From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Mon Nov 25 2002 - 16:59:31 MST
Max M Rasmussen writes:
> I want a pair of high resolution glasses to put on. Then I would not
> need a table with room for a monitor. I would not have to use a whole
> wall in my living room for the tv. The screen could have any virtual
> size that would please me. I could watch a movie in bed without
> disturbing my wifes sleep, or better yet, we could see a moovie together
> while spooning. I could even cheat and see another movie than her ;-)
>
> A resolution of 1024*768 at $150 - $300 would be my sweet spot. And then
> I would want my movies delivered over the net.
Yes, ever since reading Vinge's "Fast Times" short story I want this too.
Why waste space on a monitor when you can bring up a virtual monitor
anywhere you want with your glasses?
I guess the resolution is not really possible yet. But hopefully in a
few years we'll be able to have a lightweight display that has all the
resolution the eyes are capable of handling, and after that we don't
need any more detail.
But what I want even more than resolution is SIZE. I want a wide display.
I am so sick of staring at a tiny little monitor that's the size of a
postage stamp held an inch from my eye. I was watching my son play a
video game yesterday, a first-person exploration game, and it was absurd
to try to explore the virtual world with that limited field of view.
There was no sense of reality whatsoever, despite the nicely done lighting
and landscaping effects.
I realize that designers are somewhat constrained by the hardware that
is out there, but I can't understand why no one is producing a fully
immersive, 180 degree field of view display. I think that was one of
the reasons the early VR experiments flopped, because you were looking
at the world through a scuba-mask sized window. I'll bet that if they
made an arcade game, a first-person shooter, using lenses or something
to bend the screen all the way around your head so that your peripheral
vision was actually engaged, this would be super popular. You'd really
feel like you were in the play world.
If you could take Max's high-res display and add my wish that the
projected image fills my visual field, that would be my ideal. Then in
ten or twenty years the software will be ready to synch up the virtual
world with the physical, and Vinge's prediction will come true. Any patch
of wall can have a virtual monitor appear on it. Any surface can come
alive with graphics. You don't need nanotech or mediatrons or smart ink.
You just need good-quality virtual-display glasses, some sensors, and
improved software.
Hal
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