| Author | Message | ||
     Dave Lamb Rating: N/A |
MicroVision, if you don't already know, is the only company currently commercializing VRD technology. (Take a look at http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrd/ for more info) I'm unaware of any other companies as immersed(no pun intended) in bringing VRD to the consumer, if not down to a reasonable enough price for it to become popular in the near future for commercial applications. In a nutshell, VRD technology is essentially a pair of mirrors(scanners) that direct lower-power laser light vertially and horizontally like how a CRT would direct an electron beam. Instead of an intermediary screen, the light is projected directly onto the retina. Prototypes in the past used galvanometers and other bulky scanning solutions, which are generally quite large, at least from a portability standpoint. This is where MEMS comes in. Small(about 500um) mirros are suspended from tiny arms, and electro-static comb drives can be used to tilt the mirrors, creating relatively high speed scanning frequencies, up to the point where the displays can rasterize about 1000 lines of resolution. Another brilliant idea is using a small fibre on a peizoelectric material. If you make the fibre the right length, you can resonate it at very high frequencies(10-50 Khz). This isn't a vast improvement over the scanning frequency of a MEMS scanner, but the size of such a scanner would make the housing one of these devices in a package the size of a pair of reading glasses realizable. And with the relative simplicity of these devices(compared to an LCD screen, for instance) the potential for mass-production is staggering. What's more is the sheer capability of these devices. Horizontal resolution is 'unlimited'. Each scan line is limited in pixels to the speed at which you can modulate the light. This means the res will surely surpass the eye's resolution, at least in horizontal. This in itself is enough to get excited about, but here's what's more... If you also toss in a micro deformable membrane mirror, you can also supply FOCUS for each pixel! Things in front of you face will not only be blurry, you can actually focus on them! Yes, this indeed, is the future of display. Imagine, having high field of view, up to and including 180 degrees, super-retinal resolution images, WITH true focus for the entire scene! And to top it all off, with current gaming technology, the Z-Buffer(depth of your image) can be directly assigned to the membrane mirror, no special coding required. This will be the ultimate gaming display. Microvision's current device isn't amazing. It's resolution is mediocre, as with it's FOV. It's monochrome. This is groundbreaking technolgy? Have we just been blasted into 1992? Sure, it's not impressive, unless you consider it's the first product of it's kind. The first HMDs were lucky to be 320x240 and monochrome. However, many companies have shown interest, including Honda. The government is interested, obviously, because it's a brilliant HUD solution. Microvision has already improved size, weight and functionality with the latest Nomad revision, and I'm sure soon enough(<10 years no doubt, <5 if we nag?  they'll have a full color consumer level product for the masses to enjoy. Sorry for the long post, some of you probably just skimmed through, and I'll bet most of you already know how VRD works, and who Microvision is, however as long as I informed but a few people, I'm glad to have posted. Take a look at Microvision's stock on NASDAQ, ticker MVIS. This is -definitely- a stock to watch. Dave Lamb P.S. Comments? Question? This wasn't really meant to be an article or anything, I just wanted to make aware this relatively new technology. I would definitely be interested in hearing everyone's two cents about it. | ||
| BOPrey Rating: N/A |
For those of you who are wondering why MEMS has not come down in price, please take a peek at this paper. http://www.mems-issys.com/pdf/issystech12.pdf It give a very accuate analysis of the cost of manufacturing typical MEMS systems; it is staggering indeed. The packaging of the product alone costs 2 to 3 times more than to produce it. Also. This recent report highlights the current investment atmosphere in nano technology. "Nanotechnology: Tiny hope or big hype?" http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/03/15/nanotech.boosters.ap/index.html Either "Tiny hope" or "Big hype" is not good for all of us. | ||
| Dave Lamb Rating: N/A |
Interesting paper, if not a little bleak. Indeed micro-scale fabrication is more complicated than just scaling down an existing device, however as long as the interest is there, and the funding is there, the problems of microfabrication will be resolved quickly. The catch-22 would be funding. The sector is teetering right now; the future of MEMS devices may be dictated by a few risky investors with sights on long-term return. The more people that take that leap of faith, the less faith you need in order to clear the bound; as discussed in the paper, without focusing on the manufacturing of MEMS devices specifically(rather than adopting microelectronics methods, which don't have the requirements MEMS demand) we aren't going to see cheap MEMS devices on the market very soon. However, tailoring manufacturing equipment specifically for MEMS is no cheap task, and thus is the paradox, and also is what makes adopting readily available microelectronics fabrication equipment so attractive. I do have faith in Microvision however, as their devices have already been shown to work, and work well. So well in fact that car companies(specifically Honda) have shown interest in either using the HUD displays for increasing manufacturing/service more productivity, or using the technology for displays in the cars themselves. Not to mention the ARMY/NAVY interest, which in itself I shouldn't have to tell you is a good thing for ANY technology, if not a little immoral. In the next 6-12 months, it should be interesting to watch Microvision, what with Honda's involvement, and the successive versions of driver electronics being introduced, which get smaller and smaller(eventually small enough to easily fit in a cell phone, that'll be interesting indeed) and with what seems to be an active interest on the goverment's part... keep your eye on em, even if they don't succeed in their endeavors, I'm sure there's some company out there willing to snatch up their intellectual assets(patents) and take another shot at it. I need asthma or something, these are too long winded. Dave | ||
| BOPrey Rating: N/A |
For those have been following Microvision for the pass several years, you might have noticed that first strategy has changed once or twice. First, they were selling their HMDs are independent units. Now, they are promoting the automotive system which is on trial use at Honda. If Microvision ever become very sucessful, it will be due to their business software products rather than their HMD. In a foreseeable future, IMO, they will start developing and/or integrating business systems where HMD is an enabling hardware in vertical markets. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Lovely. Made my day (which is saying something) | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Respekt! Ein wirlich gelungene Seite. |
