I have to admit that I haven't looked at the web site details in a while, and you've got to realize that the marketing guys do run amok on occasion, but it is hard to draw pictures of what's going on.
The concept is not that an image will hang in the air (like you said, impossible). However, if there is an exit pupil in the dash and you look at it, you will see what appears to be a large screen superimposed onto you view of the dashboard. If you make the focus of the image significantly different than the where the dash is, you will only see the image (think looking through a screen door, you only see the screen if you focus on it.).
I think the real probem with this thread is that it started on the cell phone prototype, which has some flaws (being a first gen prototype and all).
The real products that we make are all head mounted displays.
You've got it exactly. It's a screenless projector (or your retina is the screen), though it does have a lense to bounce it into your eye (or at least the head mounted ones do). The cell phone prototype sets the focus depth with a physical stop that you set against your head.
The head mounted product, has a depth of field adjustment (as you mentioned) so you can set the image focus to match your preffered field of view. I believe (though I'm not sure) that the focus plane can be from about 2 feet and out. The NOMAD product is designed to be used while working on something, so the focus is usually very close.
It really works quite well, and I haven't used the newest models.
I'll repost this, since the "anonymous coward" stuff tends to get ignored.
This particular prototype was a full color cell phone demonstrator. It may be somewhat inconvienent to hold a phone up to your face, but you have to admit that a 21" virtual display might be nice... Of course resolution needs to be increased, of course it will be a year or two before you see the cell phone product. However, we do have a SVGA heads up product that began shipping this year. It is a monocrome red see through display that is bright enough to use in full sunlight. It's basically the same thing that the main chick was wearing in the begining of Final Fantasy (sprits within). It is being targeted for things like medical (surgury) and aircraft repair where you want to be looking at what you're working on while also having some data in your field of view (heart rate, schematics, whatever). It's a little spendy at the momment, so we aren't going for the general market, but you could do it in a binoccular setup to get 3D rendering or whatever. And I know you all probably will dissagree, but for an augmented reality display, you really only want monochrome anyhow. Full color images would block your view of the world and reduce functionality. Of course, we have a variety of full color prototypes. The goal is mobile computing, and anything else you can think of where you want a big bright display that doesn't take up any space. Ford, among others, is looking at using the technology in cars for in dash displays etc. Some of it is described at our web site, www.mvis.com. It works. It's cool. Don't knock it...
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The concept is not that an image will hang in the air (like you said, impossible). However, if there is an exit pupil in the dash and you look at it, you will see what appears to be a large screen superimposed onto you view of the dashboard. If you make the focus of the image significantly different than the where the dash is, you will only see the image (think looking through a screen door, you only see the screen if you focus on it.).
I think the real probem with this thread is that it started on the cell phone prototype, which has some flaws (being a first gen prototype and all).
The real products that we make are all head mounted displays.
You've got it exactly. It's a screenless projector (or your retina is the screen), though it does have a lense to bounce it into your eye (or at least the head mounted ones do). The cell phone prototype sets the focus depth with a physical stop that you set against your head. The head mounted product, has a depth of field adjustment (as you mentioned) so you can set the image focus to match your preffered field of view. I believe (though I'm not sure) that the focus plane can be from about 2 feet and out. The NOMAD product is designed to be used while working on something, so the focus is usually very close. It really works quite well, and I haven't used the newest models.
I'll repost this, since the "anonymous coward" stuff tends to get ignored. This particular prototype was a full color cell phone demonstrator. It may be somewhat inconvienent to hold a phone up to your face, but you have to admit that a 21" virtual display might be nice... Of course resolution needs to be increased, of course it will be a year or two before you see the cell phone product. However, we do have a SVGA heads up product that began shipping this year. It is a monocrome red see through display that is bright enough to use in full sunlight. It's basically the same thing that the main chick was wearing in the begining of Final Fantasy (sprits within). It is being targeted for things like medical (surgury) and aircraft repair where you want to be looking at what you're working on while also having some data in your field of view (heart rate, schematics, whatever). It's a little spendy at the momment, so we aren't going for the general market, but you could do it in a binoccular setup to get 3D rendering or whatever. And I know you all probably will dissagree, but for an augmented reality display, you really only want monochrome anyhow. Full color images would block your view of the world and reduce functionality. Of course, we have a variety of full color prototypes. The goal is mobile computing, and anything else you can think of where you want a big bright display that doesn't take up any space. Ford, among others, is looking at using the technology in cars for in dash displays etc. Some of it is described at our web site, www.mvis.com. It works. It's cool. Don't knock it...