Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the it-burns-mommy dept.
squidgy writes "The BBC are reporting on a system that can superimpose images over your vision using small lasers beaming the images directly onto the retina. This is already being used in the car manufacturing industry. You too could soon have T101 vision."
Does this work for everyone?
by
AtariAmarok
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Does this work for everyone who has vision? Or will it only work for some, like traditional 3D, or those few who could actually play the Nintendo Virtual Boy without getting a headache?
-- Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Re:Isn't this old news?
by
Lord+Bitman
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Miliary -> Industry -> Consumer You are here --^ ^-- We are awaiting this one
-- -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
One eye only?
by
Colonel+Angus
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
If an image is only being displayed on one eye would there not be some distortion whenever the other eye is open? I put my finger in front of my right eye. Close my right eye and my left eye cannot see it. Close my left eye and my right eye sees it fine. Open both eyes and it's a distorted "see-through" image of my finger. Would a similar effect not happen here or is there some compensation built into the device? I saw no mention of it in the article but perhaps someone has more information.
This is a Big Thing
by
pkaral
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I think it is hard to overestimate the long term impact of this technology, if it lives up to its promises. This could be the final piece in the puzzle needed to make wearable computing a mainstream reality (rather than a thing for visionary geeks). My guess is that within 10 years of the first real massmarket product, we will all be wearing those when working, driving, shopping, etc.
Could be good for gaming
by
loic_2003
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
for FPS games.... If this thing could be tweaked to provide an image for your entire field of vision it would be far superior than those nasty goggles that were used in 'Virtual Reality' systems a few years back. They were simply screens right infront of your eyes. Desert combat and the like would rock if you could use your peripheral vision. It wouldn't be much harder to sense if the eyes have moved and could allow the user to see larger images if they could look to the left and right and have the image scroll along...
Would be interesting to find if it gives headaches to the users like CRT monitors do these days..
Putting all the "cook your eyes with high-powered laser" jokes aside, this has several useful applications.
I'd like a subtitle application. A smart application analyses voices and sends subtitles only I can see.
"He's lying".
"She's eager but expecting disappointment"
"They want to buy, at any price".
"He's still lying".
Subtitling conversations is a great thing. But we can go further. GPS is an obvious plug-in. "Go left, now!" "Almost there" "Cops ahead, slow down and hide the bottles".
Next, how about linking this to streaming news sources. I'd never miss another Fark story. Granted, ticker-tape messages scrolling under your line of sight might get boring. But that's what bash.org is for.
I also want the reality-skinning software. This has been briefly touched on in a previous comment. We can go further. Everyone we meet can get their own photoshopped skin. The boss? He gets a moustache and bright red hair. That girl in finance who refuses all your expenses? A sign on her back saying 'Kick Me'.
Finally, I'd like a system of virtual real-world messaging. This works as follows: comments are linked to real spatial cordinates. As you look at the appropriate building or space, you get to read the comments. To keep comments semi-private, you'd have join a server and channel, like irc.
So I think laser-augmented vision has the potential to radically change society.
Of course we have to get around the fried-eye issues first.
--
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Re:Some uses for this...
by
infolib
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I'd like a subtitle application. A smart application analyses voices and sends subtitles only I can see.
Now what I'd like to see in the display is:
Name: Bob Greenham (92% certainty) Last met: Acme Conference june '06 Current position: Cyan Inc. (99% certainty) "Bob Greenham" found in one mail thread: Spokes for Acme Wheels (July '06, 3 mails)
-- Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
Apparently SF is not read anymore. Only "SciFi" like Andromeda and Star Trek stays in the collective memory, it seems. And those are derivative of much older and far more literate work.
Heinlein, Asimov, DeCamp, Pohl, Anderson, Campbell. Kuttner, Clarke, Stephenson, Gibson... all that history, all that work in vain? No one reads anymore?
This is OUR history! I grew up reading stories from the 30's, 40's and 50's. The source material for the people who grew up and built the present world. Snow Crash pretty much predicted the present so well that it doesn't even read like fiction.
I guess I'm spooked because I can't find people of a certain younger age who read SF anymore. A culture is built on stories, and geek culture is losing its own.
Re:Advertising Nightmare
by
argent
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
if you're running an operating system and user interface that lets other people pop stuff up in your field of view while you're driving, then Darwin will accept your sacrifice gladly.
