Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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?"

15 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 PoopJuggler · · Score: 4, Funny

      It is safe, unless hackers get into your computer and set it to "Evil".

    2. Re:safety by worthb · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's why it has a built in screensaver. Just imagine, you're driving, and the virtual monitor is displaying a Heads Up Display, and the screensaver kicks in. Suddenly you're flying through space at warp-speed.

      --
      "the universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle" - Stapp's Law
    3. 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.
    4. Re:safety by lachlan76 · · Score: 4, Informative

      A CD-ROM laser could hardly hurt your eye

      Not instantly, but because it is IR, by the time you notice anything, the damage has already been done.
      Just because you can't see the laser doesn't mean it sn't dangerous.

    5. 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
    6. Re:safety by justforaday · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Where the fuck did all these toasters come from?"

      --
      I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
    7. Re:safety by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I ordered mine yesterday along with a co-worker

      How much did the coworker cost you, and did you have to pay extra for air holes in the shipping crate?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:safety by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Funny
      They can, but what happens when the power supply is hit by lightning and those microvolts turn to 10,000 volts.


      Given that the power supply will be located either in your pocket or attached to your sunglasses, I think that if lightning hits it you will have other concerns to worry about.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  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.

  4. I've been waiting for something like this by goneutt · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After all the obstructive heads up type units we finall have one with the potential to co-exist with our normal field of vision. The "augmented reality" could give us new ways of seeing the world, with a 3-d overlay on reality. In the article they mention and automotvie expert system which will give the user a visual overlay of the system their looking at.

    Also it should give you the ability to use PDA's in a private fashion while still having a large view. In fact, this could redefine the PDA format, instead of the little notepad style device. Just gotta get the production levels up, cost down, so it's more affordable than the $4000 price tag.

    --
    Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
  5. yes, but... by spectrokid · · Score: 4, Funny

    where do the friggin sharks come in the picture?

    --

    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  6. Didn't we... by totoanihilation · · Score: 5, Informative

    Didn't we see this already?

  7. Re:Infinite resolution by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    But you forget. Each cone is not a single "pixel" to our retna. It is a sampling point for a complex signal transform. With the right tricks you can fool the eye into "seeing" several times the resolution it thinks it's seeing.

    The brain is brilliant at filling in gaps.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming