Slashdot Mirror
A Computer Display in Ordinary Sunglasses?
DonaldP asks: "I've been making head-mounted displays for wearable computers for a couple or three years now; I think my latest and greatest 3rd Generation display is a big step ahead! It fits inside a normal-looking pair of sunglasses. Why would I do something like this? As far as I know, this is one of the only ones available out there - the only others that come close are made by MicroOptical Corporation, but it's been years and you STILL can't actually BUY any of their products. With large companies like Xybernaut holding plenty of patents on wearable computers and going strong, is there a place for my little one-man company? Any tips for making it on my own? Or is my best hope to hook up with a giant?" I've been waiting for a nice and portable HMD for years, and this has the advantage of not making you look like a Borg reject (although some of you might like that look). HMDs still have a way to go to be practical for everyday use (many still require perfect vision or contacts because they are clumsy with glasses) but I'm sure these drawbacks will be fixed with time.
Google Cache to main page (not all about the glasses)
Related
Front Page of Glasses page.
This is a third generation covert HMD display. Through these sunglasses, I have a monochrome 320x240 VGA display superimposed right in front of me. I can see normally. If I were looking at you, I would see a computer screen floating over your face, centered on your nose.
My first generation displays were crude and bulky in comparison - but many of my first generation displays also contained a video camera in addition to the display.
The second generation displays were much improved and incorporated a beam splitter (half-silvered mirror) into the design rather than a front-silvered optical mirror. The main lens was also customized.
The third generation design fits well in my sunglasses and is more rugged, smaller in overall dimensions, and has custom parts for everything - including the backlight for the display itself.
The third generation covert display is also a leap forward in appearance. Previous generations either required oversized safety glasses to house the display, or had pieces or wires very exposed. The third generation display looks almost completely normal from the front as well as from the side that houses the display. The single thin, flexible black cable - easily concealed - is the biggest hint there is more than meets the eye!
A look through the glasses
This is what it looks like to look through the glasses. Here you can see the "pine" mail program running while I look at my good friend Jack Daniels. This is an actual unedited (but cropped) picture taken with a digital camera through the display. It sees what your eye would see. (The white bar at the bottom is a video artifact due to the modeline I was using to supply the video signal)
The display itself uses a beamsplitter to reflect the image into your eye. The unique properties allow it a "see-though" effect (demonstrated in the following links with a second-generation display) that makes the reflector display an image when the unit is powered on, and appear transparent when the display is off.
Fourth-Generation?
So, what is next? Right now there is no immediate path forward to a fourth-generation display, but it will doubtlessly incorporate one or several of the following advances:
Color
Higher resolution
Even smaller optical assembly
re-intruduction of embedded video camera
The ultimate display would be able to fit unnoticed in a regular pair of untinted eyeglasses.
YES! I build third-generation displays for people! I don't have the info on the web yet, so please email me if you are interested!
You can also take a quick look at my For Sale page, where I currently have services listed for building Second-Generation displays.