From: jmelzer@aol.com (JMELZER)
Subject: Re: TECH: HMD
Date: 12 Oct 1996 16:01:56 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


>>How can I get VR News, CyberEdge Journal? Is this only a paper
>>journals?  And, may be I don`t know it in english (I know russian
>>better), but what is CRT?

These are not archival scientific journals, but are monthly or
quarterly.  CAN ANYONE TELL US WHERE TO FIND THEM? I usually find them
in computer shops or by mail.

A CRT is a Cathode Ray Tube, like a Television tube. CRTs for HMDs
typically have a small format size, between 12 mm diameter and 25 mm
diameter.

>>The military services are evaluating a number of high end
>>systems for pilot training.  The performance is excellent, although
>>the cost can be pretty high.

>I want to know what is MAXIMUM resolution of any HMD on the Earth.
>So, I have some ideas about, and I want to know. I don`t care about cost
of it.

I could take a CRT or an LCD (liquid crystal display) with an extemely
long focal length lens and give you sub arcminute resolution, although
that would be excessive. Ideally, you want to trade off field of view
and resolution with an eye on what you will be doing with the HMD,
what you will be displaying.

>>We built a system with 150 deg x 50 deg FOV, 4 arc minute resolution,
>>(using 6 VGA LCDs per eye) but that was a one-off prototype. Immersion
>>was *so complete* that a number of people got woozy (including
>>myself).

>If it`s not a secret, how you are using 6 LCDs on one eye? And what
>resolution has human eye (for total immersion)?

This was done with our VIM optics arranged in a mosaic, like a "wall
of video" that you may have seen. "Total immersion" does not appear to
be dependent solely on resolution, but more on field of view. (20/20
vision is equivalent to 1 arcminute resolution. Vernier acuity can be
in excess of 10 arcseconds or so.)

Regards,

Jim Melzer 
jmelzer@aol.com (JMELZER)