Leap Motion uses the Force to control your Virtual Augmented Reality and beyond!

Want to manipulate and view a 3D virtual and augmented reality display with the power of your hands, a finger or a chopstick? You are going to sooner than you think for the field of VR and AR science has just surpassed the science fiction made famous by the likes of Spieldberg's bleak and dreary Tom fest Minority Report.. 

Minority Report is a film memorable only for that one scene where our anti hero is using those gloves to control that display. In 2012 we are not only more or less are on our way to having the wall sized display sorted , the science has surpassed the science fiction  right now we do not even need a wall to display a wall sized display ! For we have in the form of the smd ST1080 a 180g wearable virtual and augmented reality display bigger than the one Maverick is using in Minority Report ...or his ego in Top Gun and in actual size not much bigger than his Raybans ...somebody stop me...

Currently I am controlling whatever I throw up on that display using traditional mouse, keyboard, joypad controls,thinking of Kinect,IR,Move and other inputs. Reaching down for the input method the complete VR or AR experience is just not happening..

Then I  Google+d on Leap Motion and this 

What you are looking at here is someone controlling a traditional 2D monitor set up, but we now have 3D 1080p hmds like the ST1080, imagine wearing your display and exploiting all  control options and possibilities that the Leap Motion brings to a head mounted display user . The Leap can see down to your individual finger or tip of a pencil level using this in conjunction with head mounted displays like the ST1080 is going to be an obsession for me in the next few months. I can approximate control like this with kinect at the moment the level of control shown on display here hooked up to Windows 8 streaming to a tablet like the new iPad linked wireless through Apple TV to the transparent ST1080 which  is just 180g, portable, powered by USB and you have your perfect wearable augmented and virtual reality computer ... Philip K Dick would be proud and this is a point where the science actually surpasses science fiction in our life times. Nerdvana has been attained.... 

On the ST1080 controlled with the Leap you could actually manipulate objects in augmented reality thanks to the transparent display , you could also beam the image from the camera of your phone or tablet , so if you are using LAYAR or Google Goggles or other AR apps you can now manipulate them on your ST1080 only now with the magic of your hands or even favourite Harry Potter wand or chop stick : Lost  in New York you could impose an augmented 3D image or map of the City and move in it virtually whilst you were you were moving in it actuality ..Look for shops , look for face book friends , find the place where you are meeting and watch in 3d as they close in on your location..  I could do this now wearing the ST1080 but I have no way to control the display on the move , i do if I have the leap connected to my Raspberry Pi or Windows 8 tablet in my pocket or backpack ... 

Then consider that the portable head mounted display, the ST1080 is a 1080p 3D display and paired with the Leap, with Tridef 3D turning your experience into 3D, you just got your first 3D virtual reality and augmented reality world that you can manipulate with your hands or a light sabre if you have one lying around ... That 3D world that you can now manipulate of course could be occupied by anything, 3D games and sports, 3D work, CAD ,modelling , design and of course the obvious which I do not need to mention... 3D google maps ..what ? what did you think I meant .. 

Right now videos only exist showing the Leap controlling 2d displays , but I have several 3D hmds that are dying to be paired up with the Leap , so I have written to the makers of Leap Motion and pre-ordered one too and as soon as I get hold of a developer or retail version I will be throwing up videos and reviews of usage scenarios and the endless possibilities a control unit like the Leap Motion brings..

By the time the Leap Motion hits retail in Feb 2013 , the hmd will have evolved to have a 4K resolution, a 4k resolution 180g wearable portable display that you control with air ... Just make sure you get your eyes in shape. 

The possibilities for an Obama fly swatting, or Miyagi San chopstick fly catching games are endless just remember not to take out your screen or the person in front of you if you are wearing a hmd ... 

And how ...how could I not mention the Force .. the force lightning ,grip, Jar Jar slapping possibilities too are endless and totally independent of your Midichlorian count... mesa   Jedi now too massa Anniiiee.... For Sith George WHY?

Like I said this is way beyond Minority Report,a little ahead of Johny Mnemonic and even the legendary AR VR sequence in that great Michael Douglas /Chricton/Demi Moore sci fi epic Disclosure ... truly a point where science is about to outpace science fiction... finally ..again..maybe.

The natural user interface is evolving alongside the hmd and the touch and gesture based OS that is Windows 8 and tablet/phone operating systems, so we are at the most exciting point for developers in a long time the true potential of this device lies not just in manipulating virtual clay and molecules but in the community of developers that Leap Motion is building which will throw up usage scenarios the designers never thought of, Jar Jar Slapping and Obama-swat-a-fly are just my initial contributions...

More to follow when and if Leap Motion get back to me... All in all 2013 with the arrival of Windows 8, 4k hmds like the successor to the ST1080, (the ongoing review for which you can check to the right of this ), Project Glass and the likes of the Oculus Rift is going to mark the birth of the cyberpunk for real ... gentlemen and ladies get your decks ready... now all we need is a few AIs and Rastafari in space and the prophecies of William Gibson will have been fulfilled ....

check out  Leap Motion now

Google GLASS video shatters 15 million hits : Heralds the JackGLASS generation

Massively popular with the masses even a year or so before worldwide release...Google GLASS has  problems, the same problems all VR AR hmds face, they need real world applications, they need a use ... they need to be of use... they need developers...

