Larry Brown of Sensics Wants to Take the piSight Mainstream

[Synexious]

In this interview, Larry Brown of Sensics talks about how mass production and technological advances will bring 180° FOV 4K S3D HMDs to the public in ten years. I'm encouraged to know Sensics, which produces the world's most advanced HMD, the piSight, is interested in bringing their technology to the masses for entertainment and other applications. They should work with iOptik. With the Sony HMZ out and new breakthroughs on the horizon, I really do believe we will have 20/20 virtual vision for the home by 2020.

[cybereality]

Interesting, the article is actually from 4 years ago. Now we have Sony bringing out an HD HMD. Seems like his predictions may not have been far off.

[PalmerTech]

We will have it by 2020, sure. But I want it NOW!

I am sure Sensics is thrilled, they have been using SVGA OLED panels for a long time. Now they can get their hands on some pretty cheap, HD OLEDs by ripping apart these Sony units.

[cybereality]

Now they can get their hands on some pretty cheap, HD OLEDs by ripping apart these Sony units.

Would Sony not sell them to interested parties? Seems like good business to me.

[PalmerTech]

I really doubt Sony would do that. It would let other companies undercut them, which they do not want. This headset only has a few hundred dollars worth of parts (I would guess no more than $400), most of the expense comes from R&D, the cost of their new OLED fabrication facility, and all the layers of marketing and corporate overhead that a mega-corporation like Sony has to deal with. Selling their panels to a small, low cost company like Sensics would be pretty dangerous.

The other thing to consider is that Sony is using these panels in high-end digital camera viewfinders, which will probably be a bigger market for the foreseeable future than virtual reality. Right now, the highest resolution that their competitors have is 640x480, and now Sony is coming to the table with GREAT looking 1024x768 and 1280x720 viewfinders. I have a feeling that they are going to want to keep that edge to themselves.

In summary, Sony will probably use their exclusive technology to make themselves richer.

(Note: The above is all speculation, and guesswork at best. Believe me at your own peril!)

[cybereality]

True, that does make sense. I'm just hoping, at some point, Sony will start selling these OLEDs to other vendors.

[ancjob]

We will have it by 2020, sure. But I want it NOW!

I am sure Sensics is thrilled, they have been using SVGA OLED panels for a long time. Now they can get their hands on some pretty cheap, HD OLEDs by ripping apart these Sony units.

sony has stirred up the HMD scene with their HMD....

now the big question - will the small companies like vuzix , cinemizer , sensics , emagin survive post 28-oct 2011 ?

they either have to produce competitive product that too competitively priced or shut down the shop...
Now to compete with sony is just not possible as sony is a mega-giant.....so what we have these companies closing down shop...unless these have long term military / govt contracts to survive on...

i believe we just have to wait since sony might come with 1080p OLED based highly portable HMDs as well in the years to come.....who knows ?

[Aeroflux]

I hope other companies see this as an opportunity to push their ideas forward to the audience Sony is gathering. Competition drives evolution. Maybe the Cinemizer will step the tech up in some way. In a perfect world Sony would pull a Nintendo and saturate the market with HMD accessories (data gloves, 6DOF head trackers, portable processor box/wireless base unit, haptic feedback vest, etc.)...but it's just a foolish dream.

[ancjob]

I hope other companies see this as an opportunity to push their ideas forward to the audience Sony is gathering. Competition drives evolution. Maybe the Cinemizer will step the tech up in some way. In a perfect world Sony would pull a Nintendo and saturate the market with HMD accessories (data gloves, 6DOF head trackers, portable processor box/wireless base unit, haptic feedback vest, etc.)...but it's just a foolish dream.

small companies do not have the resources to compete with sony...it's a Mega-Giant in industry a name to reckon with ....

Had the sony been sourcing OLEDs from emagin the HMD 'd have been in the range of usd$3000-5000 or may be more But since they have their own unit for OLEd MFG. hence the cost is low...others do not have that advantage...

i'd long for piSight selling for usd$900 - but it's just me dreaming....