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Laser Powered Virtual Display

Posted by michael on from the dry-eyes dept.

Tedger writes "The Feature has an article discussing an interesting portable display system developed by the University of Washington. Unlike your traditional mini displays mounted in glasses this system has no display, it is a 'virtual' display created by lasers and microscopic fast moving mirrors. The image is in fact printed onto the retina and has feasibly a infinite resolution. Can anyone say true VR?"

5 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. safety by wed128 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Laser images printed on the retina? what are the safety concerns with this? i would think "burn in" would once again be a serious issue.

    1. Re:safety by Enigma_Man · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Gee, maybe it's not high powered lasers? I'm sure you're being sarcastic / playing dumb, but just because it's a laser doesn't mean it's going to harm your eyes.

      -Jesse

      --
      Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
    2. Re:safety by Alrescha · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Just because you can't see the laser doesn't mean it isn't dangerous."

      Just because it's a laser doesn't mean it's dangerous.

      A.

      --
      ...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
  2. Let's be real about this... by drlake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even if they do work out all the bugs in the system, it's still only a step toward true VR at best. Without ways to also stimulate all our other senses, this will be more akin to TV than VR.

  3. Been around for a long time . . . by taylor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I recall researching such "direct imaging" devices back in 1995; they were going to be the next great thing in VR, back when virtual reality was still a meme. What is neat is the idea of wide integration, though safety issues even with low power lasers would, I imagine, remain a problem.

    As an analogy, consider headphone use vs. speakers. In the headphone case, you can easily damage your ears without even noticing you're doing it by having it a tinsy bit loud, while the speaker output makes it much harder (I imagine due to all that feedback to the rest of your body!) Similarly here, you are probably imaging on a limited part of your retina, which may make your eyes dilate open too much, and develop small damage over time, etc.