Currently there are more Scanners on this planet than actual GLASS users ... Hence Google`s #ifIhadglass campaign, in which would be owners first humiliate themselves on Google+ and then pay $1500 for a prototype unit that they have to pick up from a limited number of venues ..all in the USA !  So Google has it's potential GLASS users jumping through flaming hoops and risking life and limb for the privilege .. is this some form of weird nerd vengeance? The more crazy or insane your idea the more likely you are to please the Google Gods into gifting you ( for $1500 ) the device... Shouldn't South Park have done a Cartman's fat GLASS episode by now along the lines of Cartman's quest for his Wii???

Prepare to be JackGLASSed!

It seems Google are counting on everyone being active when using their $1500 device .. and the videos like the one below show this activity .. which I dub JackGLASSing ... an augmented reality activity I mentally prepared my self for by sitting in deep meditation to  contemplate considering pondering the idea of joining every extreme sport and activity  known to man and animal kind. I am currently preparing for the day I don my first Google Glass(es) by  mentally running around jumping from planes and standing on horses jumping over flaming bails of hay. I may also run away with the local Romany travelling circus just so I can get my tiger taming and trapeze leaping skills up to scratch...  I have time since this year at least only US JackGLASSers are getting the developer kit.... 

Whatever happened to .. hi I would like to develop or test out your device please could you send me one ... you know like  Windows 8, Oculus Rift, Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED head  trackers, LEAP Motion, iOS, Linux,Unreal sdk  and a million other pieces of tech and code  we are occupying ourselves testing and developing for right now.?

In trying to do no evil has Google become too good for us?

Immediate thoughts : safety : how is Google testing for safety ?

Glasses of any kind  and extreme sports do no mix , playing any form of contact sport is asking to risk injury and as for non contact sports


These things are going to fall off , come off and cause serious disorientation issues .. you can just see the headline now ..tourist falls down manhole whilst attempting to cross the street wearing Google GLASS...first person video of his progress along the sewage system allows him to share the experience (sans smell) with his Google+ chums...

There are many questions and problems Google need to address and solve re hmds that no other hmd developer has managed to date.And if Google is relying on the extreme sports or fashion world to answer them then  GLASS is doomed.

ergonomics , fitting and optics ... 

How is GLASS  tailored to different head shapes, temple sizes, and each individuals eyes ?.. if you are involved in extreme sport activity where is the camera shake in the videos and how will you maintain focus when spinning around , is this therefore just a strap on first person view camera ..if so why not just use your $200 phone or a  hd micro web cam with wifi or bluteooth attached to your helmet? 

You know why I use the Cinemizer OLED hmd more than others I have .. because of it's ergonomics, optics and fitting ..any device you wear and look into or through has to have these three things down..  But existing hmds are fitted to be used in non extreme physical activity .. GLASS is aiming for actual physical activity .. or riding the subway ... 

In this age of 3D printing could Google not tailor each GLASS headset for each individuals  measurements and for their comfort?

It's like voice activation...but not !

there is no way Google GLASS is going to pick up voice commands in a screaming crowd , with the wind rushing past you on a ski slope or when you are free falling from several thousand feet or whilst being propelled down the local sewer , there is no way you are going to shout loud commands in public ..what happens when everyone else does too? 

the true use of GLASS will be at home as an AR adjunct to your existing PCs , Macs and tablets . 

Google Glass, sorry "GLASS"  maybe all the rage with rockstars, fashionistas, journos and those obnoxiuous waiter types at those restaurants it takes 6 months to get a reservation at...  but it also is intended to be the first useful AR device we the people use, whether stuck in lectures, travelling, sharing video and views or finding our way out of our cellars and into the real world with Google Maps. 

GLASS then could be considered as an accelerator of all existing Google services .. But it's actual modal use will only become apparent when it releases to the masses. A major use of GLASS will be at home as an AR adjunct to your existing PCs, Macs and tablets  at least at first.  Videos of normal people sitting around checking the progress of their Pizza delivery on Google Maps or  in a cafe engorging lattes  in 24 hour Starcraft sessions are not going to glam up GLASS's image the  way Google wants to ..is seemingly desperate to .. 

GLASS is going to be in even greater vogue with every dodgy form of video maker known to mankind... how Google disassociates it's product from that crowd ...the wrong crowd for a mainstream consumer product is going to be a major issue for a company who have the motto of doing no evil at their core... What happens when these videos filmed with  Google GLASS start dominating Youtube? 

Cost vs Usefulness 
Google GLASS is one definite step in the right direction but costing more than the average person's monthly wage in these austere times (in triple dip depression austerity riddled Europe and the USA at least) may prove a hindrance. 

I believe the high price and the limited and highly controlled release of the developer version  of Google Glass is designed to deter the more undesirable Google Glass user... may also hinder development for it and of it. In today's tech world, developers are you and me,  sought after through kickstarter runs or direct contact, so we the people get to test and develop the coolest of devices like the Oculus Rift, LEAP Motion or the Zeiss headtracker and other hmds I have been messing with ..  When a company does not listen you get a device like the Sony HMZT1! 

As a user of hmds for nearly two years now, I have seen them transform from the movie viewing HMZT1 to the transparent AR capable smd ST1080 to the truly portable Cinemizer OLED with head tracking to the one everyone is waiting for the Oculus Rift. Exciting times .. 

GLASS offers something unique that I cannot wait to test out, but that cost is going to be a limiting factor, here's hoping that when they release it, it will have a retail price in the range of a Nexus 7 (or two ) and not an iPad (or two).. 

More importantly though the developers have to listen to what people want to do with GLASS , the success of this device is going to be dependent on user feedback. Limiting your users with $1500 price points is not a good way go nor is glamming it up by using the extreme sports  or extreme fashion crowds.. The majority of GLASS users are if we are getting real here , barely going to leave the comfort of their nerd nest...let alone their sofa or chair.. 

