Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
A dish best served not.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                 

Wearable twin projectors

Mounted on glasses frames.
 
(+2, -2)
  [vote for,
against]

Miniature projectors mounted to the frame of your glasses at your temples would enable 3D projection of your display. Small projectors are getting better every year, it won't be too long before they will be capable of projecting a bright enough image with enough contrast to rival the LCD displays of laptops at the same distances.

As an aside: A silver or bright white screen would be best possibly even saving energy over the LCD. A screen comprised of extremely small reflectors would enhance privacy by reducing viewing angle to stay within the two projectors. In order to keep your private projection to yourself, the screen could have a focus image similar to a barcode - if the projectors could not read the barcode or if it was the wrong barcode the image would not display on the screen. Anyway, I'll call this "external projection".

The screen should be easy to take out, lightweight, and ultra user-friendly. I'm envisioning a screen stretched by a springy wire and held up with foam encased copper wires (could be wrapped around anything or shaped for optimum balance on any surface). To put it away you just grab the outer rim and twist in opposite directions, collapsing the screen onto itself. For a large screen this could be done several times over until it's folded into a managable size. Velcro tabs would then help keep it that way.

At longer external projection distances the projector lamps may need an extra kick - possibly provided by a piggybacked (specialized) LED flashlight. High contrast could be achievable via a transparent lens with e-ink technology or something similar to cut-off light going to portions of the display that need to be black or very dark.

If no screens are available or if you just want to do something quick without pulling out your screen, the projectors could twist inwards and project the image at the back side of your glasses lenses. The lenses would need to have a special kind of "polarized" coating possibly nanotubes. The tubes would be oriented so that normal vision is unimpeded but when light is shone from an angle the tubes are illuminated. This would create kind of a ghost screen of fairly low brightness and decent if not excellent resolution for reading text. I'll call this "internal" projection.

Each projector would communicate with your computer wirelessly (bluetooth?) but would have lightweight batteries for internal projection. External projection could use the batteries from the piggybacked LED when in place or a mini-USB could plug into the glasses frames just behind the ear.

I'm thinking the computer(s) could be anything from a full-on 10lb laptop to your phone. Since most people like to travel with both their phone and their laptop you could task each projector to a separate computer and have two displays instead of one 3D display. Leave your phone in your pocket and your laptop in your bag (probably on your back - in order to keep the USB cables from getting tangled unnecessarily.)

moots13181, Feb 15 2009

Wearable Computer http://link.brightc...28/bctid10280440001
Wearable Computer with projector display and simplest UI [moots13181, Feb 16 2009]

http://link.brightc...28/bctid10288173001 [moots13181, Feb 16 2009]

[link]






       Wouldn't thid mean you would have to keep your head perfectly still the whole time?
zeno, Feb 15 2009
  

       I just saw a demonstration video of a similar system using a wearable computer and a single projector strapped to ones chest... it was fairly stable on most surfaces 2-5 feet away. However breathing would cause the image to heave and made it hard to navigate. Mounting the projectors on your head would keep the image stable relative to your eyes and would thus ease coordination and improve accuracy if not precision.
moots13181, Feb 16 2009
  

       //strapped to ones chest... //   

       like a bra?
jaksplat, Feb 16 2009
  

       This is halfbaked in The Dark Knight; Batman has projectors in his mask that link back to headquarters so Lucius can direct him with the cg sonar thingy.
Spacecoyote, Feb 16 2009
  

       This is castAR, including both external and internal modes.
notexactly, Apr 23 2019
  

       I was expecting an optical device that would give the illusion of having a twin by my side.
not_morrison_rm, Apr 23 2019
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle