Road to VR

Oculus Rift is an HMD with an Immersive 90-degree FoV, to Be Funded by Kickstater [video]

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May 30, 2012

While Sony’s HMZ-T1 and Silicon Micro Display’s ST1080 have made a major splash in the world of head mounted displays by bringing high resolution and (relatively) low cost products to market, a key issue still remains — field of view. Field of View (FoV) describes how much of your vision is taken up by a display. Increasing the FoV means that more of your vision is taken up by the display and this often leads to a much greater sense of immersion. Most of the HMDs available on the market have FoVs of 30 or 45 degress. This isn’t much different than sitting in front of an HDTV that’s across the room. However, over at the MTBS3D forum, user PalmerTech is working on a project to crowd-fund a head mounted display with an impressive (and immersive) 90 degree field of view though Kickstarter.

The Verge recently took a prototype version of the ‘Oculus Rift’ (as PalmerTech is calling it) for a test drive thanks to John Carmack (of Id fame) who has taken great interest in the project. Mainstream immersive virtual reality gaming is coming, and this might be the first big step.

Another ST1080 User Review Hits the Web, Silicon Micro Display Opens a Forum

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May 30, 2012

ST1080 with light blocker removed

I spoke with Silicon Micro Display recently and they tell me that the scarcity of initial units has prevented them from getting the ST1080 out to major outlets for review just yet. That’s why we’ve thus far only seen user-impressions of SMD’s first head mounted display. We’ll see reviews from the big guys in the next few weeks most likely. Speaking of which, I’ve got another ST1080 user review to highlight.

Leap is a Highly Accurate and Highly Affordable bit of Hand-tracking Hardware for Computer Interaction [video]

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May 24, 2012

Thanks for a tip from Jeff Austin, I’m now looking at the Leap, an incredible — and incredibly affordable — piece of hardware that allows for extremely accurate realtime sensing of one’s hands; the input from which can be used to control a computer, among other things. I was blown away yesterday by MIT’s T(ether) project, but that system required thousands of dollars of equipment to do high-fidelity hand-tracking and it was merely a proof-of-concept — Leap on the other hand is not only ready to hit the market, but it’s doing so at just $70; I’ve paid more for a mouse!

Must See: MIT Creates Impressive Augmented Reality Object Manipulation System [video]

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May 24, 2012

I wrote a few months back that augmented reality needed to prove itself. While I still think this is the case, I’m happy to report that top minds are working on just that. Some genius folks from MIT have created ‘T(ether)’, an amazing system which allows a user to interact with an augmented reality world by reaching out and manipulating it with their hands.

First ST1080 Unboxing and Impressions Hit the Web

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May 21, 2012

I’ve been scanning quite regularly for the first full-blown review of Silicon Micro Display’s recently launched 1080p HDM, the ST1080. Though there hasn’t yet been a peep from any major publications, it seems as though customers are starting to receive their pre-order shipments of the ST1080 and have begun posting their impressions.

ST1080 HMD Production Models Get Additional 3D support and a More Modern Look

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May 18, 2012

By now you’ve heard that the ST1080 is finally shipping out to pre-order customers. The company has posted photos of the final packaging and final design which gives the ST1080 a needed sprucing-up! Support for additional 3D formats has also been revealed.

ST1080 Head Mounted Display Starts Shipping to Pre-order Customers Today

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May 14, 2012

A quick note here — it’s been a long time coming, but Silicon Micro Display begins shipping the ST1080 1080p HMD to pre-order customers today! Paul Jin, SMD CEO, says that pre-order customers can expect a confirmation email and tracking number when their device gets send out for delivery.

Google Glass Project Leader Interviewed by Charlie Rose, Wears a Glass Prototype to the Interview

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May 13, 2012

Sergey Bring wearing Project Glass prototype (photo credit)

Sebastian Thrun, who is one of the project leads for Google’s Project Glass, sat down for an interview with Charlie Rose and chats about the augmented reality project, among other things. Thrun brought a Project Glass prototype with him to the interview and even snapped a photo of Rose during the interview and posted it to Google Plus in real time.

