ST1080 Supported 3D Formats Revealed; International Pre-orders Now Available

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Mar 8, 2012

Update: Another video from CeBIT has the rep stating the the head-tracking hardware runs an additional €100, but it still isn’t clear if this is third-party or being offered directly from Carl Zeiss. I’ve put the question out to Zeiss and will update when I hear back.

Carl Zeiss is working on an HMD called the Cinemizer which will be available this July, according to the company. The Cinemizer is a 3D-capable head mounted display with dual 870×500 OLED displays. My friends and boss Chippy, from UltrabookNews.com et al, was kind enough to record a hands-on video with the Cinemizer that Carl Zeiss showed off this week at CeBIT 2012. Jump into the article to take a look.

ST1080 Head Mounted Display Starts Pre-orders on March 1st, $100 Discount for Early Adopters

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Feb 22, 2012

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We’ve been following the ST1080 head mounted display from Silicon Micro Display for the last few months. The company is finally getting ready to put their first product out on the market after some delays, and have announced that pre-orders for the 1080p head mounted display will begin on March 1st. In addition to the pre-order date, the company has announced a $100 discount for the first 21 days of pre-ordering.

Sony HMZ-T1 HMD + TrackIR 5 Camera = Headtracking Gameplay in World of Warcraft and Skyrim

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Feb 18, 2012

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It’s a shame that neither Sony’s HMZ-T1 or Silicon Micro Display’s ST1080 have integrated head tracking technology. HMD’s are great and all, but building in the ability to tack the movements of the user’s head opens up far more options for immersive gameplay. Even though it’s not built right in, that’s not going to stop intrepid DIYers and early adopters.

Lots of ST1080 Info out of CES, Retail Launch Info Due by End of Month

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Feb 18, 2012

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Silicon Micro Display has been touting their ST1080 HMD for a few months now. Back in December they announced that the retail price would be $799 — pricey, but comparative to Sony’s HMZ-T1. Pre-orders were supposed to start in January, but on January 1st, the company sent a message via email saying that they would be postponing pre-orders:

…due to on-going supplier delays around the holidays, we were not able to get demo units into the hands of technology reviewers in December. This means that there are no third-party reviews to help you make your purchase decision. With the 2012 CES in about a week, we’ve decided to postpone taking orders until after the CES when there will be plenty of reviews. This gives you more information upon which to make your purchase decision and it will provide us with much-needed time to strengthen our inventory position.

We feel that postponing the start of pre-orders is preferrable to taking your pre-orders and delaying the shipment. When we are ready to take your orders, we want you to be confident that your product will arrive within a reasonable amount of time.

While not the best news for anyone who was interested in ordering, I think this is a smart move. Sony underestimated demand for the HMZ-T1, and even after taking pre-orders, they were unable to meet the demand. This made for plenty of uptset early adopters.

Lumus Offers 720p LOE Head Mounted Display Development Kit

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Jan 27, 2012

Lumus is an Israel based company that’s manufactures components for head mounted displays. Specifically, they’re offering what they call the ‘Optical Engine Module’, a display which uses ‘LOE’ (Light-guided Optical Element) technology to enable a lightweight head mounted display solution that’s fully transparent. The transparency means that Lumus is thinking about augmented reality applications for their product, rather than strictly gaming or cinema use.

Returning From the Holiday Break, Content Incoming!

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Jan 27, 2012

Hi folks. First thing — I’d like to apologize for the lack of content coming through Road to VR in the last month. The holidays were hectic as usual, but I’m back and you can expect news and analysis from the world of VR right here. Second — I appreciate your continued readership and would love to hear from folks. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment with your thoughts or questions!

I hope your holidays were enjoyable. You’ll be hearing from me very soon!

Sony Completely Revamps U.S. HMZ-T1 HMD Product Page, Better Appreciates Demand?

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Dec 18, 2011

Sony seems to have majorly underestimated demand for their recently released HMZ-T1 head mounted display. Stock shortages were apparently worldwide at launch, and Sony’s US HMZ-T1 product page no longer lists 1/17/12 as the estimated ship date for new orders, instead saying “Temporarily out of stock. We will email you when your product ships”. Many of the international sites simply say that the unit is not available currently.

