Virtual retinal display

[P3D <PTWW@xxxxxxx>]

On 11/23/96 an article in the "Personal Technology" section of the local
paper reports on a new technology for displaying images, and suggests it
holds great potential for future 3D/Virutal Reality applications.

The new technology may have been initially developed to deal with the
question: Now that we can build a computer with the power of a desktop
in a package the size of a Walkman, where do we put the screen?  A company
called MicroVision developed a laser-based system that beams images
directly into the eye.  In the so-called "virtual retinal display," "a
pair of tiny, rapidly moving mirrors...paint the pixel stream onto the
back of the eye."  The scanners project 18 million pixels per second,
allowing a stable image to be perceived.

The article says "virtual retinal display holds amazing possibilities for
computer-generated images that users would perceive [to be] as real as the
real world.  Because the images are created in the same way as human sight,
the only limit on the sharpness of the picture is the power of the computer
behind it....

"The virtual retinal display images appear to hang a few feet in front of
the viewer, strangely solid, though translucent.  The viewer can look at
objects beyond."  It is expected this feature will be exploited to allow,
for example, an aircraft mechanic to have the schematics beamed into his
eye in a way that doesn't affect his view of the engine he is repairing.

Also, "there could be, perhaps in the next decade, three-dimensional
video games in which the players move themselves through the images."

The company hopes to have working systems available in about 18 months, at
a cost "between $5,000 and $50,000 each."

Anyone know anything else about this?

Paul Talbot


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