V-Rtifacts » VR Companies

AT&T Shows Us Somebody Else’s Future

Tone — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:14:53 +0000

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.

Jaron Lanier Explains Why There’s Still Not A VR Bubble

Tone — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:58:30 +0000

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

No related posts.

Siggraph ‘92 Wrap

Tone — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:41:15 +0000

The media drops in on Siggraph ‘92 in Chicago:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Definitely a show that I outsmarted myself on. Had an exhibitor’s badge from a friend (thanks Marilyn!), and while touring the exhibits before opening I found a booth where the exhibitor had bailed… it was empty. Grabbed my PhotoVR computer gear out of the car along with a company sign stashed in the spare tire well, and setup “our” booth. Nature (and I) abhor a vacuum. But, as the video above clearly demonstrates: if you’re not in the show program, you’re not gonna be on TV.

1995 Virtual IO I-Glasses

Tone — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:40:39 +0000

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 and lightweight design made it comfortable to wear, but the enormous cable from the VGA-box to the Computer, the box itself, the cable to the glasses and the power supply rendered it a too large package to really “take everywhere”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

They still work fine today, but the maximum input resolution of 640×480 makes a modern Windows Vista Desktop appear a bit crowded. For today’s standards the resolution and color depth are a bit too low to really enjoy watching 3D movies, but astonishingly the recent “Avatar” game by james Cameron works amazingly well and the nice graphics don’t look as bad as you might think on the low res.

Tearing Out the Guts of a Virtual Research VR-4 Helmet

Tone — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:07:59 +0000

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 again in the V6, V8, and 15 years later in today’s Virtual Research VR-1280.

All these HMDs rely on 1.3″ displays… so the challenge is out: to find improved LCDs to drop into the classic VR-4, although the resolution of the original displays isn’t half bad.

So… in two parts… have a look inside the VR-4.

Click here to view the embedded video.

and

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nothing New Under the Sun!

Tone — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:21:30 +0000

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 lenses became the optical basis for the Virtual Research Flight Helmet and several of the subsequent generation of VPL HMDs. 25 years later, and these lenses are still pretty much the reference standard for wide FOV. Presumably NASA funding covered the cost of the precision molds for the huge plastic lens elements.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Victormaxx Stuntmaster vs. PETA

Tone — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:57:30 +0000

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yet Another Fashion Emergency – J D Roth Talks Virtuality on GamePro TV

Tone — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:52:47 +0000

The ill fated GamePro TV did a 1991 “Cutting Edge” feature on the original Virtuality arcade systems, including footage from their premier multi-player Dactyl Nightmare title. Be careful not to fry your eyeballs on host J.D. Roth’s outfit; did anyone actually dress like this? Roth incorrectly attributes the system to Spectrum Holobyte, who was for a short time, one of four US distributors for Virtuality systems. Did the revolutionary (for 1991) Virtuality system really need this infomercial?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Limitations and Drawbacks

Tone — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:33:07 +0000

Nina Ziv’s 1992 Merrill Lynch VR industry research report has an amusing section: Limitations and Drawbacks of VR Technology, in which she identifies “several problems with virtual reality technology which must be addressed if it is to succeed.”

Inadequate Image Resolution
Time Lag Between the User and the Virtual Reality System’s Response
Limited Position Tracking Systems
Cumbersome Equipment
Interpretation of Body Movements
Total Representation of the Senses
Simulation Sickness
Cost Factors

She concludes: “Moreover, by the turn of the century, it is predicted that this technology will be widely available for business and home use.” The century turned 10 years ago and I’ll leave it to the readers to decide how many of these Limitations and Drawbacks have been overcome.

No related posts.

Take Flight in the Virtual World

Tone — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:55:28 +0000

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

LEEP optics were originally used in the mid 80’s by VPL Research to produce a custom (> $100,000) HMD for NASA. In 1989 VPL followed with their own product, the Eyephones which also integrated LEEP’s optics. LEEP followed a couple of years later with their own helmet, the CyberFace.

All these LEEP based helmets suffered from the same critical problem, the only color LCDs available were in small handheld consumer TVs. All three manufacturers simply stripped down these consumer TVs and integrated their guts into a head mounted display. The effect of spreading 240 horizontal pixels over a 100° field of view made each pixel seem like a floating football from the wearer’s perspective.

As second issue was that the LCDs were physically too wide to match anyone’s inter-pupilary spacing (the distance between your two eyes, about 55m-70mm.) Thus the graphics system supplying the images to each eye had to calculate images which did not completely overlap; or prisms were installed in both eyepieces to resolve the incorrect spacing.

VPL Eyephones

Epson’s entry into the small LCD (1.3″) market in 1992-1993 ended the age of LEEP helmets.

David Cassidy is Happy to Wear the Flight Helmet

Arcade “Player Retainer” – HeadGames VR2000

Tone — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:26:53 +0000

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 chagrin the retention system is a waist high railing which keeps players from falling over. Good move!

If anyone knows what became of HeadGames, add a comment below. The Wayback Machine shows them falling off the grid in 2001.

Narrow Field of View is Good… – CyberEye 100

Tone — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:58:43 +0000

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 optics:

Dear Visualization Pioneer:

…. Many toy manufacturers stretch today’s limited pixel-count LCD panels to provide a 70 deg. or even 110 deg. FOV, resulting in low-resolution blocky images, strange optical artifacts, and huge amounts of optical distortion at the image corners. Instead, CyberEye provides crisp, undistored images equivalent to a huge 7 ft. TV (at a distance of 12 ft.)