Kinect could not even get people off a sofa so how then will a $1500 AR device that requires a $400 phone too and a penchant for jumping out of planes or riding roller coasters manage to cause a paradigm shift in tech users who will find it $1500 cheaper to just look at their phone?


 #ifIhadglass.. or #whenIhaveglass I would:

1.Combine VR and AR Control methods with current Google Glass input methods : I would  combine the hand tracking of LEAP motion with  Google Glass . LEAP Motion is a stage where gesture recognition ,finger and object recognition works incredibly well and is developing to the point where we can have virtual keyboards , easily select virtual screen taps and presses ,do swipes etc . Now combine the development of this with Google Glass and you never need to reach for a button or even speak. This is essential for people who either cannot speak or need to use Google glass in a quiet environment . This additional form of control would allow me to draw a virtual box around something I want to take a picture of , currently you ask Google Glass to take a picture where you are looking , with hand recog you could point to it ,do a virtual tap , frame it , or zoom in on it and then take the picture , even edit it in thin air before you share it! Take the tiger sculptor segment of the Google Glass video , the artist pulls up a 2D image of a tiger head to sculpt a real world 3D tigers head . With the addition of hand tracking we could spin the image around to see it in 3D , zoom in to look for details , and with hand tracking either create a virtual 3D sculpture (which we 3D print ) or a more accurate  real world sculpture by overlaying the 3D VR image over the  ice underneath!...and we could do it an a class full of artists or the noisiest of environments without disturbing anyone..

With voice activation alone what for instance happens in a crowd of GLASS users all screaming commands at their devices? This may be why individual cat walking super models were wearing GLASS but the gaggle of fashion journos were not ...

2. Trip The Cloud Fantastic: Asymmetric Cloud gaming and work are two of my favourite pass times  :GLASS provides an AR interface with Google services , but what I need to do as soon as I get hold of it is stream my desktop Windows 8 and therefore every Steam game I own. Fire up a browser and I can be asymmetrically playing onlive,GAIKAI and Splashtop...Right now I am  typing this blog entry using an iPad streaming Windows 8 from my laptop 3 floors away . What I can't wait to try out is  using GLASS to do the same any time anywhere. Key to this will be how Google optimize and develop the device to expolit cloud streaming and not just cloud storage.Looking at current cloud apps that Google offers , you see them mostly geared to using the cloud as a storage option. What GOOGLE needs to do is move to a streaming model too. At that point GLASS becomes an invaluable device not just to link to your Google services but to link asymmetrically to far more powerful computing devices be they your gaming rig or Cray cluster Folding away at  college. 


The head mounted display has yet to make it past a niche luxury tech item , Google needs to move these to developers ASAP or at least release sdks. or it will be outpaced by competition.

The "Beta" program is at present too restrictive, the glamorous demos are not real world usage scenarios for 99% of the public and the current cost is prohibitive. The first  batch of GLASS will be bought up by people who seldom move from their desks let alone leap through plane doors or hurtle down ski slopes ... will the core tech user therefore actually have any use for GLASS or will it be confined to being used by reality TV stars like the Kardashians or Honey BooBoo post endorsement by Jimmy Fallon and the bearded fellow from The Verge?

hmds are the next big thing, but serious amounts of testing needs to be done in real world scenarios and not just the glamorous kind...

What GLASS needs is massive user led and directed app development or it's zenith may be as an expensive piece of bling adorning an expensive fashion models cat walk...

Google Apps alone do not sell Android phones nor can they therefore sell GLASS. Google need to focus on massive app generation that makes the device more than a cool in house tech project. 

They will also need to focus on individual  tailoring of optics, ergonomics and fitting. In today's world of 3D printing, why can we not have a device like GLASS tailored to fit our individual head shapes, temple sizes and facial/eye measurements bypassing all the ergonomic problems that plague current gen hmds...

And this may take 2 or 3 generational iterations of the device , wifi , the abilty to stream from desktops or the cloud without going through your phone..better power sources and control and UI.

Most of all though Google need to release the device at a loss and at a cost which makes GLASS irresistible , just like that wonderful Nexus 7 price point . If it launches with a $1500 price point having reached out to only niche users and in a years time too, globally , the hmd and AR scene will have passed it by....

Of course I will happily state how wrong I was when and if I get to try GLASS out and all my cynicism is  assuaged..


oh and if you need one now and truly want to feel like a jackGLASS there's one listed on ebay for $16000...

this content is © and originated from thegameveda http://the-games-veda.blogspot.com/  if you are reading it from any other site that has not provided a link back it has been leached 

Mobilizing Virtual Reality 101: How the future of VR and AR lies in your pocket, in the clouds and not on what's on your head son....

The future of 3D gaming, a significant chunk of that 3D gaming is going to rely on mobile phones and tablets for content as users and developers on these devices number in the 100s of millions. Consequently the success or very existence  of the coming VR and AR (gaming and non gaming) revolution will be dependent not on L337 gaming PCs,clans,trolls,Angel funding, or next gen consoles, but iOS and Android devices with millions of active developers serving those 100s of millions of active users ..vs hundreds or a handful of developers of note...on traditional gaming platforms..currently fashionably and predictably late with their crowd sourced projects...How's my Hangar coming Mr sorry Chairman Roberts?

Trouble at Treadmill...

