I may end up mounting them sideways and using mirrors or just angled and use prisms (maybe even cd case prisms
With if it works out i will have a dual input 3d hmd with mouse head tracking and massice FOV for about $250.
If it frazels i may just use the first screen and air mouse to make a game gun
Update-----
Ok my screen arrived and ive had a fiddle. Unfortunatly it is 16.9. It is actaully a liitle tv and does 4.3 mode on tv or AV input but not VGA input 4.3
. Also seems it is native 640x480 so the windows desktop looks like ass in anything over that but games look ok up to 1024x768. I squashed the horizontal adjust a bit to fix the aspect and it will be good enough for now. One good part is you can crank up the res over 1200 and it will still display it just gets tare lines through it.Had a play using my credit card fresnals and it seems that these will do close to the eye with the screen at about 6 inches. I had a try holding the screen beside my head and looking into a compact mirror- this would be ideal if i could source a cheap front surface mirror and work out a way to flip the image.
Also of note. Using a fresnal through a single eye does not give the huge image effect, its only once you pull back your head and look through with both eyes, will be interesting to see how one for each screen goes, it may come down to how i separate the eye convergance with the lenses.
Ive tried to use the iz3d side by side mode but cant get the driver working on any of my lappys with 9100 igp's so i will try that later. I did look at a stereo pair using 2 credit card fresnals and that works perfectly, the fresnels give you a few inches offset so no need at all for prisms or such at such small separation.
Ive decided to order the second screen. Still waiting for my hemlet. Once the screen arrives i can work out positioning and fixed optics and begin mounting.
I was going to get a dualhead2go so i could run both screens from a single lappy (maybe make it mountable later) but it seems they dont support dual monitors, only wide screen so the only driver that could work would be iz3d side by side and i dont have enough faith in that at the moment.
Does anyone know if the xp nvidia stereo can work with a dh2go in dual screen mode?
Mini Update-
Helmet has arrived, should be workable with added foam to tighten it around the head and remove wobble.
I have ordered 2 different types of fresnals form 3dlens that should arrive soon that should do a better job than the cheaper credit card fresnels. I also tried some big magnifying glasses- not enough magnification which is a shame as they would be sturdier and clearer. Im going for the biggest FOV i can.
Second screen still hasn't arrived so i cant get into the meat and potatoes just yet
Oh and ive done silly things and ordered 2x Gigaware pico projectors
. I think these are rebadged Oculons http://www.oculon.com.tw/en/index.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (some cool thing coming from them by the looks). Oh i also bought a $10 sphere paper lamp shade from Ikea about 70cm diametre. Whos knows what i will make out of all this junk
Update: Ok the 3dlense fresnels arrived and they are of a suitable size to get a large fov with the screens mounted close.
The second screen has arrived so i begin testing.... here i hit the wall. I knew it was coming but was living on wishfull thinking. I need to seperate the convergance in a BIG way. My glass prisms are no where near enough offset, the fresnels are no better. I am going to have to make this with mirrors somehow or try making some very large angle prisms.
Either way is less than optimum because of size, weight and deformation.
Giving this some thought....
Update:
My first Gigaware (Oculon 920) projector arrived today. In the pic i have it shining on some paper with a focussed screen of about 3 inchs, this can be done easily but sometime the focus ring around the lens comes off if you screw it in too far so i had to take it apart to have have a look... i mean fix it
The projector is a nice little gadget, up to xga with readable quality, just very dull and requires absolute darkenss for any size and usefullness. Also has a VERY LOUD fan to cool the LED.
I believe 2 of these (or better still 2 3m pico's because they are narrow) can be used on top of a helmet, bounced back from a mirror if front to a rear projection screen in front of the eyes with a decent result.
Well after deciding its too tuff for now to use 2x7 inch screens ive made up a high FOV mono HMD.
Its an airsoft helmet with some meccano (this stuff is awesome for projects) holding this together. A gyration air mouse on top and some batteries on the back for ballast. It started with a single fresnel but then i added another (check last photo). The FOV is huge but not 180 of course but pretty much fills the majority of the view except that the top and bottom is visible. Its quite blurry as you would expect but you can read text still. It really comes to life when you stand up with a second air mouse in the hand and start turning around. I didnt have any earphones hooked up as ive ordered a 5m cable. I will extend the video and power cables as well. I will also get some black card and cloth to make a cowl and wall off the insides as it is much better in the dark and fresnels dont like light reflecting on them.
Next up, i have another 2x3.5 inch low res screens coming and some more bits so ill make a stereoscopic one that will rely on an external monitor to read the text but its a trial to see if i want to splurge on the expensive vga screens.
On a side not i also pulled apart my Eyeclops night vision goggles. I wanted to see i could do anything with the optics (and maybe move on to a vr920) but its a no go. The screens in these things are tiny, about 10mm wideand you would need a whole bunch of specific lenses to do any justice. You can see it glowing just to the right of my thumb in the last pic how tiny it is with the optics removed. Want i still want to do with thses things though is rip out the board cam and eyepiece and set them up as a true monocular intead of the camera being on the forehead which really put you out of sorts.
Might be useful for actual projection, though.