Augmented Reality Sandbox is One of the Coolest Uses of AR I’ve Seen Thus Far [video]

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May 7, 2012

Just a few weeks ago I wrote that augmented reality (AR) had yet to prove itself. It’s a neat idea, and we’ve seen so many concepts that look great in theory but have yet to be realized, or the all too familiar app which gives you a HUD when you hold your phone up that shows you where different points of interest are around you — these always turn out to be ultimately useless and nothing more than gimmicks.

But, that doesn’t mean that AR isn’t promising. In fact, I just saw perhaps one of the coolest real applications of augmented reality that I’ve seen to date. Have a look at this incredible AR sandbox that overlays topographical maps onto the sand, and even simulates liquids:

ST1080 HMD Update: Shipping Expected to Start Second Week in May, Light Blocker Detailed

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May 6, 2012

Silicon Micro Display’s 1080p head mounted display (HMD), the ST1080, will soon be reaching reaching pre-order customers, according to the company. Additionally, Silicon Micro Display has revealed the final design for the ‘light blocker’ which is designed to reduce the ST1080’s 10% transparency to 0% for gaming and media viewing. Reviews should start popping up this month.

Scientific Paper Details a Virtual Reality Environment Used in the Lab for Insect Experiments [video]

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Apr 29, 2012

Think virtual reality is only for humans? Think again. Researchers are increasingly turning to virtual reality to perform tests that would otherwise be impossible by traditional means. Case in point: recently Mikko Vähäsöyrinki, a physicist at the University of Oulu in Finland, led a team which used a virtual reality setup to trick a cockroach into thinking that it was running around a real environment when in reality it was actually remaining entirely stationary.

A Short But Surprisingly Touching Story About the Possibilities of Virtual Reality

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Apr 29, 2012

I have to say that this brief story, just 205 words long, might be on of the most concise emotional stories I’ve ever read. In so few words, the author has managed to touch on the disruptive potential of virtual reality, the fear of losing loved ones, and the emotions surrounding one’s own death. More impressively, perhaps, this story isn’t out of a short-story contest or anything like that. It was simply a comment written on the popular site Reddit by user cultured_bannana_slug:

Correction: Apple CEO Tim Cook Did Not Visit Valve

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Apr 24, 2012

A quick correction to a story I posted the other day about Valve working on wearable computer R&D. The tail end of that story included a snippet about reports of Apple CEO Tim Cook visiting the esteemed game developer. The record has been set straight by the head of Valve, Gabe Newell, who cleared things up on the Seven Day Cooldown podcast:

Innovega Working on Multi-focal Contacts to Compliment AR Eyewear and HMDs, Available by 2014 Says CEO

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Apr 23, 2012

Innovega is a Washington-based company that’s working on contact lenses that use filters to allow the eye to simultaneously focus on objects at varying distances. The development could help make augmented reality a practicality by greatly reducing the bulk of HMD and augmented reality displays. Instead of using bulky optics to focus the light appropriately before it enters the eye, Innovega’s ‘iOptik‘ solution uses a contact lens with a polarized filter to send the augmented display overlay to a discrete part of the eye without obscuring the real scene behind the display. This technique allows the eye to simultaneously focus on the augmented information and the real world at the same time. Innovega explains how the iOptik solution works in this demonstration video:

Valve, Developer of Half-Life 2 and Steam, Internally Researching Augmented Reality

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Apr 17, 2012

Big news for the VR world fresh from of one of the biggest names in gaming. In a post to his Valve-hosted blog, employee Michael Abrash says that since joining Valve hes begun working on augmented reality / wearable computer research. Abrash says that he’s long been fascinated by the topic of virtual reality — ever since reading the novel Snow Crash in 1994.

Valve, who has developed critically acclaimed gaming franchises such as Half-Life and Portal (not to mention the hugely popular Steam digital game distribution service), is one of the biggest names in gaming. That they are publicly admitting to doing R&D for wearable computing / augmented reality is a very encouraging step forward down the road to virtual reality. Abrash, like myself, is confident that wearable computing is a natural an inevitable evolution of human-computer interaction:

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