Newsgroups: sci.electronics
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From: wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Illusion
Message-ID: <1993Apr16.132053.25555@uhura.neoucom.edu>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
References: <C5HxG5.vrx@ns1.nodak.edu> <1qk51rINN2n2@hp-col.col.hp.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 13:20:53 GMT
Lines: 31

I missed the first article[s] on this line due to not having a
chance to read the news for a couple of days...

The idea is commercialized in at least one product, the Private
Eye.  That's a small cube-shaped device that the user straps around
the head similar to a sweat band.  There is a boom that comes from
the side on which the device is mounted so that it is positioned
in front of the user's eye.

The Private Eye we had here for evaluation was Hercules-MDA
compatible.  The innards are a row (~400 LEDs) that are swept up
and down by a galvonometer-like movement.  The result is that the
sweeping LED bar forms a fused raster.  There is a virtual image
projected in front of the user that the visual system tends to fuse
with the background.

I didn't like the device very much.  I found it easiest to use if I
looked at a blank white wall.  I had problems with focus tracking
if I glanced down to look at my keyboard for an out-of-the-way key.
The unit also emitted a soft buzz and vibration which I found
annoying.  Some people didn't seem to mind the buzz.  Properly
used, however, the image clarity was quite crisp.

I don't know if the company has taken the technology any further in
the last year or two, but it did seem to have promise.


-- 
Bill Mayhew      NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-9995  USA    phone: 216-325-2511
wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (140.220.1.1)    146.580: N8WED