It is undesirable and unnecessary for VR and AR activities to be  locked to one static location. The great majority of HMD VR and AR users (outside the MTBS3D Brotherhood) will not be sweaty nauseated core gaming hamsters on treadmills emulating WSAD or arrow key movement in FPS sequels nor will they be Holodeck fantasists entombed in Kinect caves deep in underground university labs/ family home cellars. Portable computing coming together with portable displays both VR and AR is how this tech will evolve. Evolve to fit the users pockets and not just line the developers pockets.  VR and AR are going to be used to  augment every day tasks, whether it is aiming in a FPS game with headtracking faster than a pro twitch FPS gamer or aiming to take a picture with your hmd in an otherwise impossible to do so situation. HMD, headtracking AR and VR devices will all be used to improve performance in every day tasks  .. The most successful developers are going to be ones who target original apps to those tasks...just as Rovio and co managed to target  the smart phone and tablet, when traditional developers were struggling to squeeze console and PC game engines on rails into them.. You can see the seeds have been sown already:

Mobile platforms will be or already are in several cases far more profitable revenue streams than the core gaming specialist  PC VR community.

A VR Circle 

In the near future, mobile GPUS and CPUS will generate more profits than old desktops for ALL hardware manufacturers and designers...not just Apple..or Samsung...  once this rapidly approaching  tipping point is reached the majority of media and games will be consumed as if they aren't already on iOS /Android mobile platforms..  where the majority of games will be developed...where the majority of VR and AR development will live... oh there will still be people shaking their heads in styrofoam HMDs on treadmills in their man caves or what was once their Rocket Propulsion lab... but thankfully we won't have to see them in the game ....unless we want to through our portable VR and AR computer/display devices.

Cloudy with a chance of AR

A second significant change that follows on from mobilization of HMDs  is the growing use of  of the cloud to game and access media to bring about this paradigm shift. Steam has stored our games since the second coming of  Half Life  ..but soon mobile gamers will have access to Sony,Microsoft, Amazon, Google,iOS  clouds and within them torrents of  instant streams  not antiquated downloadable data.. Then start counting cloud gaming services like GAIKAI, onlive , Core Online . And pile on the cloud media delivery services . All of which is accessible by the mobile gamer.  All of which is accessible using portable displays ..your VR or AR HMD ... Oh and  you can throw Nvidia shield in there too , which we tested  with the Cinemizer OLED to create a mobile cloud streaming AAA VR gaming experience that is entirely portable at E3 earlier this year ..and who could forget Splashtop ...that let's us stream any game . 

Latency ... what latency ?...if you are not running 120 meg at least in 2013 write to your MP / Congressman now ...or move somewhere that does.. 

So when and if it launches,  your HMD better interface with or leverage iOS, Android and the cloud as well as PC and next gen console games .. once the hysteria dies down and everyone has fed off the hype currently being generated .. 

Cloud gaming is not a distant future event. The server backbones are being planted deep in dormant Icelandic volcanoes (well that is where I would put them) as I type.. I hear Wikileaks has a few going spare lately..

It's not all Doom(4)  and gloom for current developers, in fact to capitalize on this mobilization of VR , you for example our hero Chairman Roberts , just have to ensure when Star Citizen is finished , it not only runs on L337 hardware in my game cave, but I can stream it to my phone or tablet and via that to my portable hmd... By the time it releases we will be streaming everything everywhere with/from personal clouds, we already can now ... more on this in a second..

Unfortunately I cannot comment on how 3D is coming to your handhelds and HMDS via those handhelds just yet due to NDAs , but rest assured it is not only one of the coolest things to happen to 3D gaming it is an essential piece of the puzzle  for making VR and AR portable activities ...assuming your hmd is portable too ...what? OK may the next  consumer version right ?    

This does not stop me from showing how right now with today's hmds we can connect to portable devices , in this case the Samsung Galaxy S4..  When I get permission I will happily show you how anyone can mobilize their HMD VR and AR experience in 3D..   

But first baby steps here is how to connect your HMD of choice , the Rift , the Cinemizer OLED and the smd ST1080 to the Samsung Galaxy S4 ..and game in 2D .. Since the Cinemizer and smd ST1080 are portable ...so is your VR and AR... More on this in a follow up when the powers that be let me talk about it... 

this content is © and originated from thegameveda http://the-games-veda.blogspot.com/  if you are reading it from any other site that has not provided a link back it has been leached 

Cinemizer OLED HMD+iPad Augmenting Reality : Taking Mobile HMD and AR beyond Google GLASS limits at the Grand Canyon and Apple HQ

Can you see the light, can you see the light shining from my face ?..the late great Jeff Healey used to shout at his mesmerised audiences. Jeff Healey was a person who took a perceived weakness adapted and augmented his guitar playing, enhanced it to point of being one of the greatest guitarists in history. Now we are not all born with the talent to adapt or develop skills to Mr Healey's level but technology is moving further down the road to being able to give us augmented abilities ..    

To date hmd fans have largely only considered Augmented Reality through the Google tinted looking GLASS. With only a chosen few actually experiencing what Google term and define as AR. But GLASS as an AR defining device has it's limits. What if we were  to look beyond current GLASS  and AR usage paradigms ? What if we actually want to seek to benefit from augmenting a real world physical task like photography or filming? Not tag a photo with GPS, or take a photo with voice, or indeed share it, no what if we actually want to improve and enhance the act of taking that photo in adverse conditions like extreme sunlight? Using a HMD to actually perform better at a task rather than simply aping a task.. Let's take a look at Augmenting the Reality of photography and filming, and how a 2013 cyberpunk like you or me can outdo the sun.... so what do you think? Can you see the light ?

