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Displays Sony Hardware

Sony To Sell 3D Head-Mounted Display 153

Posted by samzenpus from the personal-theater dept.
angry tapir writes "Sony says it will start selling a head mounted display that provides a 3D theater for music videos, movies and games, targeting people who prefer solitary entertainment rather than sitting in front of a TV with family or friends. Sony Corp said on Wednesday that the 60,000 yen ($A730) 'HMZ personal 3D viewer' is set to go on sale on November 11 in Japan, and is planned for the US and Europe, perhaps in time for Christmas, although dates have not yet been set. HMZ uses Sony's own OLED screen."
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Sony To Sell 3D Head-Mounted Display More

Sony To Sell 3D Head-Mounted Display

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  • Nice international currency (Score:3, Informative)

    by CrashandDie ( 1114135 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:10AM (#37273880)

    Also known as EUR 542 or USD 654.

  • Marketing FAIL (Score:3, Funny)

    by taiwanjohn ( 103839 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:10AM (#37273882)

    From TFA: "It seems unlikely that most people — or even technology enthusiasts — will want to buy a product that involves sitting alone and wearing a little helmet."

    Apparently they don't know very many /. readers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      fixed to head screens are superior for 3d content anyhow.

      but I'm wondering, what optical adjustments they have.. I wear -6~ glasses. (apparently it's 720p, so I might use it for 2d content too, if I can use it at all, wearable displays is what I'd like in the long run)

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by maxume ( 22995 )

        The story makes it sound like it is direct viewing of the screen. So hope for 'space for glasses'.

      • I'm also curious why they hardly mention a word about virtual reality. Seems to me like an OBVIOUS application for this device. Put it together with a Kinect sensor and you'd have a pretty kick-ass setup.

        I'd be surprised if they didn't have at least some optical adjustment. Most cameras have had adjustable viewfinders for a long time.

        • I'm also curious why they hardly mention a word about virtual reality. Seems to me like an OBVIOUS application for this device. Put it together with a Kinect sensor and you'd have a pretty kick-ass setup.

          I'd be surprised if they didn't have at least some optical adjustment. Most cameras have had adjustable viewfinders for a long time.

          That's a kick ass setup right up to the point that you pretend lightsaber through the front of your TV :)

        • A kinect-style sensor would be a start; but to really make best use of this, rather pricey, display you'd really want to have some inertial sensors in the helmet and gaze tracking.

          Plain-old stereoscopic "3D" is ok, and is a comparatively simple step to take(in terms of production and data storage) from a simple single-screen 2D image; but the fact that turning your head or moving your eyes doesn't change your perspective really tweaks your suspension of disbelief if you aren't careful about it. Given tha

        • That's exactly what I plan to do. Clip a TrackIR Pro head tracker to this thing, and I have the most balls-to-the-wall home flight sim setup available. I already have a pair of stereoscopic wearable display goggles (Vuzix), but the low resolution makes them practically useless for combat flight sim use because you can't pick out aircraft at long range.

          If these are even 720p... we're in business.

          • I'm interested in a pair of glasses that are suitable for use as a monitor replacement. I'm not particularly interested in 3D viewing or augmented reality... but I would like to be able to connect my glasses to my laptop, lie on my back and do computer programming work with either a split keyboard that straps to my wrists or a chording keyboard. I would also want to be able to watch movies using them. I would also want to be able to use this in public places, like while I'm riding the bus or sitting on a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Khyber ( 864651 )

        I had a 480P '3d' headset years ago.

        They were shit and induced nasty eye strain.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ArcherB ( 796902 )

      From TFA: "It seems unlikely that most people — or even technology enthusiasts — will want to buy a product that involves sitting alone and wearing a little helmet."

      Apparently they don't know very many /. readers.

      I have no problem enjoying media alone. Sometimes, depending on the media, alone is the best way to enjoy it.

      It's not the alone part that bothers me. It is the fact that I have to cover my eyes and ears and sit there alone. Nope! Not gonna happen. I'm a bit too paranoid for that. I could not enjoy the experience because I would constantly be wondering "Is someone coming into my house right now?".

      It's the same reason I can't go to sleep with head phones on. I need more that just my sense of touch, sme

    • Well, first of all this is Japan, where they're at least supposed to be more social than that. People retreating away from society and being self-sufficient are considered a major problem and dysfunction, rather than a core demographic to market to.

      In fact all through Asia you have a surprising number of people going to Internet cafes to play an MMO because apparently somehow it's not enough to play a social game if you don't also play it surrounded by other people. Sometimes to such... strange extremes as

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *

        Well, first of all this is Japan, where they're at least supposed to be more social than that.

        You've obviously never been there. That place is crazy loner central. You ever been to a place where the wild-eyed guys walking down the street talking to themselves are wearing business suits?

    • From TFA: "It seems unlikely that most people — or even technology enthusiasts — will want to buy a product that involves sitting alone and wearing a little helmet."

