Pro
|
Con
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- no ghosting
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- poor image quality, most text messages unreadable
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- no flicker
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- low resolution
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- strong immersion
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- heavy eye-strain
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- works with any graphics hardware
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- difficult setup of helmet and optics system prior to each
use
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- lush colors
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- discontinued product - no service - no driver updates
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- headtracking
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- no 3D-page-flipping support for VGA-input, i.e. no LCD-BIOS
support
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- PC and Video/TV/game console (NTSC) compatible
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- image distortion - pillow and prismatic effects
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- no ISA-slot required
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- poor headphones adjustability
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- low weight compared to many other helmets like VFX-1
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- comfort shortcomings
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- 3D-Video compatible (NTSC) i.e. Nu-View, prerecorded 3D-VHS
tapes, etc.
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- no PAL support - a good, clean (camera, digital source) PAL
signal is displayed in black and white; a mediocre (VCR) PAL signal isn't
diplayed at all
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- interlaced 3D format supported in PC mode
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- no see-through or lift-up visor
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- 2D modes work with any software
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- hi-res and/or hi-refresh modes, i.e. windows desktop, are
not displayed
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- constitutes an independent, portable, low-res monitor
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- occupies a serial port
|
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- VGA-pass-through cable severely hurts video signal at high
resolutions - 1024x768@85Hz is a mess - CyberMaxx pass-through cable has
to be removed in order to work with the computer
|
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- does not work with current H3D or Wicked3D stereo formats,
i.e. no above-below or page-flipping format support
|
Weight
The weight of the CyberMaxx at about 400g is much lower than that of
for example the VFX-1 at 1300g, but not as evenly distributed. The weight
lies on the nose or forehead.
Optical System
The lenses of the CyberMaxx can be adjusted horizontally, but not vertically.
The vertical adjustment is done by the headbands whcih means you have to
adjust the whole helmet in order to get the optical system at the right
eye-height. The image quality and brightness changes with every millimeter
the CyberMaxx is moved on the head. The whole adjustment is incredibly
delicate, but satisfying results are possible after some practice. As far
as I know the VFX-1 sits on the headd in a fixed position, while the lenses
are adjustable in all directions. I think that solution may work better.
The lenses are so close to the eyes that they touch the eyelash sometimes,
which is irritating. I don't think that was intended by the designers,
but I can't find another position which works for me. Prescribed glasses
can not be used with the CyberMaxx. The optical system of the helmet accomodates
for most eye-problems.
The lenses are very thick and cause heavy eyestrain. In the evening
when my eyes got tired I can't use the CyberMaxx, because the eyes can't
focus within the system anymore. I must admit that I'm a computer-grandpa
- 31 years. Virtual Reality is something for the young people. Did you
ever tried a Viewmaster? Well, the Viewmaster optics are wonderful compared
to the CyberMaxx. The lenses are so strong they produce a prismatic effect,
i.e. colored borders around objects. The image is also distorted like a
pillow.
Headphones
The headphones look like average walkman headphones. They can be adjusted
horizontally, but not vertically, just like the optical system. After adjusting
the optics it may be that the headphones are below or above the ears. Bad
solution - poor sound in my case.
Headtracking
The headtracking is an interesting feature. Due to the strong immersion
the system provides one can't stop from moving the head to follow the movements
on the screen whether there is headtracking or not. With headtracking enabled
it's just much more fun. The headtracking is somehow jerky of course, but
the overall effect is better and easier to handle than I thought.
Resolutions
The CyberMaxx displays any VGA-signal up to at least 640x480@60Hz. The
quality of the image is far below of what you came to expect from a 640x480
scree resolution. A 640x480 signal looks slightly better than a 320x200
though, especially in Stereo3D-mode. Quake1 and Terminal Velocity in Stereo3D
are real highlights on the system.
Using the CyberMaxx for video playback, either AVI, MPEG on the PC
or analogue video from the VCR the loss of image quality, especially resolution,
appears to be not as severe as in PC applications and games.
The CyberMaxx does work with 3Dfx boards, but is not compatible to the
page-flipping or above-below stereo format of H3D or Wicked3D titles.
Stereoscopy
When it comes to Stereoscopic3D on the PC the CyberMaxx supports any
program which provides an interlaced Stereo3D format. The VGA-board must
not be set to interlace-mode though!!!!
As the author of the Stereoscopic 3D Homepage I use 90 percent of my
time to try to explain the difference between interlace-format and interlace-mode.
Interlace-mode is a special form of hardware-page-flipping performed
by the graphics hardware. This is not allowed, nor required by the CyberMaxx.
The picture of the horse you see above has an interlaced-structure,
but your VGA-card and monitor are most likely not in interlaced mode at
the moment. That's what the CyberMaxx uses: interlaced images and a non-interlaced
standard VGA-signal.
The video-in port of the CyberMaxx for TV, VCR, Camcorders and game-consoles
accepts frame-sequential 3D - that's a different story.
Conclusion
Upon release the price of the CyberMaxx was over a 1000 dollars. Since
the system has several problems this price was totally unacceptable. No
wonder the thing was no success. Now that the company is out of business
and the price dropped below $200, sometimes even below $100 it's a hi-tech
toy. It's interesting to play around with the concepts of immersive displays
and headtracking. There's a lot to learn from that experience. At least
you can impress your friends by owning a real VR-helmet, like the guys
in the movies and on TV. It also makes a nice, but eye-straining, portable
monitor for your camcorder or game-console.
Don't expect too much, but the baby has it's moments. Hurtling around
a mountain in Stereoscopic3D in Terminal Velocity gives you a glimpse of
the future of immersive displays. There are certain aspects no monitor
and no shutterglasses can provide. The immersion, the strong stereo3D effect,
the absence of ghosting, the unusual, lush colors. Problem is there's not
much to see due to the poor resolution. The eyes can't relax one moment.
It's like looking onto a 15 inch monitor from 10 inch distance. There's
no illusion of a distant big screen like the manufacturers of such devices
claim. The eyes have to focus onto a really close point. Another problem
is that there's nothing to really focus on, because there is no sharpness
in the image. It is somehow blurred, period.
HMDs are the future, that's for shure. The CyberMaxx can provide a little,
humble preview of that future, no more - no less.
Content of the german CyberMaxx CD-ROM and util-floppy:
