A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet, that has a small display optic in front of one (monocular HMD) or each eye (binocular HMD). HMDs have many uses including gaming, aviation, engineering, and medicine. Virtual reality headsets are a type of HMD that track 3D position and rotation to provide a virtual environment to the user. 3DOF VR headsets typically use an IMU for tracking. 6DOF VR headsets typically use sensor fusion from multiple data sources including at least one IMU. An optical head-mounted display (OHMD) is a wearable display that can reflect projected images and allows a user to see through it.
Overview
A typical HMD has one or two small displays, with lenses and semi-transparent mirrors embedded in eyeglasses (also termed data glasses), a visor, or a helmet. The display units are miniaturized and may include cathode-ray tubes (CRT), liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), or organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Some vendors employ multiple micro-displays to increase total resolution and field of view. HMDs differ in whether they can display only computer-generated imagery (CGI), or only live imagery from the physical world, or combination. Most HMDs can display only a computer-generated image, sometimes referred to as virtual image. Some HMDs can allow a CGI to be superimposed on real-world view. This is sometimes referred to as augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR). Combining real-world view with CGI can be done by projecting the CGI through a partially reflective mirror and viewing the real world directly. This method is often called optical see-through. Combining real-world view with CGI can also be done electronically by accepting video from a camera and mixing it electronically with CGI. By using AR technology, the HMDs are allowed to achieve a see-through display. By using virtual reality (VR) technology, the HMDs can realize viewing the images in 360 degrees.
Optical HMD An optical head-mounted display uses an optical mixer which is made of partly silvered mirrors. It can reflect artificial images, and let real images cross the lens, and let a user look through it. Various methods have existed for see-through HMD's, most of which can be summarized into two main families based on curved mirrors or waveguides. Curved mirrors have been used by Laster Technologies, and by Vuzix in their Star 1200 product. Various waveguide methods have existed for years. These include diffraction optics, holographic optics, polarized optics, and reflective optics.
Applications Major HMD applications include military, government (fire, police, etc.), and civilian-commercial (medicine, video gaming, sports, etc.).
Aviation and tactical, ground
In 1962, Hughes Aircraft Company revealed the Electrocular, a compact CRT (7" long), head-mounted monocular display that reflected a TV signal in to transparent eyepiece. Ruggedized HMDs are increasingly being integrated into the cockpits of modern helicopters and fighter aircraft. These are usually fully integrated with the pilot's flying helmet and may include protective visors, night vision devices, and displays of other symbology. Military, police, and firefighters use HMDs to display tactical information such as maps or thermal imaging data while viewing a real scene. Recent applications have included the use of HMD for paratroopers. In 2005, the Liteye HMD was introduced for ground combat troops as a rugged, waterproof lightweight display that clips into a standard U.S. PVS-14 military helmet mount. The self-contained color monocular organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display replaces the NVG tube and connects to a mobile computing device. The LE has see-through ability and can be used as a standard HMD or for augmented reality applications. The design is optimized to provide high definition data under all lighting conditions, in covered or see-through modes of operation. The LE has a low power consumption, operating on four AA batteries for 35 hours or receiving power via standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) continues to fund research in augmented reality HMDs as part of the Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) Program. Vuzix is currently working on a system for PCAS that will use holographic waveguides to produce see-through augmented reality glasses that are only a few millimeters thick.
Engineering Engineers and scientists use HMDs to provide stereoscopic views of computer-aided design (CAD) schematics. Virtual reality, when applied to engineering and design, is a key factor in integration of the human in the design. By enabling engineers to interact with their designs in full life-size scale, products can be validated for issues that may not have been visible until physical prototyping. The use of HMDs for VR is seen as supplemental to the conventional use of CAVE for VR simulation. HMDs are predominantly used for single-person interaction with the design, while CAVEs allow for more collaborative virtual reality sessions. Head Mounted Display systems are also used in the maintenance of complex systems, as they can give a technician a simulated x-ray vision by combining computer graphics such as system diagrams and imagery with the technician's natural vision (augmented or modified reality).
Medicine and research There are also applications in surgery, wherein a combination of radiographic data (X-ray computed tomography (CAT) scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging) is combined with the surgeon's natural view of the operation, and anesthesia, where the patient vital signs are within the anesthesiologist's field of view at all times. Research universities often use HMDs to conduct studies related to vision, balance, cognition and neuroscience. As of 2010, the use of predictive visual tracking measurement to identify mild traumatic brain injury was being studied. In visual tracking tests, a HMD unit with eye tracking ability shows an object moving in a regular pattern. People without brain injury are able to track the moving object with smooth pursuit eye movements and correct trajectory.
Gaming and video
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