Ambilight clone for FOV extension.

[bobv5]

Ambilight is the name that Philips gave to a method of improving the fov of wall mounted flat displays. It works by having rgb lights spread arround the room, which are lit in an appropriate colour for the video that is being displayed. For example, if a jungle scene is on the tv, the rest of the room will light up in a suitable green colour. An underwater scene would light the room blue.

I have experimented with fitting this technology into a HMD. It is no miracle cure, but low fov with ambilight is better than low fov without.

Various low cost hardware solutions are available, I built one using an msp430 microcontroller. The hardware works well, but the firmware I wrote isn't great.

Other people have made similar systems with pic and arduino mcu's.

The computer side software is all based on something called boblight. It works very well with current windows systems, but it seems he is only intrested in developing it for linux, so I have no idea if he will release a version that will work with future versions of windows. Source code is available, so it could be ported, but for me it is easier to use an old crap machine with linux and a video capture card if windows support is dropped.

[PalmerTech]

Hooray! Been waiting for someone to post a thread on this.

Check it out, Madcatz bought the rights to the old Ambilight/Ambx technology, and has a set specifically made for gaming: http://cyborggaming.com/prod/ambx.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It does not work all that well with low FOV HMDs, but it is very promising for higher FOV ones that put the light way out in your peripheral view. My next test is to make a lens faceplate for the PR3 that combines high FOV optics with a diffuse clear rubber eyeshield pulled from a set of goggles like this:

I believe that having the lights illuminate your entire peripheral view, combined with 120 degree FOV, will be very immersive. I know that just buying a set of Cyborg lights is not in the DIY spirit, but for only $99 you get software support, lots of tweaking options, and some pretty nifty tricks (Read the part about how you can set them up in surround configuration!) The example they use is walking by a torch on a wall in-game, and having a matching light on your own wall. If you spaced a bunch of the LEDs really closely in the periphery of the HMD, you would actually gain a lot of the benefits of real life peripheral view (A person on your far left fires their gun at you, and you see the flash in your own left peripheral view).

[cybereality]

Yeah, I was thinking about this myself. Not sure it would work in something like the 1200VR, but probably a better fit with a wide FOV DIY setup.

Those ambx lights look nice for $99. Unfortunately my desk is packed with crap and you can't hardly see the wall. So I am not sure they would help in my case. If I get bored one day, I might just get them for kicks. But there is a lot of stuff in the queue right now.

[Fredz]

Very nice idea, do you have pictures of your montage showing this bobv5 ? Or a video, that would be even better.

As a DIY project, wouldn't it be possible to simply use a dozen of standard multi-colored leds and put them all around the HMD ?

[bobv5]

"Unfortunately my desk is packed with crap and you can't hardly see the wall."
I'm pretty sure that is how any hackers bench looks.

"It does not work all that well with low FOV HMDs, but it is very promising for higher FOV ones that put the light way out in your peripheral view. "
I have to disagree. If you have to put up with tunnel vision, a world coloured tunnel is better than a black tunnel.

Fredz, no, I have no video. Search youtube for boblight. The videos you see will be made by someone who is not me, but it will show you the general idea. Yes you can use normal led's, but it is the computer stuff that drives them that is complicated. Like I said, I have made suitable hardware, but my software skills are not good.

I feel I must make it very clear.....
I AM NOT THE SAME BOB THAT MADE BOBLIGHT. HE IS BOB LOOSEN, I AM NOT.

[PalmerTech]

I have to disagree. If you have to put up with tunnel vision, a world coloured tunnel is better than a black tunnel.

I guess you are right, it does help low FOV if you must deal with it. I guess I have spoiled myself with high FOV!

How are you fitting it into the HMD? Any diffusing layer/filter, or bare LEDs? Really interested in how you have it mounted. Also, do you notice any less contrast as a result of adding the light from the LEDs?

[Okta]

Edit- I retract my earlier judgement and think for $99 the Madcatz gaming lights are pretty kick ass and i would get them if they shipped cheap to Aus.

Review here http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1 ... ience.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PalmerTech]

Those cyborg Madkatz lights suck pretty hard.

How do they suck? Or is that some kind of Australian slang for something being good?

[Okta]

Edit- retracted.

[bobv5]

How are you fitting it into the HMD? Any diffusing layer/filter, or bare LEDs? Really interested in how you have it mounted. Also, do you notice any less contrast as a result of adding the light from the LEDs?

"How are you fitting it into the HMD?"
Duct tape, foul language, and reverse psychology.

"Any diffusing layer/filter, or bare LEDs?"
I wraped a thin bit of paper round the led's. Not ideal. I also sanded the led's to help disperse the light.

"Really interested in how you have it mounted. "
I have it so that the led's are shining into the light sheild at the side of the optics. Really not much to tell. Purely experimental at this point. The serial cable that controls the leds pokes in my ear. It is quite annoying. I was planning on including a proper mount on my hacked trimersion, but after seeing your pr3, it seem's like a lot of work for not much gain. I only ever used it as a hacked together mess.

"Also, do you notice any less contrast as a result of adding the light from the LEDs?"
No, I didn't notice this. But the contrast was pretty horible anyway.

[bobv5]

"They don't seem to match the colours very well and would just be a massive distraction"
Genuine ambilight would give that effect. With boblight you can set it to only use the top part of the screen. So it would light blue ,like the sky, rather than the blue of the sky mixed with the green of the grass. It's not perfect. But it is better than nothing.

[cybereality]

Do you think its more immersive to just turn the lights off in the room?

[bobv5]

I cant say for other low fov hmd's, but with trimersion hmd nearly all light is blocked anyway.

[mAchiNE]

Those Cyborg Gaming lights look interesting, I think they would be rubbish for use with a small monitor such as in their videos because as Okta said "They don't seem to match the colours very well" and on a monitor that size the lighting is right in front of your vision not in your pererfieral vision as I think these things are intended for, in a setup like that the only positive thing I think it would add is muzzle flash and you can use Sharkys LED with stereo amp mod for that.
But after saying that I do think it would work well for a large screen setup such as a projector setup where the ambient lighting is actually right on the edge of your vision, or modded into a high FOV HMD. I do think however a vertical strip of RGB LEDs that clone the colours at the edge of the screen more closely would be better for a HMD mod because, again as Okta said, "When looking in an FPS outside you have top half of screen sky and lower half ground colours " so having one blended colour might not prove to be as immersive.