Archives for “Head Mounted Displays”
Build your own LEEP style wide field of view head mounted display optics. Check out the instruction video and parts list below. In the late 80′s and early 90′s wide field of view head mounted displays were all the rage; immersion was everything! The dominant HMD vendors, VPL Research and Virtual Research shared the same [...] Related posts:
For 150 years people have been free-viewing stereoscopic photos (and more recently videos) in a side by side cross-eyed format, where the left view is positioned to the right of the right view. You’re force to cross your eyes like an optical contortionist. For eyeballs with less agility, this can become painful. By using prisms [...] Related posts:
USA and other western world faced consumer-focused Virtual Reality boom in late 80s and early 90s, accurately when USSR is fall apart. VR came to big industrial cities of post USSR later in 1995 – 1998, when VR hype slowly begin to fall down in USA. That was in a few years after IBM-compatible PC’s [...] Related posts:
Back when VR really had some cred, the Diaspar Virtual Reality Network hopped on the bandwagon. Imagine, if you will, a dial-up service with a feature list, every item containing the phrase “will be”, as in this feature will be available… but when? Yes, its somewhat ironic that the network is named “Diaspar”, as this [...] Related posts:
So well you probably know that it is not a standard that new computers get shipped with VR headsets, although you might have believed that during the mid-90s VR craze. In 1995 many analysts – serious people – predicted that in 10 years most computers would be shipped with VR headsets or other VR equipment. [...] Related posts:
I don’t really agree with the Virtual Boy being VR’s “nail in the coffin”. I think it was just one of many crappy products. Maybe it could have saved the VR hype for a while if it was a big success, but as it is it’s just one of the many VR obscurities that simply [...] Related posts:
Ah well, a review of the PT-01 from Optics 1 … Back in the days it was ridiculous expensive, like most of the VR stuff. The pros are that it is very light and optimized for mobile use, i love that it comes with a belt clip and can be driven by a common battery. [...] Related posts:
Nintendo’s 1995 Virtual Boy was a whole cartridge based game system inside a desktop-mounted-head stereoscopic immersive display. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi of Gameboy fame, and offered for $180 retail, the market was less than kind. It was withdrawn from the market in less than a year and now can still be found late in the [...] Related posts:
This final segment from AT&T’s 1993 Vision of the Future isn’t too far from what’s happenin’ here in 2010, but 17 years later, AT&T is still not a player. Part1 and Part2 are almost as much fun. Related posts:
Jaron walks us through all eleven reasons, from Gates Envy to Movie Projectors. Strangely enough I agree! The Top Eleven Reasons VR Has Not Yet Become Commonplace Related posts:
In 1991, EVL produced its first CAVE® (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment) prototype, a two screen stereo projection system with single-user tracking and navigation. In late 1991 – early 1992, a 4 screen (3 walls/floor) CAVE® system – now including surround-sound – was completed and premiered at the annual SIGGRAPH Conference. This video provides an overview [...] Related posts:
1995 Video of Virtual io’s I-Glasses. Virtual reality Head Mounted Display with headtracking. This was the first i-glasses version released and had much lower resolution than the i-glasses they sell today. Back in 1995 this was one of the first affordable home VR headsets along with the Victormaxx cybermaxx and the fortevr VFX-1. The small [...] Related posts:
Last week I shredded a Liquid Image MRG2.2. This week we go for the classic Virtual Research VR-4 stereoscopic head mounted display. There’s a lot to love about the VR-4: wide field of view optics, adjustable interpupilary distance, coated aspheric lenses, excellent fit to different heads, and provision for eyeglasses. The optics are timeless; used [...] Related posts:
I’ve gotten a ton of emails hurled at me about the Liquid Image MRG2.2 VR helmet. The gist of most of them is: “Hey, I love the wide field of view and how rugged the MRG2.2 is, but I wish I could upgrade the LCD resolution, and, is there a way to make this HMD [...] Related posts:
This looks like the closest thing yet to a real-life holodeck! The Virtusphere is (as the name suggests) a large hollow sphere which sits on a set of computer monitored wheels. This allows the sphere to rotate a complete 360º whilst still allowing the computer to track the movments. For more information please visit www.hack247.co.uk No related posts.
It’s 1985 and there’s already a nice high resolution, wide field of view VR helmet (from VPL Research), glove system, and 6 DOF tracking of both helmet and glove, thanks to Scott Fisher and NASA Ames. In particular, check out the LEEP wide FOV optics (from LEEP inventor Eric Howlett’s predecessor company Pop Optix.) These [...] Related posts:
This totally excellent demo of the Victormaxx Stuntmaster helmet speaks for itself. Lyme disease aside, the Stuntmaster’s wretched optical qualities seem overly cruel to this beast. Related posts:
Simulator Sickness and the lingering effects of Virtual Reality, drunken behavior in particular, are the subject of this Brian Williams NBC special from 1996. Brian’s teaser: “When they were first unveiled, the science of it all was staggering, but now there’s some evidence it’s having a staggering effect… on some who use it…” A typical [...] Related posts:
You know the wave has crested when Regis and Kathie Lee make your specialty an early morning featurette. Reeg hams it up beautifully. If it hadn’t been for that 3:30am load in, it might have been perfect. Dave Polinchock provides expert narration. Quick glimpse of an SGI Indigo on the left, and the Virtual Research [...] Related posts:
1994 brought a fully packaged consumer head mount, the Forte-VFX-1 Brochure. Stereoscopic and with head tracking included, it somehow found it’s way into the hands of psychologist Les Posen who employed this device to treat patients with various phobias. The video below demonstrates treatment for Aviophobia, the fear of flying (not the zipless-f**k!) I take [...] Related posts:
By 1991, the FlightHelmet was the third HMD to feature Large Expanse Extra Perspective (LEEP) optics from Eric Howlett’s LEEP-VR. The Flight Helmet combined LEEP’s 100° field of view with an adjustable, comfortable and rugged packaging design. The use of a rear exiting cable as a counterweight made this HMD perfectly balanced. LEEP optics were [...] Related posts:
Proving that VR doesn’t automatically lead to hurling the intrepid subject of this 1995 video wolfs down a cornucopia of fast food and hops on some VR games at Toronto’s CN Tower. The manager of the arcade facility prevaricates a bit, telling us that while he’s never seen chunks, peeing one’s pants is an actual [...] Related posts:
IAPPA 1999 brought us another stand-up VR system from New York based HeadGames, the VR2000. Based on the Forte consumer head mounted display, the VR2000 also featured the “Player Retainer.” Initially I thought this was some special magic which ensured repeat play, as HeadGames projected up to $3,000/mo. revenue for this $25k system. To my [...] Related posts:
1994 brought one of the first “lightweight” head mounted displays, the CyberEye from then San Jose based General Reality. Offered in both stereoscopic and monoscopic versions, the CyberEye featured a flip-up visor which allowed users to see keyboards and monitors in the “real” world. CyberEye’s introductory letter touts the benefits of narrow field of view [...] Related posts:
