Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!mintaka!ogicse!blake!milton!peterl@ibmpcug.co.uk
From: peterl@ibmpcug.co.uk (Peter Leaback)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Building a head mounted display.
Message-ID: <1990Mar4.160052.12036@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Date: 4 Mar 90 16:00:52 GMT
Sender: hlab@milton.acs.washington.edu
Organization: The IBM PC User Group, UK.
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Approved: hitl@hardy.u.washington.edu


For my Computer Science degree project I am contemplating building a head
mounted display. I am tring to guage whether this is a realistic task
for a year long project.

The two major problems I can immediately see are :-

1) Obtaining a sufficiently high resolution,high contrast and small LCD.
I guess a 512*512 display is about the lowest resolution that is passable
for a HMD ? Are LCD's up to this resolution ?

2) Bending the light from the display so as to be near parallel.I know
little of optic theory but using a normal lens system (such as in a video
camera view finder) the picture is distanced some what, and gives the
effect of tunnel vision.I assume to avoid this,one has to have a concave
projection surface close to the eye.

The host computer is less of a problem, i have an Archimedes which can
drive screens up to a pixel rate of 96 Mhz. I could split the RGB output
into two monochrome displays and use a 4 color mode to plot to the
individual screens.

As for the positional and orientational information it may be possible to
use a similar ultra-sonic arrangement to that of the "Power Glove". It is
out of the question to buy a 3SPACE Isotrak which costs $3000 the last
time i checked!

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Peter Leaback.
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