From diderot@hitl.washington.edu Mon Jan 23 15:06:33 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA09108; Mon, 23 Jan 95 15:06:33 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA22458; Mon, 23 Jan 95 15:06:32 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA06620; Mon, 23 Jan 1995 15:02:37 -0800 Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 15:02:37 -0800 X-Sender: diderot@hitl.washington.edu Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: scivw@hitl.washington.edu From: palmfs@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Farli) (by way of diderot@hitl.washington.edu (Toni Emerson)) Subject: Forte VFX1 Specs Status: OR Ok here are the specs again. I have updated my spec sheet according to the new one I got at C.E.S.. FORTE VFX1 Specifications DISPLAY: 3d stereoscopic 789x230 pixel resolution per eye 263x230 color resolution Two .07 inch lcd's (about 180,000 pixels each) picture size: verticle 10.6 mm horizontal 14.3 mm RGB,NTSC,PAL compatible OPTICS: FOV: verticle=35.2 horizontal=53 diagonal=56.1 WEIGHT: 14 ounces TRACKING: roll and pitch = +/- 70 degrees rotation = 360 resolution: verticle = 0.077 horizontal=0.251 (both in degrees) INTERFACE Interfaces with standard VGA card feature connector (so you can use your own VGA card with it)) Utilizes Access.Bus connectivity standard 100kbit/sec transfer rate Comes with an Interface card that uses Access.Bus technology AUDIO: High Fidelity Stereo Headphones Microphone in visor Interfaces with any standard PC stereo card NOTE: FORTE has an alliance with Gravis so they reccommend the GUS POWER: 5 volts, 2.0 watts 0.4 amps with CyberPuck connected SYSTEM REQ: IBM PC compatible 386,486,Pentium Standard VGA card Sound Card In addition to the HMD you also get the "CyberPuck" which is a little 3 button device that has pitch and roll tracking. This thing plugs into the back of the HMD to "help remove the user from the desktop",and it does a good job of it too. The VFX1 was demonstrated with DOOM here and you used the CyberPuck and the HMD for movement. Talk about a total RUSH!! Anyway you can use the HMD and CyberPuck drivers to work with current apps. Also they have quite a lot of folks supporting them in the sofware alley including SENSE8, ORIGIN, AUTODESK, VIRGIN, VREAM, NEW WORLD, FUTURE CREW, ELECTRONIC ART, LOOKING GLASS,VIRTEK etc,etc... You get the picture anyway. They are also supposed to have the drivers available via anon FTP after shipping. Shipping is supposed to begin somtime around March of next year. Well I guess thats about all for now, if you need more info than that call them at (716)427-8595,they are supposed to have e-mail available soon. Peace be Farli P.S. Along with all the other things that come with the VFX1, I gotta tell ya it was the most comfortable Head Mount I tried at C.E.S., although the VIO did come comparably close.The VFX1 does NOT use a series of straps like all the others to hold it up, its kinda hard to explain what it looks like but its all one piece of molded plastic that fits over your head...all foamy and cushiony on the inside. Also it has one extra little feature that all you programmers will truly appreciate, its flip up optics. This allows you to go in and out of the VR without having to bother removing the HMD all the time (can we say debugging).