Lost or unleashed in the Great US of A, having escaped E3 2013 and LA I gravitated .. naturally to the nearest tech haven, no not Oculus VRs headquarters in San Diego ,where the O Team were busy in meetings recovering from E3 and securing several millions of dollars of funding ( hi Steve thanks for trying ! Universal was great..) but East ...  

And so it came to pass I was standing in San Jose, with time to kill and the whole of Silicon Valley surrounding me ...Ennio Morricone playing in my head... Presently I found myself at the  Tech Museum whose exterior was adorned with a several story mural promising  a Star Wars exhibition that on entering you learnt was going to happen sometime in the future oh I thought just like the promised Episode VII and my consumer version of the Oculus Rift . Inside taking advantage of the air con, I asked a kind lady the way to Apple and Google and Facebook...A printer whirred and out popped Google Map navigation instructions. Which of these three great tech giants would I visit? Well I hopped on the first bus that turned up  at the end of the square as instructed and I was off, air conditioning cooling me down in 90 degrees of dry heat. 

Hopping off the bus and walking a couple of miles in said dry heat, to reach 1 Infinite Loop I walked in and made my intentions clear to the Apple front desk person, another kind lady. 

I was there to test the Cinemizer OLED with the Apple iPad 3, promptly an Apple PR person arrived and said you can as long as you do no steal any secrets.. To which I agreed ..Not even needing to sign anything on an iPad or do the secret Apple handshake  They then let me film outside Infinite Loop.. nice people, Apple people...thanks for the opportunity!

So let's get serious the aim of this test is to:

1. Show how mobile use of hmds will dominate VR and AR fields. People have begun to talk of VR and AR pioneers ...but they talk from the developers side, both VR and AR fields are going to evolve also through the user side..Your hmd's users will in time be considered just as much  pioneers as the developers of hardware and software  and it is they who who ultimately pay your wages once the Angel/Troll funding dries up. Users  will dictate the future use and direction of hmds, VR and AR..and commercial viability and take them beyond what many reviewers consider today as mere gimmicks. Google understand this, other hmd/VR/AR companies need to catch up to this. Or you may just develop 17000 apps that no one uses or has use for...

The recently publicly released LEAP Motion is also presented with a similar issue: good against developers is one thing ...good against users ..that is something else.. ( sorry Mr Lucas). I love the LEAP as a piece of hardware but how are people on the street going to see it or use it?

Portable computing and hmd usage, mobile hmd usage of the kind you see tested below,  exists and is viable now.

Much more on this next time : back to the test:

2. The real world aim of this test is to solve a problem. 

Problem : 

When using your tablet or phone in bright sunlight as a camera, or even your swanky new large touch screen camera, the display blacks/whites out due to the brightness of the sun. You can usually just about make out where to click to take a picture, but in all honesty you are hoping things work out. 

A transparent hmd like Google Glass may work with some shades, but you still cannot view film or take pictures in their natural form. In fact in total bright sunlight that display is going to be obliterated also..and or it will become difficult to select images in bright light.

You also cannot view pictures in high resolutions deemed necessary by serious photographers , or view 1080p video.

So what if you want to be able to see a crystal clear unadulterated image or video that you can then capture without any hindrance from sunlight?

Solution: 

Exploiting a portable opaque OLED HMD as an Augmented Reality device :

When I use the term opaque, I mean totally light blocked, like the Cinemizer OLED or the smd ST1080 with light blocker. Put these on and very little if any direct light can get in to affect the display.

Outside Infinite Loop and out of respect for Mr Steve Jobs, simply connect your iPad (or iPhone) to your Cinemizer OLED hmd. Using Lightning connectors and the old HMDI connector depending on your model of Apple device. Both devices have portability and power sorted and you are now wearing a portable computing device,seeing through the iPad or iPhone cameras using the hmd. There are around 10 hours of power on your iPad and around 2 to 3 on your Cinemizer without having to recharge.  

Now you can take pictures and film in bright light and actually see a 40 inch OLED view of what you are photographing or filming. Nothing, no significant light can get into the screen that is set 2m away from you on your hmd, you can still look down to the iPad or the ground. But you have eliminated the sunlight obliterating your phone or tablet or camera view finder or display. Allowing the hmd/tablet user  to pick and chose what you film in these conditions instead of just blind guessing and clicking in bright sunlight as so many people around me were doing with the same tablets and later phones:

Here is the video I filmed wearing my iPad 3/ Cinemizer OLED hmd setup : This one's for you Steve (Jobs that is not Steve from Oculus, you will have to wait till I find a mobile power source for my Rift dev kit rev 1):

This was cool because there seems to be a special vibe you get using an Apple product at 1 Infinite Loop and of course because it worked! And because of the comments of passing people who noted that GLASS was already surpassed. 

And this brings me back to the point on users not just developers influencing products. In our connected world a simple user like me can also be a developer present at E3, or outside Apple connecting with hardware and software developers, aiding or commenting and ultimately influencing the evolution and use of these devices. You can do this now, for yourselves and companies that listen or place a modicum of value to this new type of feedback stand to gain and in some cases could at the very least  gain a sense of humour ...

Speaking of connecting, my day at Apple over I headed over to where they all eat watched a football game and a couple of days later woke up in Vegas ...from where I promptly felt the need to use the Grand Canyon as a testing ground for my new found way of using hmds ... and meeting yet more game developers...

Cinemizer OLED+iPad 3 vs the Grand Canyon 

At the Grand Canyon, South Rim. The heat was close to 100 degrees, the sunlight obliterating every phone, camera and tablet display except mine: a perfect test ground for the Cinemizer OLED and iPad 3 camera set up. Check it out ... 

Using the Cinemizer HMD also enhanced taking pictures with the 5MP iPad camera , the 13 MP Samsung Galaxy S4 rear camera .. through the Cinemizer HMD, with a 40 inch crystal clear OLED display as my view finder. So when people around me were experiencing blacked out phone and camera screens like so 

whatever the resolution or power of the Camera on this phone, the light renders photography or filming as guess work

I was standing in almost the exact same spot able to take pictures like the ones below : that actually looked clearer and sharper than the display you are using now to view them ( unless it is an OLED display!) 

if we want to look over the edge we no longer have to lean over the edge , just point the camera downwards and the hmd displays the view : 

we can also take pictures using the front cameras of the iPad 3 and S4 and of course still see what we are taking pictures of on the HMD , even look behind us whilst looking forwards with the S4's dual camera mode...

This being me of course video games follow me everywhere even to the arid 100 degree desert. As luck would have it I found myself with a party of most excellent Japanese tourists, into which I blended Altair style, being flown to the Grand Canyon on a propeller powered flight that was more impressive in terms of a thrill ride than the Universal Studios Transformer's ride the Oculus Team had sentenced me too several days earlier (only joking Palmer!)...I mean Michael Bay you should try this ..and you get to experience it on the way there and back. So regaling one of my fellow travellers with tales of my Nihon adventures,  discussing the sights and comparing experiences of Japan and Tokyo I discovered the dude worked for Capcom...  

So from Nevada to Arizona and back again , in a shakey prop plane that would have had Indiana Jones jumping out in a life raft, this amazing guy and I talked about Hachiko  and Capcom games development through a translator as my Japanese is pretty rusty, since I last used it to play Samurai Warriors RPG on a SNK Neogeo.. 

Providence... All in all I probably got a longer interview off the cuff with a Capcom employee re Capcom than most journos at E3...

So there on this journey to and from the near 100 degree heat of Grand Canyon and  waiting for our plane back I argued against DLC and Capcom's reliance on it. Sadly I was told it was here to stay. But there was good news too, it was here in an air conditioned airport lobby that I got to first learn of Street Fighter V ( and beyond) and more Resident Evil, or Biohazard as my Japanese friends preferred to call it. 

I also talked 3D and hmd gaming with the Capcom employee on the plane ride. I play Res Evil and many Capcom games in 3D with headtracking already as you can see here  . Capcom however on consoles at least have no great faith in 3D gaming, it seems most Japanese developers take on it is that this was a fad for a couple of years. There seems to be no great push for 3D or hmd gaming. In fact a complete lack of confidence in it from what I could glean. This is significant for hmd makers and so called VR pioneers, either a sign of wisdom or shortsightedness on Japanese developers part...we shall see..in the game..

Here in the Grand Canyon thousands of miles from the gaming caves of the UK , without any Internet connection or working phone, thegameveda still manages to get gaming information ... dedication ...or perhaps these guys follow me around or perhaps this is providence or karma maybe?  Every time I try to leave....

Sometimes it pays to leave VR and check out some actual reality... the whole video games and tech sector needs more humanising ..people need to meet outside name events too...  more to follow including a diatribe on how and why the future of VR and hmds lies in your pockets... 

If you are out there in bright sunlight with your expensive or cheap camera, know then attaching a hmd like the Cinemizer OLED can and will enhance your photography.. and in doing so you just augmented reality... see the light?

Just remember to have someone pull you back from the edge or you will be filming your descent Google GLASS style, albeit using superior OLED displays...

this content is © and originated from thegameveda http://the-games-veda.blogspot.com/  if you are reading it from any other site that has not provided a link back it has been leached 

HMDs on a Plane :Joining the Mile High VR Club: Cinemizer OLED+smd ST1080+headtracking tests at 38000ft on transatlantic flights

at 38000 ft the back seat screen charts my actual flight to E3 whilst I fly in VR headtracked OLED 3D in Strike Suit Zero..

On my way to and from E3 I had about 18 hours to mess with. 10 hours there from London to LA and 8 hours back from DC to London.  Those are usually long painful hours staring at back seat screens, growing immune to engine noise and the rattle and hum that makes for a transatlantic flight. Your ears pop, people throw up, you cannot sleep and wifi ends at the coastline if you can be bothered to pay for it. Those tiny drinks do nothing for me and sharing your laptop screen with your fellow passengers is just so 90s ......  whilst jumping out of the plane with your Google GLASS AR unit is sooo 2012 ... or perhaps 2014 for those of us yet to be deemed worthy of the experience by Goodly Google ..

the Samsung Galaxy S4  rear camera captures the flight data whilst the front camera captures me looking through a 100 inch transparent Windows 8 Metro wall I am able to see  and use the phone behind the  hmd screen to take this picture 

What a perfect scenario then to test hmds at high altitude (sans extreme sports), Tridef 3D gaming, 3D video and do some work in the total privacy of your own head mounted display and to try this out on an otherwise oblivious volunteer.. which is why I took my Cinemizer OLED and smd ST1080 along with a Samsung Galaxy S4 ..as well as an iPad along with my Windows 8 Laptop on the flights ... In fact I took them all over the USA, more on that later... 

If you didn't know or were stuck waiting on Google GLASS to drop, it's 2013 and you can wear and carry both your computer ( Windows/iOS/Android) and display right now : The Cinemizer OLED and smd ST1080 are two such truly portable hmds but how will connecting all these devices work at 38000 ft over a 18 hour period? These displays are far superior and infinitely more open than the here I go again Walled Garden approach that GLASS or the Rift is following ..in fact there are too many usage possibilities to try out even across two transatlantic flights ..

So in the style of all those serious tech sites lets review hmds on a plane starting with 

Hardware : 

1 Cinemizer OLED hmd 
1 Zeiss headtracker ( works with both the Cinemizer OLED and ST1080!)
1 smd ST1080 hmd 
1 Windows 8 Lenovo X220T laptop with Tridef 3D Steam games set to run in offline mode  and 3D movies pre installed ( to be replaced with a Haswell Helix when they make one) 
1 Samsung Galaxy S4 phone ( with front and rear cameras for filming and Android for gaming!) with Samsung MHL HDMI adapter 
2 Virgin Atlantic A330 jet planes ( to get us there and back again) cruising at around 38000ft 
1 volunteer passenger  +/-from San Diego to act as a control and experience VR+headtracking for the first time.

Note all devices were in Airplane mode .. wifi and Bluetooth switched off..

Setup : It takes seconds to connect the hmds to your laptop or as you will see the Samsung Galaxy S4 /iPad..

Ideally you want to book a seat with a power socket.. and as luck would have it Virgin Atlantic have seats in Premier Economy and up that allow you hook your laptop through a power socket under the seat or between seats.. Just remind the stewardesses that this feature exists... once you have your laptop powered up , you can then connect the Cinemizer OLED ,smd ST1080 and Samsung Galaxy S4 via USB and they are powered for your entire flight ! 


Tests + Results 

3D PC VR gaming with headtracking at 38000 ft : 

Connecting the Cinemizer and smd ST1080, with the Zeiss headtracker to the X220T gives us VR gaming , true PC gaming in ghost free 3D  .. on our flight ..any game you want to play..right now ..no waiting in line for the VR revolution to be announced  people ...it already happened..just wasn't Reddittized ..  I took the opportunity to test most of the games that I would be demoing at E3. Well I did have 10 hours to fill! I also picked two games Strike Suit Zero and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, that I would ask a fellow passenger who had never used a hmd or headtracking before to try out:

This is a FRAPs recording of  Strike Suit Zero being played in 1080p 3D using the Cinemizer OLED HMD made on the ground  a few weeks before heading to E3:

Strike suit Zero is interesting for headtracking fans because it allows a fly to look control in the third person or chase view and also look to target /lock on whilst maintaining a fly to look control in the cockpit view. (Something the coders of EVE exploited in that  brief E3 Rift demo notable mostly for being able to look down at your legs ).  

With the Zeiss headtracker there is no extra code needed, the Zeiss headtracker works out of the box with Strike Suit Zero. And no you do not miss the roll, in a game as fast paced as this the last thing you want to do is control the roll with your head, what you do want is the ability to fly to where you look and switch to fine targeting like missile lock ons  by looking round your VR display/HUD/cockpit.

Strike Suit Zero also is one of the most stunning Tridef 3D games played with an OLED hmd with totally ghost free 3D. You can feel the size of the planets below, depth and separation of the layers of ships engaged in neon battles among the stars.Just play the above video on your 3D viewer of choice..if you have an OLED hmd this should be fun .. 

It is also heavy on flight being a space combat game so playing it on a plane flying at several hundred kph at 38000ft in 3D with headtracking should be a good test for challenging hmd nausea. 

The second game played on the plane was Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, another game for showing off the prowess of an OLED hmd since neon and dark backgrounds abound in this game FPS games are notorious for inducing nausea, how will the fast paced neon frenzy that is Blood Dragon fare at 38000 ft over several hours with headtracking used to control FOV and aiming , can you even aim with air turbulence?  : Headtracking is used to aim and also to look around in and out of vehicles here is a  FRAPs capture made on the ground using the Cinemizer OLED hmd and Zeiss headtracker. 

OK enough of that ,the videos above should show you that I can play sustained gaming sessions in 3D with headtracking without nausea.. playing as long as I would on a normal PC display. However  what is it like to play these games at 38000 ft in a plane seat  for someone who has never played them ?   Check out the video below:

Do I need to emphasize how cool it is to play your favourite game in ghost free 3D with headtracking, finish playing and realise you just arrived at your destination... ? What I was on a flight all this time? I thought I was hunting Blood Dragon..with  Michael Biehn playing crazy in my ears ...

From the moment you take to using a hmd like the Cinemizer OLED or smd ST1080 on a plane, it is evident it takes you "out" of that plane making you oblivious to the negative aspects of transatlantic long haul flights. 

There is no need to feel shut off either , you can use your PC webcam or say the Samsung Galaxy S4s dual camera mode to keep an eye on your environment turning even an opaque hmd like the the Cinimizer OLED into a  AR OLED hmd ..

So I finally got to test the smd ST1080 out on a plane, a 100 inch transparent display, you can see through back to your seat screen, the laptop screen , which I have turned off here and of course you can see the Stewardess offering you a drink.  

Having a 100 inch portable display that you are wearing in your plane seat is not to be scoffed at , want to work at true 1080p res .. this is the hmd for you. I powered it through one USB lead connected to the X220T ..smd ..siliconmicrodisplay got many things right with their first commercial hmd , which to this date remains unsurpassed in many aspects. No your consumer Rift will not be matching the res or abilities of this by then 3 year old hmd. But what will smd have released by then? 

So at this point I just kick back and watch some 3D films  .. or type this blog entry .. in total privacy .. and by this time around 8 hours of flight have passed .. to me it seems to be a normal day of gaming,computing work rest and play ... 

