I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with this scene: the boy in the arcade puts on his helmet, and starts playing in a totally interactive and immersive environment. He’s in a whole different world, and having the time of his life. Although that has yet to be seen in real life (I haven’t seen one like that where I’m from yet), I think it’s quite common in cartoons. Forth Dimension Displays (FDD) plans to bring this head-mounted new type of display to the world, with its project called Replicating Reality.
The beauty of this head-mounted display is its ability to replicate the third dimension. There are, in fact, two high-resolution displays capable of rendering a high resolution image in the eye in such a small package. Each eye will receive a slightly different perspective, which will create this perception of depth (apparently known as stereoscopy). Given the high-resolution, images typically will be quite clear and won’t have any gaps between pixels.
In order to re-create colors from the real world, FDD uses red, blue, and green colors and combines them together to create a wide spectrum of colors.
The real-world application for this kind of device is endless. The most impressive demonstration I’ve seen thus far was one involving a demonstration of a house. By using this head-mounted gear, you can actually render your three-dimensional models and whatnot in extreme detail, and quite literally walk through a preview of what your house is going to be like. You can preview different kinds of furniture arrangements, paint combinations, types of decor and flooring, and all that jazz.
Similarly, you can use Replicating Reality with games. Can you imagine playing Call of Duty or Halo on this baby? I’d love for it to be possible to actually have devices that measure your motion as well (think advanced Kinect), which will make this whole experience even all the more real. The utilitarian motive of this application might be a bit difficult to justify, but it’d definitely be hella fun and will be a hit with the gamer community.
Now that we think about it, the arcade is about to become a whole lot more advanced. Have a look at Replicating Reality by Forth Dimension Displays. They also have a pretty awesome YouTube channel, where they feature a lot of live demos from expos and conventions, such as E3.
If you liked this post, check out the Aeon Project and Cadbury’s Augmented Reality game.
