iPhone 4 based HMD with LEEP optics

[PalmerTech]

Not mine, sadly, but USC is close to me. I might try to get in touch with the people making this, I know I would love to see them on MTBS3D, and I might even get to demo their prototype.

http://people.ict.usc.edu/~suma/papers/ ... poster.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very neat.

[mAchiNE]

looks promising

[Tone]

FYI, one of the authors, Mark Bolas, was the inventor/founder of Fakespace.

[PalmerTech]

Yes, I am going to try to get in touch with him. They noted the possibility of using a tablet device with a single screen and two lenses, but I think they could do better. Thanks for the heads up!

Get that sweet 5.6" 1280x800 Hydis panel that we are all playing with, it is the perfect size for the optics setup they have. From there, they can get a newer Android smartphone that supports HDMI mirroring/video output (The Motorola Atrix comes to mind, and there are others), and mount it on the back of the board with the camera centered. Not only would that eliminate the jitter problems between the two units, it would also be higher resolution than what they currently have. Plus you could use the camera for walk-around augmented reality!

Now THAT would be even cooler than the setup they already have.

[cybereality]

Well smartphones are probably going to be the best source of high-res DIY HMD screens for some time to come. Makes sense.

[PalmerTech]

Just wanted to update, I got to use this viewer recently. It is actually pretty darn nice! The iPhones do not fill the HFOV fully, but VFOV is all good. The optics are actually some prototype LEEP optics that are anti-reflection coated, they look even better than stock LEEP optics.

[martinh]

This was cannibalised LEEP optics rather than manufactured I think.

Still think passive LEEP headsets with slots for smartphones / tablets (w forward facing cameras, marker less motion tracking, etc from AR) using LEEP anamorphic formats will be awesome. Cheap or commodity hardware, mainly made of software.

LEEP patents expire pretty soon...

[PalmerTech]

No, they were not cannibalized. Fakespace, a company that made high end boom-mounted-displays in the 90s, used LEEP optics for most of their devices. Normal LEEPs are standard, uncoated acrylic lenses, this set was a prototype for a boom they were were working on, but never actually got used. They bought standard LEEP optics, then sent them to a company that does lens coatings with a vapor deposit chamber, so the few of these out there are very unique.

Also, the LEEP patents expired a long time ago.

[martinh]

Ah, OK. Not newly manufactured. I thought they took them from a BOOM. The LEEP patent I looked at was from 1993, so I assumed 2013 expiry.