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Optics
So Google is coming out with "virtual reality" goggles that project computer data onto whatever you're looking at; sort of a personal "heads up display". These have actually been around for at least fifteen years, but they've been very awkward and expensive.
I've wondered for a long time why the computer display people don't do more with optical systems. For example, when Osborne came out with the first "portable" computer, the biggest complaint was that the screen was tiny. However, it was very clear and bright. You could get the effect of a much larger screen by simply putting a Fresnel lens over the display. But nobody did it. Nobody even tried it and reported that it didn't work.
It'd seem to me that, with an integrated design (ie, one not tied to existing display hardware) that you could get the effect of a very large screen with a tiny display and an optical system generating a virtual image. It would have a very narrow angle of view, but for a laptop or palmtop, this is an advantage -- think of privacy. You want wide angle viewing? Get a projector. The only problem I see is that the angle of view for practical optics would be too small -- it obviously has to be more than the angle subtended by your eyes. (Unless you wanted to go 3D. Hmmm ...)
Another optical system that I've wondered about is with DSLRs. These have both the traditional "moving mirror and penta roof prism" of the film SLR and a digital sensor. You get a digital image on a screen on the back of the camera, plus a "through the lens" optical view through the eyepiece. Seems to me you could eliminate the moving mirror (mechanically complex and puts severe constraints on lens design) and the penta roof prism (honkin' big piece of precision glass) and replace it with a simple electronic display and a couple of lenses. You have to have an electronic display there anyway to show status info and such.
Topic for research -- how small can you make an electronic display with a decent (720P) resolution? The main area of research seems to be in making them bigger.
ETA: Turns out that there are SLR-like cameras that work as I described -- they're called "mirrorless" or "brdge" cameras. Most of them look sort of SLR-like with a honkin' big zoom lens. Fuji even makes one that looks like a Leica M4 (IMHO the best 35mm camera ever made), but it costs a small fortune.
I've wondered for a long time why the computer display people don't do more with optical systems. For example, when Osborne came out with the first "portable" computer, the biggest complaint was that the screen was tiny. However, it was very clear and bright. You could get the effect of a much larger screen by simply putting a Fresnel lens over the display. But nobody did it. Nobody even tried it and reported that it didn't work.
It'd seem to me that, with an integrated design (ie, one not tied to existing display hardware) that you could get the effect of a very large screen with a tiny display and an optical system generating a virtual image. It would have a very narrow angle of view, but for a laptop or palmtop, this is an advantage -- think of privacy. You want wide angle viewing? Get a projector. The only problem I see is that the angle of view for practical optics would be too small -- it obviously has to be more than the angle subtended by your eyes. (Unless you wanted to go 3D. Hmmm ...)
Another optical system that I've wondered about is with DSLRs. These have both the traditional "moving mirror and penta roof prism" of the film SLR and a digital sensor. You get a digital image on a screen on the back of the camera, plus a "through the lens" optical view through the eyepiece. Seems to me you could eliminate the moving mirror (mechanically complex and puts severe constraints on lens design) and the penta roof prism (honkin' big piece of precision glass) and replace it with a simple electronic display and a couple of lenses. You have to have an electronic display there anyway to show status info and such.
Topic for research -- how small can you make an electronic display with a decent (720P) resolution? The main area of research seems to be in making them bigger.
ETA: Turns out that there are SLR-like cameras that work as I described -- they're called "mirrorless" or "brdge" cameras. Most of them look sort of SLR-like with a honkin' big zoom lens. Fuji even makes one that looks like a Leica M4 (IMHO the best 35mm camera ever made), but it costs a small fortune.
no subject
How sharp would the initial resolution need to be to ensure image crispness in the virtual image? Like blowing up an old-style photograph, I'd guess blurriness would become an issue very quickly. That might be one reason this technology hasn't popped up yet.
no subject
It would need the same number of pixels as a regular display; they'd just be smaller. A bigger problem would probably be distortion -- that's why I mentioned an integrated design. We could make the display spherical, for example, which might simplify the lens design.
no subject