I don't have any problem with "banners and popups", or with spyware or viruses, and I don't use any antivirus software at all...
Heads up display
by
wowbagger
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Oh come ON people, this is nothing more than a head mounted Heads up display - you know, like has been around for YEARS!
The only real difference is that this uses a scanning laser, rather than a CRT.
Yes, HMDs are cool. Yes, there are plenty of places HMDs would be nice ot have.
But COME ON - this is a new way of doing something that has been done before! It may lead to better HMDs, it may be a breakthrough.
BUT THE SIMPLE FACT THEY ARE USING LASERS DOES NOT MAKE THIS NEW TERRITORY!
When this becomes mainstream...
Television producers would be crushed...
You wouldn't have to buy posters for your wall...
Your little electric heater could look like a roaring fire...
Skin the world!
Retinal angle?
by
mhocker
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Did anyone understand how the system deals with the angle of the retina changing as the user moves their eyes? The retina is (if I understand it correctly) planar, which is how the cornea can focus images on it consistently. Yet the eyes are nearly spherical, meaning that the retina changes its angle as the eyes move.
The reason I ask is that, for this to produce accurate images, it would need to readjust the keystone of the image, much like a LCD projector must do that if it is mounted at an angle to the screen.
If it doesn't correct for this, I can imagine a strange warping effect to images as the eyes are turned.
Not that pricey
by
Steelwings
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
At $4k it cost less than a plasma display.
Eye and head tracking?
by
SilentTristero
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Seems like the really hard part of any augmented-reality HMD is to keep the displayed image in place over the real image. Are they doing eye tracking or just head tracking? Need to do both to get the displayed image really stable and avoid swimming and the resulting motion sickness. (As the eye swivels in the socket, the displayed image needs to change slightly to overlap the same real object.) The article doesn't say anything about their tracking, but IMHO it should.
The two most powerful applications are...
by
SuperGus
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
(1) Closed-captioning for hearing-impaired users, when coupled with voice reconition.
(2) Real-time foreign languge subtitles, when coupled with voice recognition (speaker talks in French, user sees English subtitles in field of view - "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smells of elderberries.")
(3) Real-time foreign language text translation, when coupled with OCR (read a menu in a French restaurant, see English meaning in field of view)
OK, three. The three most powerful applications are these, plus fanatical dedication to the Pope. Four. Amongst the four most powerful...
Surprisingly, I haven't seen a single post mentioning:
"pr0n on the go"
If your girlfriend/wife makes you go see something like "Uptown Girls" or "13 going on 20" (or whatever it's called)... Hey! Hey! I see potential in this.
-- I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
Slashdot Mirror
Does this work for everyone who has vision? Or will it only work for some, like traditional 3D, or those few who could actually play the Nintendo Virtual Boy without getting a headache?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Miliary -> Industry -> Consumer
You are here --^
^-- We are awaiting this one
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
If an image is only being displayed on one eye would there not be some distortion whenever the other eye is open? I put my finger in front of my right eye. Close my right eye and my left eye cannot see it. Close my left eye and my right eye sees it fine. Open both eyes and it's a distorted "see-through" image of my finger. Would a similar effect not happen here or is there some compensation built into the device? I saw no mention of it in the article but perhaps someone has more information.
I think it is hard to overestimate the long term impact of this technology, if it lives up to its promises. This could be the final piece in the puzzle needed to make wearable computing a mainstream reality (rather than a thing for visionary geeks). My guess is that within 10 years of the first real massmarket product, we will all be wearing those when working, driving, shopping, etc.
for FPS games.... If this thing could be tweaked to provide an image for your entire field of vision it would be far superior than those nasty goggles that were used in 'Virtual Reality' systems a few years back. They were simply screens right infront of your eyes. Desert combat and the like would rock if you could use your peripheral vision.
It wouldn't be much harder to sense if the eyes have moved and could allow the user to see larger images if they could look to the left and right and have the image scroll along...
Would be interesting to find if it gives headaches to the users like CRT monitors do these days..
http://www.frenchgeek.com/
Putting all the "cook your eyes with high-powered laser" jokes aside, this has several useful applications.
I'd like a subtitle application. A smart application analyses voices and sends subtitles only I can see.
