industry has done for years, is by using a collimated display. These displays work by taking the light output of a monitor, and forcing it to be more parallel, resulting in an increase of depth and immersion. However, these displays are typically expensive, due to the specialized optics (and niche market, of course). How can a home user do this themselves?

    Enter the fresnel lens - using such a lens (page magnifier), obtained from just about anywhere (or, alternatively, if you are willing to spend the money, buy a good one from Edmund Scientific Optics). Flashback on the "100 inch" TV projector projects (some would say scams), then flashback further to the AcidWarp projector box from DOS days, and even further back to the large fresnel lens TV magnifiers - you start to get the idea. Then, go to this page, and read it. Get immersed!

    Regarding HMDs - for good immersion you will want one with at least 60 degrees horizontal FOV, ideally with a high resolution. Such HMDs exist, but they are expensive, very expensive. Even lower res (ie, 640x480 or 800x600) will set you back some coin, especially if you buy new. If you want to play with HMDs, it is probably best to buy used (every now and then pro-level HMDs appear on Ebay for a fraction of what they cost new - recently, several Virtuality HMDs went up - I have also purchased a CyberEye CE-200M on Ebay before as well, with 3DOF magnetic head tracker, for around $300.00). You can also go the homebrew route - use small TFT LCD TVs mounted to a hardhat headband, with credit-card size fresnel lenses as magnifiers. Likely your first tries will be abject failures, but subsequent modding will yield a reasonable HMD for little monetary outlay (but lots of invested time). Back in the day, PCVR magazine ran lots of articles on this - information on building homebrew HMDs seems to have faded from the collective memory. You won't get the resolution or the FOV of a high-end HMD, but you can easily approach, and in many-ways exceed, that of low to lower-mid level HMDs, if you only try...

  5. Re:Removing the Gaps Between the Monitors by mnemonic_ · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Flight Simulator 2002 With 13 Monitors And 9 PCs

    Some fresnel lenses should do the trick. The monitors with the attached lens boxes could be spaced and angled to make the edges of the lens boxes adjacent.

  6. There will always be "The Knack" by swordboy · · Score: 2 · on Quirky Engineers Gone the Way of the Dinosaur?

    Even if you don't want to live with the "quirky guru", they will always exist!

  7. Too small? Use a fresnel lens! by Masker · · Score: 2 · on Dell Offering 1600x1200 Laptops

    Ok, I don't know if this would work or not, but most people's complaints about this seem to be that this resolution is too small to be usable. Well, how about using a fresnel lens like this? I guess that it might interfere a little with image quality, but you do still gain desktop space. Of course, you'd have to come up with some support mechanism other than a styrofoam box, but I'm sure that enterprising geeks could come up with something.

    What do you guys think?