Interestingly, Sony has completely revamped the US HMZ-T1 product page (the old one is still hosted here, for comparison). Previously it was your typical SonyStyle product page with some basic information about specs and features. The new site is more of a micro-site experience with a lot of new graphics and several sections explaining specific features of the HMZ-T1. Quotes from both Engadget and Gizmodo reviews of the HMZ-T1 (and links to them) are also featured on the new page.

Is This the Future of Augmented Reality Gaming?

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Dec 8, 2011

One of my favorite YouTube directors, Freddie Wong happened to make a video that is quite relevant to this site. The video is called ‘Future Motion Control Gaming’ and shows a fictional augmented reality gaming setup. But is this really the future of augmented reality and motion control gaming? Will it be possible to achieve what’s been shown off on the video? Step inside to see the video and find the answer to that question.

ST1080 and ST1080 DDK Head Mounted Display Pricing Announced

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Dec 7, 2011

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I’ve been tracking Silicon Micro Display’s ST1080 head mounted display ever since they announced it back in early November. We’ve already seen most of the specs, but one thing that was missing was the price. I was excited by the prospect of the ST1080 because Silicon Micro Display had claimed that “companies like MyVu, Vuzix, and eMagin have sold HMDs to the consumer market, but gained little traction due to high cost…”, then went ahead to say that the company would be addressing that issue with the ST1080. Did they manage to reel the ST1080 in at a reasonable price? Find out right after the fold.

Astro Headset Accessory as Sony HMZ-T1 Stand?

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Dec 5, 2011

About a year ago I bought myself the Astro A40 gaming headset which I’ve been quite happy with. I was browsing Astro’s website the other day and happened across a nice looking headset stand that is sold as an accessory for the Astro A40’s, but for some reason I immediately thought this attractive stand might be a great for showing off and storing the Sony HMZ-T1 head mounted display.

Silicon Micro Display ST1080 HMD + Steel Battalion = Awesome

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Nov 30, 2011

Today I was thinking about Silicon Micro Display’s ST1080 head mounted display. This unique HMD has a 10% transparent screen. When I first head about that feature, typical wearable computer / augmented reality applications came to my mind. Those are neat applications, but there’ a lot of development to be done in that department before we see really useful functions come from such applications of the ST1080. But then it hit me. There’s already a product on the market that would work perfectly with the ST1080. Enter Steel Battalion.

Update: Sony HMZ-T1 Hands-on Test, Crystal Clear Image With No Crosstalk!

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Nov 30, 2011

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The Sony HMZ-T1 head mounted display is still almost impossible to come by right now, but my local store has one display unit. I finally made my way down, despite some nasty rain, so that I could give the HMZ-T1 a good hands-on test. I wish I had been able to spend more time with it (and perhaps I will soon), but I did get a solid amount of time to do some PS3 gaming (what else would it be in a Sony store!) on the unit and prepared a list of notes from my experience. I had hoped to bring you a video of the HMZ-T1, but unfortunately I was told that videography is not allowed in Sony stores, which I certainly wasn’t expecting. Alas, my notes will have to do! If you’re interested in hearing some honest hands-on info about the Sony HMZ-T1, have a read below!

Contact Lens Displays One Step Closer to Reality Thanks to Recent Live Testing

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Nov 25, 2011

If you’ve ever ~~done any thinking about augmented reality~~ seen a sci-fi movie, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the idea of a contact lens that provides the wearer with a super-futuristic heads up display that shows all sorts of awesome and useful information, augmented reality style. Well, we aren’t quite there yet, but work being done is bringing that technology ever closer to that vision. Today such devices are being tested, in several years we may see them available for consumer purchase.

Researchers have recently manufactured and tested a simple 1 pixel contact lens display. Though one pixel doesn’t sound very impressive, it could be used for something as simple as notifying the wearer of an incoming call, text, or email, or could be as useful as alerting a deaf person that a car may be coming up behind them.

Sony HMZ-T1 HMD Still Scarce Worldwide in Sony Stores and Online, Demo Units May be Available

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Nov 24, 2011

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The other week I reported that Sony’s HMZ-T1 HMD, which ‘launched’ on 11/11/11, had been backordered and pushed back to an estimated availability date of 1/17/12. All store stock was going to be diverted to those who had pre-ordered the HMZ-T1, according to Sony, because they had underestimated the US demand and apparently under allocated units to the region. However, it seems that the real story is that Sony underestimated demand worldwide.