Slashdot Mirror
Where Are the High-Res Head-Mounted Displays?
vivian writes "Ever since 1996, when I first set eyes on a Sony GlassTron head-mounted display in Japan, I have been awaiting a lightweight, head-mounted display that actually has decent resolution and doesn't look like a brick tied to your face. The closest contender to date seems to be the WRAP 920AV from Vuzix, and they are partially transparent too, which is great, but as with every other unit I have found, they only offer video quality — 640x480. Given that there have been a number of other discussions on Slashdot, I can't be the only one here who is eagerly awaiting something that could actually be a viable alternative to a PC monitor — especially for gaming or 3d graphics work. Perhaps we could petition a manufacturer to make what we actually want? Something with a minimum of 1024x768 @30-60hz refresh, say, and capable of stereo vision. Extra karma if they incorporate head tracking."
Why spend thousands of dollars smooshing a high resolution display to your face when you can blow up a flatscreen to epic proportions and get all the resolution you need? Practically speaking, the HMD does nothing additional other than give you headache.
Even head tracking has taken a back seat. Interface design has moved away from the idea of strapping gagetry to your body and moved toward motion sensing devices that provide excellent spatial control and immersion without cramming you into a latex glove. (Bow chicka bow wow.)
Take the Wii Remote as an example. Accelerometers and IR sensors work together to provide precise positioning. A gyroscope powered attachment called the Motion+ is coming out to close the gap on orientation difficulties. That's the low-end and look at what has already been achieved. The high end stuff allows researchers to build entire rooms where gyroscopes and camera tracking provide location information while the subject is surrounded by projected images or large flat panels.
The end goal is to blur the line between man and machine rather than having the machine trick man into believing he's in a different world. As it turns out, bluring the line between reality and unreality is hella lot easier than trying to replace the current reality.
In short, don't hold your breath. The VR of the 90's is dead. Long live augmented realtiy.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
The main issue as I recall with all of the projection glasses were the concern of eye strain because of too much light. I had a pair of the old sony classes, and they were no doubt hard on the eyes. In fact, I think they had a 4 hour limit of usage as I recall...
In short... Unless the business world converts to a French way of living, I dont think that your glasses will every find their way into high end applications anytime soon.
I want some sort of HMD or wearable computer so badly. I want a camera to record where I go and what I do and act as a backup for my cranial memory. I want it to recognize faces to keep track of my history that person. I want an internet connection everywhere so that I can call up an alternative recipe on the fly when I realize at the last minute that I'm missing an ingredient. I want to use the sum analyses of my automotive commutes to recommend ways I can change my driving behaviour to extend the life of my car and use less fuel. I want ubiquitous, always-ready, augmented reality. I want to evolve and extend my senses beyond what any human has ever been capable of, and I want to keep my private matters private.
Is that so much to ask?
Now, if it can work wirelessly with an iPhone (or similar device), include the camera and head tracking attachments, you have an entire platform for augmented reality right there.
Personally, I have found myself wanting the ability to use my iPhone while walking or having it in my pocket without having to take it out.
I mean the walking part I can do... Just not well seeing having to look down at the device or making my arms tired holding it up in my face. If I could some how use the iPhone in my pocket to text or surf and see the text in front of my face rather than looking down all the time would be a plus.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
It ain't cheap, and I doubt you could even buy one if you had the cash, but for state of the art, do a little research into the HMD for the JSF (helmet mounted display for the Joint Strike Fighter / F-35). From the Rockwell Collins website:
"Vision Systems International (VSI), a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems Ltd. of Israel, is developing the Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) for the JSF. VSI's HMD offers a compact, versatile, lightweight and extremely rugged display with low power consumption. The JSF HMD is a binocular off-the-visor display providing the pilot with a large field-of-view video/calligraphic image to both eyes."
http://www.vsi-hmcs.com/f35.htm
From what I've read, it's simply amazing. The pilot will be able to look in ANY direction (including straight thru his body or the bottom or rear of the cockpit) to see augmented reality - with data fused from multiple sensors including infrared and radar, overlaid on the real world.
http://uscockpits.com/Jet%20Fighters/F-35_Cockpit_(dusk_with_virtual_HMD).jpg
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/f-35-hmds-pulls-the-gs-04088/
By the way, "calligraphic" is worth noting. A normal video image simply cannot create very bright and precise light points, because it's a raster image. But a calligraphic display effectively overcomes this limitation, by using a separate CRT gun to hit the same phosphors with much more power in a non-raster format. So the display is a combined raster and beam system, providing some ability to provide very precise details at much higher brightness, while also allowing normal full-color display.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
Gordon Bell is a supercomputer expert who migrated over to MicroSoft Research. His recent project is MyLifeBits, a complete digital record of one's life.
I am not sure where I read this, but some peopel are experimenting with wearable cameras to take snapshots of your entire day. The camera has a motion sensor in it to increase rates when the wearer appears more active. I suppose an iPhone could be programmed to track both motion and vocal activity of its host.
I further read that psychologists are using this for memory studies. Some hosts report an eerie telepresence effect when they review recent day or two's video. Researchers are studying the effect of periodic memory reinforcement. Perhaps an appliance could be developed for those with memory defects like early Alzheimers.
I know something of this field too.
There are several different HMD application areas:
-immersive VR (games that enclose you in CGI*)
-full view AR (games that add CGI to the real world)
-heads up display (alone or AR) (narrow FOV CGI)
-probably others
(CGI = computer generated imagery)
The first two require wide a field of view (FOV), and this is tricky to do well, as you know. [I must add that I don't think it's impossible; I've been shown an unconventional design that ought to work well, should it turn out to be manufacturable.]
The third is something that can be done easily enough today, and it's actually something that I look forward to being done well. It would take care of the following situations, for instance:
1) Trying to hold a laptop over your head to browse the web while lying down.
2) Trying to walk down the street and stare at your iPhone at the same time. (Still probably not too safe; a purely audio computer interface is still safer, perhaps.)
In either case, you can just put on some glasses rather than having to look at a screen. If the glasses are small/light/cheap/good enough, they should definitely beat the alternatives here.
It remains to be seen whether display-panel-based systems (OLED?) or Microvision-type scanning systems will be smaller & cheaper. Advances in LED technology may push the latter in front.
Given that wide FOV isn't needed, then holographic lens systems seem like a good match for small, light, cheap optics for applications like this.
Of course, given all the failures in this market, it's easy to see why big tech companies don't seem too interested. But once the tech is good & cheap enough, it ought to take off.
Seems like there are a lot of problems to solve still - I just find it frustrating that there seem to be products out there that seem so close to my requirements, only lacking in resolution, and probably refresh rate.
I don't wear glasses, despite years at a screen since the Apple //e appeared on the scene, and years of reading books in the dark before that, so I have never had to worry about whether you could wear glasses with some particular hmd in my quest for the perfect one, but I suppose that also adds another whole level of complexity to trying to bring a product to as wide a market as possible.
Is there really such a passive price difference between the LCD's they use in these systems that do 640x480 compared to one that could do 1024x768 though?
I could live with it still looking about the same apparent size and distance as a 24" monitor sitting on my desk, but I just don't want to wear a device that looks too out of place on a train or in public, hence the requirement for them to also look passingly like a regular pair of sunglasses.