"He's lying".
"She's eager but expecting disappointment"
"They want to buy, at any price".
"He's still lying".
Subtitling conversations is a great thing. But we can go further. GPS is an obvious plug-in. "Go left, now!" "Almost there" "Cops ahead, slow down and hide the bottles".
Next, how about linking this to streaming news sources. I'd never miss another Fark story. Granted, ticker-tape messages scrolling under your line of sight might get boring. But that's what bash.org is for.
I also want the reality-skinning software. This has been briefly touched on in a previous comment. We can go further. Everyone we meet can get their own photoshopped skin. The boss? He gets a moustache and bright red hair. That girl in finance who refuses all your expenses? A sign on her back saying 'Kick Me'.
Finally, I'd like a system of virtual real-world messaging. This works as follows: comments are linked to real spatial cordinates. As you look at the appropriate building or space, you get to read the comments. To keep comments semi-private, you'd have join a server and channel, like irc.
So I think laser-augmented vision has the potential to radically change society.
Of course we have to get around the fried-eye issues first.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Apparently SF is not read anymore. Only "SciFi" like Andromeda and Star Trek stays in the collective memory, it seems. And those are derivative of much older and far more literate work.
Heinlein, Asimov, DeCamp, Pohl, Anderson, Campbell. Kuttner, Clarke, Stephenson, Gibson... all that history, all that work in vain? No one reads anymore?
This is OUR history! I grew up reading stories from the 30's, 40's and 50's. The source material for the people who grew up and built the present world. Snow Crash pretty much predicted the present so well that it doesn't even read like fiction.
I guess I'm spooked because I can't find people of a certain younger age who read SF anymore. A culture is built on stories, and geek culture is losing its own.
if you're running an operating system and user interface that lets other people pop stuff up in your field of view while you're driving, then Darwin will accept your sacrifice gladly.
I don't have any problem with "banners and popups", or with spyware or viruses, and I don't use any antivirus software at all...
Oh come ON people, this is nothing more than a head mounted Heads up display - you know, like has been around for YEARS!
The only real difference is that this uses a scanning laser, rather than a CRT.
Yes, HMDs are cool. Yes, there are plenty of places HMDs would be nice ot have.
But COME ON - this is a new way of doing something that has been done before! It may lead to better HMDs, it may be a breakthrough.
BUT THE SIMPLE FACT THEY ARE USING LASERS DOES NOT MAKE THIS NEW TERRITORY!
www.eFax.com are spammers
When this becomes mainstream... Television producers would be crushed... You wouldn't have to buy posters for your wall... Your little electric heater could look like a roaring fire... Skin the world!
Did anyone understand how the system deals with the angle of the retina changing as the user moves their eyes? The retina is (if I understand it correctly) planar, which is how the cornea can focus images on it consistently. Yet the eyes are nearly spherical, meaning that the retina changes its angle as the eyes move.
The reason I ask is that, for this to produce accurate images, it would need to readjust the keystone of the image, much like a LCD projector must do that if it is mounted at an angle to the screen.
If it doesn't correct for this, I can imagine a strange warping effect to images as the eyes are turned.
At $4k it cost less than a plasma display.
Seems like the really hard part of any augmented-reality HMD is to keep the displayed image in place over the real image. Are they doing eye tracking or just head tracking? Need to do both to get the displayed image really stable and avoid swimming and the resulting motion sickness. (As the eye swivels in the socket, the displayed image needs to change slightly to overlap the same real object.) The article doesn't say anything about their tracking, but IMHO it should.
(1) Closed-captioning for hearing-impaired users, when coupled with voice reconition.
(2) Real-time foreign languge subtitles, when coupled with voice recognition (speaker talks in French, user sees English subtitles in field of view - "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smells of elderberries.")
(3) Real-time foreign language text translation, when coupled with OCR (read a menu in a French restaurant, see English meaning in field of view)
OK, three. The three most powerful applications are these, plus fanatical dedication to the Pope. Four. Amongst the four most powerful...
Surprisingly, I haven't seen a single post mentioning: "pr0n on the go" If your girlfriend/wife makes you go see something like "Uptown Girls" or "13 going on 20" (or whatever it's called)... Hey! Hey! I see potential in this.
I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.