There is one more device that I needed to connect to the hmds the Samsung  Galaxy S4 itself ..in portrait mode you get a full screen ..1080p res .. if you do not want to carry around your laptop , or even iPad .. you can just connect your phone to the Cinemizer OLED and smd ST1080 through HDMI .. and play games or movies ... oh in 3D too  ..

Here it is connected to the Samsung Galaxy S4, using the LCOS screen of the smd ST1080 I can actually see through to the phone behind and operate it's touch screen:

HMDs, good and bad excel at disconnecting you from your real world surroundings. Using the hmds I actually ran out of time to test games and films on my 10 hour flight there and 8 hour flight back.  And as you can see my fellow passenger who had never been near a hmd enjoyed himself too: 

A bad hmd will produce nausea within seconds, the Cinemizer and smd ST1080 are the first consumer hmds you can use nausea free. There is a world of difference between the experience of nausea you get within minutes of using the HMZT series and Rift series .. 

When people ask which HMD is best you have to consider what is possible with a hmd at this moment in time. Separate hype from the Virtual Reality 

No nausea :  Really? 

Gaming with a portable hmd using headtracking and fast paced games in 3D , on a plane over 18 hours across two flights my chief aim is to look for nausea, gamers may have worries about being able to aim steady with the rattle and hum of the plane around us. This is why I chose the two games above to test and gave them to the guy sitting next to me to try.  Should we be worried then ?  Did you see anyone upchucking in that video ?

The answer is no .. as the Cinemizer and smd ST1080 are so effective at taking you out of your physical environment you lose just enough consciousness of peripheral real world stimuli. Oh I am not talking VR hype here, I am exploiting the ability of these consumer hmds to isolate you from the real world around you. Not talking hype garbage about the creation of VR worlds that will happen when technology catches up to the hype..

Playing Strike Suit Zero and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon with headtracking, in 3D using a hmd on a plane is just like playing the games with the hmd on the ground. You are so busy lost in your vast game world, oblivious to your cramped plane environment, this serves a purpose to completely numb you to the pains of long haul flight! And that includes countering claustrophobia and fear of flying.. 

Should you play for 10 hours, of course not, remember to eat, share the experience with your neighbours and if they have a Cinemizer too, why not break out that Ethernet cable and play some coop.. or go chill out in some Virtual location together..
If they had Ethernet on these planes you could literally sit next /game with watch movies with a person in VR space that is sitting 30 rows behind you...on the plane...

The joys of headtracking at 38000 ft : the Zeiss headtracker as I have said many times and many attendees of E3 2013 will have experienced just works. Say you are playing using your laptop aiming with the track pad or mouse a slight judder from air turbulence will knock you off your aim. This takes time to correct. With the headtracker we can adjust it's sensitivity to not even pick up the turbulence, through mouse settings in game . Secondly the Zeiss headtracker rests as a boom attachment behind your ear but never touching your head, so air turbulence is less likely to effect your head tracking. Severe turbulence will get picked up by your body and transferred to the headtracker, but since you look to aim or move it takes milli seconds to adjust your aim ..move your cursor back over your desired target, icon or text . Far easier than correcting a mouse that just moved or scraping at a trackpad on a laptop shaking due to air turbulence.

I had no problem playing Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon or Strike Suit Zero and neither did my fellow passenger as you can see. 

If you are afraid of flying or have alien civilizations to save mile high hmd use should be something you consider next time you take to the air. 

Oh and remember  it's not as if gaming is your only option, using the ST1080 for instance I had a 100 inch transparent 1080p Windows 8 desktop to work from, or 3D screen to view 3D films on. And then there's the ability to film and take photographs :

After around 7 weeks wandering the USA ( i went walkabout after E3 ) with my hmds ,I had learned to exploit the Cinemizers opaque display to take photos and film in bright sunlight . So on the flight from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow of around 8 hours I could take pictures through using the S4 , which in bright sunlight has it's display obliterated by sunlight , like all tablets, phones and cameras . Using a hmd as the viewer I get a clear OLED display of the picture I am about to take .... something I would exploit during my trip .. thanks to the existence of wearable , portable computers and displays .. which if you are wondering are already here now , within your reach or you could wait ... but waiting's  old ....

And the future of long haul in flight hmd gaming?

We already have the tech to play and display in the Cinemizer OLED , Zeiss headtracker and smd ST1080 hmd series. 

We/they need to get Wifi working throughout flights, not just over land and this needs to be included in flight costs. Come on Mr Branson throw up a balloon over the Atlantic or something.... our ancestors could send cables across the Atlantic why can't we have hi speed wifi? Or at least some form of wired Ethernet /Intranet that would allow passangers to interact in VR .. 

Once this happens we can stream games from the cloud, movies, media, work, heck they could even get rid of  those horrid back of seat screen devices ... Use Onlive say to play LA Noire on the S4 at 38000ft on a 100 inch hmd display that you carry with you ...You can now of course if you pay for Wifi ..but that wifi is hardly up to the 120 meg I get at home in the UK ..

I would have loved to use my LEAP on the plane, but the developer version required a log on and there is only so much you can do on a plane these days before you are Harold and Kumar'd off it! 

Till then though I know how I am spending my long haul flight time...  and if you find yourself sitting next to me on a plane ...join in! 

Thank you San Diego ... 

and good night .....

More interesting uses for hmds and comments on my adventures in the USA including my uncanny ability to come into contact with various game and hardware developers,  to follow ... 








this content is © and originated from thegameveda http://the-games-veda.blogspot.com/  if you are reading it from any other site that has not provided a link back it has been leached