Yes, in 1994, wide FOV head mounted displays revealed the transistor structure of the underlying LCD displays. I’m just not sure that narrow field of view makes for much of an immersive experience?

Display Mounted Head? – Kimera

Tone — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:43:19 +0000

The Kimera game system from Immersive Technologies appeared at the 1995 IAAPA show with a solution to the VR arcade’s most vexing challenge: how to keep the helmets from being damaged or stolen without a full time attendant. Taking their cue from the Fakespace Boom, Kimera had a floating/pivoting display, to which the game player leaned into and then moved about. Indeed, you would mount your head to the display. At 525 lbs., Kimera came with a proprietary game, Pyramid Pilot, custom designed for Immersive by the software developer Algorithm.

6 lbs. 12 oz. – It’s a Baby Headmount! – Liquid Image MRG2

Tone — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:11:35 +0000

The product slick offers a virtually indestructible carry case. I’m not completely sure why, as the Liquid Image MRG2 helmet shell, constructed of multi-layer fiberglass, was non-virtually (i.e. real-world) indestructible. The MRG2 was actually quite clever, inasmuch as it could be manufactured with about $200 of tools. No fancy injection molds or custom optics. Although monoscopic, it incorporated a 5″ Sharp LCD with a rectangular reading magnifier set inside ordinary rubber welder’s goggles. The MRG2 had a very wide field of view: 84 deg. horizontal.

Although it sometimes felt like one was wearing a TV set, the MRG2 was popular for public-access (i.e. arcades, trade shows, etc…) virtual reality installations. They remain popular whenever one shows up on Ebay.

Another Gyro VR – Orbotron X O Tron VR

Tone — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:51:14 +0000

1995 brought us yet another Gyro based VR Game system, the X-O-Tron VR, a descendant of the original non-electronic gyro-exercise system, the Orbotron. Initially inspired by the March 1992 release of Lawnmower Man, the first gyro VR systems appeared that summer (full disclosure – my company built a prototype system for a client in the spring of ‘92 and then offered our own before the end of the year.)

The X-O-Tron VR came from the same folks who designed and built the Orbotron. It had two features that nobody else was offering: a wireless HMD and the ability to spin the gyro completely upside-down and back. While the helmet wasn’t tracked, there were shaft encoders on the gyro bearings to detect the gamer’s orientation. The game electronics were a 3D0 home game system. Read more in the X-O-Tron-VR Brochure.

And don’t forget to watch the original gyro in Lawnmower Man:

Myron Kruger Takes a Spin in the Flight Helmet

Tone — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:56:08 +0000

“Virtual Reality Systems ‘93″ in the Hyatt above Grand Central Station was the end of the line for this trade show, as it was for the Virtual Research Flight Helmet which was soon to be superseded by lighter and more manufacturable HMDs. In the spirit of these pioneers, here’s a couple of snaps with Myron Kruger spinning away in the Flight Helmet. His mojo must have been pretty good as the gyro and Flight Helmet were worn by Regis Philbin on his morning show the next morning. Video to follow soon…

What to do with the Cable? – Dynamic Visions

Tone — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:37:58 +0000

If you’ve ever tried out Virtual Reality, the FIRST thing you’ll feel is the tug of the helmet cable as you virtually (and actually) try to walk down the path. Many HMDs use the weight of a rear exiting cable as a counter-weight to offset the heavy front end containing the displays and optics. In 1995 a Canadian company, Dynamic Visions, using the lightweight Kaiser Electro-Optics VIM, offered a solution (No, I’m talking about the human attendant to wrangle the cable):

Actually it’s a flexible post dangling the cable above the gamer.

A Sweet Ride – IAAPA ‘94

Tone — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:12:19 +0000

By 1994 the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) exhibition floor was packed with VR systems. As a potential marketplace, blood was in the water and you couldn’t tell the fish from the sharks. With a very few exceptions most of these companies had been chewed up, eaten and excreted as waste by the ‘95 or ‘96 show.

Motion platforms were very much the rage; safety less so by the looks of this system:

Notice he’s wearing dark shorts…

And a couple more motion platforms:

“Clearly In The Development Stage”

Tone — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:21:15 +0000

We knew it was in the development stage, but did the Computer Chronicles have to remind any potential customers. That’s OK because the conference’s resident AI expert (didn’t AI bubble and burst in the 80’s) tells us: “… the resolution is low, the headgear is uncomfortable, but what’s exciting is … the promise of the technology.” Watch and learn:

As usual … I’m at the tail end of the video, long past my sell-by date.

CYBERSEX – You’ll Never Buy An X-Rated Video Again!

Tone — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:34:06 +0000

Apparently Cybertech didn’t anticipate Torrents and the Usenet. Anyway, “sigh-burr-sex” seemed like a slam dunk in ‘94. No one seemed concerned that a machine might rub you the wrong way.

Money quotes from the Cybertech Systems marketing slick:

CYBERSEX

You can enjoy your “dream partner” any time you want.

Frequency depends entirely on you; The words “no” and “headache” do not exist in virtual reality.

The safest and most satisfying sexual encounters known to man – always.

How often can you handle it?

I shudder to think about the “intensive development:

After 3 years of intensive development he developed the CYBERSEX HOME VR-SIMULATOR SYSTEM.

Blaming the liberal media?

Phil Donahue experimented with it on national TV in front of millions of viewers.

Asked by the author (Cybertech founder):

So what’s in it for us? … My staff and I will be “virtually” set for life, as the expression goes.

In the virtual world, anything is possible!

No related posts.