Personal Head Mounted Displays

[Silex]

Hey guys! I just ran into a spectacular deal. I'm not gloating, but just wanted others to share their experiences (if anybody has had any) with these devices. I recently purchased a Sony Glasstron PLM-A35 from eBay for $210 shipped and it included a desktop charger and a sony lithium extended battery. I've always wanted one of these things and I finally caved in and bought one. So if anybody out there has ever used one of these devices, holla forth! Sony Glasstron / Cy-Visor (yadda yadda) / Olymous Eye-Trek / IO i-Glasses (old school?), etc.

The PLM-A55's would have been nicer, but they were at least double than what I would have paid and the resolution is the same (180K pixels/screen). Although it has alot more options. I'm sure I will upgrade somewhere way down the line.

EDIT: Scratch that last idea, the PLM-A55's are actually 2nd generation. The newest (and unfortunately last model) of the Glasstron line-up is in fact the PLM-A35's, because one problem that made these head displays hard to market was their insane prices. The PLM-A35's were suppose to bridge the gap, but it was a little, too late.

General Info Sites:
Virtual Realities
CyverWorld
MindFlux
CyberMind
tekGear

Random Review Sites:
Testing Ground: Sony Glasstron PLM-A35
Sony Glasstron PLM-A35 ReviewSony Glasstron PLM-A35 - The 52" TV that fits in your pocket (almost)
Epinions.com Sony Glasstron

 

[MacBaine]

In the second link, what's with the nose on the lady in the picture?

 

[Silex]

Hahah. It's quite obvious. Reading the review, it seems that they say that the node piece gets rather uncomfortable after awhile and this may cause "inflamation of the nose" so to speak . Of course this is way overexaggerated.

 

[yoda291]

I want something like this, but on a smaller type scale. I think I could finally realize my lifelong dream of playing a computer game, checking my email, and going running at the same time. But then it'd need a way for me to see where I'm going too.

 

[Silex]

Yes yoda291. This has been my lifelong dream too for as long as I could remember. One of my hobbie sin my free time is learning about the new-age of computer design aka wearable computers. Mostly from a monocular lens so that only one eye is busy on the screen. I'm sure we are very close to this dream now. Ever since I've watched the anime Cowboy Bebop and saw Ed use a similar device to log into the internet, I was sold. Now I can't stop thinking about using it as much as possible.

Overall, it seems the best device out is the one by Cy-Visor. They only have one product out and the price varies alot, but if this technology grows on me (as I hope it shall), then I'll shell out the cash for the Cy-Visor (~$600) which sports 1.44 million pixels total on both displays.

 

[yoda291]

sony has a wearable display that hangs off apart from the eye...kinda like that star trek tng episode. Problem is $$ and very fragile.

 

[Silex]

Very true, and also IBm had something similar (although it's eben awhile since I've heard about it). And if my memory serves me correctly, I believe that it was using some sort of PalmOS and not Windows like a current Wearable Computer on the vrealities.com site has. This has got to be the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Poma.

 

[Silex]

I know some of you guys like VR. Out with it.

 

[yoda291]

I wonder how hard it would be to build a simple display.

I've got every part of my plan worked out in my head, except a lot of it isn't commercially available.

blanket my town in UWB radiation.
set up UWB access pt attached to my net connection.
Grab an Axim or build a micropc of comparable power --maybe one of the newer pc104 machine stacks.
attach display.

UWB could be replaced with 802.11, but that's an awful lot of access pts where I could get away with one.
and the display is enough for multiple PCs on its own and is liable to break during my run.

 

[Silex]

Any other candidates out there? Curious what other techies out there own some form of an HMD or just share a wearable computer hobby or similar interests .

 

[Silex]

Bumping an OT ...I'm evil!

 

[rh71]

...thought you were referring to those displays mounted inside the headrests of vehicles... bling bling.

 

[Silex]

2 week resurrection! I think it's worth it. This thread can maybe show somebody where to put a a few hundred of their hard earned dough. I've been using mine as much as I possibly can. It's constantly connected to the S-VID out on my Ge3ti200. I use a prog called TVTool to set custom resolustions and allow for more visual tweaks. But mostly for a software "dual-view" that the ge3 chipsets don't allow (simultaneous viewing of the monitor and vid-out). Pretty kick ass but the hot keys to activate the prog don't hurt either! Now I just need to find a decent wireless camera so that i can put it on my rc car and have fun literally driving it! Kick @$$!