      Apparently they don't know very many /. readers.

      Hopefully, most technology enthusiasts will remember that this is the company that sent out rootkits on audio CDs, that took marketed functionality away from PS3 users after taking their money, that let millions of people's personal information loose due to lax security practices on their gaming network, that sued Joel Tenenbaum for $4.5 million for sharing 31 songs on the Internet, and so on ad nauseum. Personally, I also remember them for a home theater system I bought years ago that broke, that took lit

      • Look at the upside of this, if it sells well then it'll prompt non-Sony companies to try and compete.

        Personally I would love to get a set of those HMZ, I have the Glasstron PLM-S700 and the native 832x624 res picture quality is very good due to excellent optics, something which many of the cheap'n'cheerful LCD video glases manufacturers have overlooked, and hopefully the HMZ have the same high-grade optics as the Glasstrons.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *

      ...or Japanese people. Seriously, that place puts a crazy premium on space, and behaviors associated in the Western world with schizophrenic lone gunmen are considered the norm.

  • Optimized ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by kevinbr ( 689680 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:10AM (#37273888)

    For solitary porn viewing, incase you need BOTH hands free.

    • No good if you don't live alone. You need to keep one eye on the door.

      • No good if you don't live alone. You need to keep one eye on the door.

        That's the sole reason Man invented locked doors.

        • Except then you have to explain why the door is locked
          • I'm responding to you but this response also applies to the other child-response to me. What kind of invasive roommates/family do you have that they don't mind (or are happy) barging into any room they like? You have no privacy and/or locked doors in your household? That's barbaric...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by odirex ( 1958302 )
      Maybe I should file a patent for my "cock-ring media remote" idea.

    • For solitary porn viewing, incase you need BOTH hands free.

      I don't know about you, but my regular TV doesn't require the use of hands while watching...

    • Wow, I don't know where pr0nz that good are, but dude... Share.

      No wait.. Don't. :)

  • FTFA:

    Resembling a futuristic visor, HMZ, which stands for "head mounted display," is worn like chunky goggles-and-earphones in one.

    Looks kind of uncomfortable. I guess we'll have to wait a few years for Apple to "invent" a user friendly version (or would that be visor).

  • I can't wait seeing people wearing these, walking down the street and saying "awesome dude, i see everything in 3D!"

  • From TFA: It seems unlikely that most people — or even technology enthusiasts — will want to buy a product that involves sitting alone and wearing a little helmet.

    Really? What about gaming? What about porn?

  • Still quite a few years off yet but the by 10th generation of this and the Kinect plus some brain sensors(/simulators) and you would be getting pretty close.

    If your not aiming for perfection it might only be a few years away before someone tries.

  • "...HMZ, which stands for 'head mounted display'..." In other news, DMZ now stands for "demilitarized display"

  • Gyro inside? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by whiteboy86 ( 1930018 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:24AM (#37273966)
    That would be an awsome feature for a flight simulator *yaw/pitch/roll sensing*, so you could really be able to, you know, "look around".

    • Staple a wiimote to it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      not in this model. though you could hack a kinect to looka at it or attach some gyros to it.. I'm pretty sure someone will, whatever way gets the least latency would be best.

  • Laugh now... (Score:3)

    by hellfire ( 86129 ) <deviladv@gmTOKYOail.com minus city> on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:28AM (#37274006) Homepage

    But this is where content consumption is eventually going. Someone is simply going to invent a set of eyeglasses that connect to your cell phone that provide a complete visual interface including augmented reality. Maybe Steve will be able to complete that cloning technology in the next few years and his clone will return as CEO and invent the iGlass. Then suddenly, as if almost overnight, four-eyes will change be a compliment on your style and taste.

    Until then, we can laugh at people who wear these impractical and goofy looking things. But at least it's not a TV Hat [buytvhatnow.com]

  • PC? (Score:2)

    by Aladrin ( 926209 )

    WIll I be able to hook it to my PC and get my nVidia card to drive it? If so, I'm sold.

    Otherwise, forget it. There are only a few PS3 games in 3D, and only a few BluRays, too. It's a pretty sad market at the moment.

  • I tried a VR helmet prototype at SIGGRAPH in 1996. Even with the vector graphics of the demo the immersion was impressive, but in less than a minute I had a headache. I am sure the technology has greatly improved in the past 15 years, but headaches was still one of the main complaints of the Nintendo 3DS when it was released. I can watch a 3D movie and do not get one, so maybe this device has overcame that problem.

  • Specs (Score:3)

    by martijnd ( 148684 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @07:47AM (#37274092)
    1. The Sony HMZ-T1 is a personal 3D viewer with HD resolution (1,280x720px) delivered through two newly developed 0.7-inch OLED panels.
    2. The Sony HMZ-T1 does not feature a head tracker. With a head tracker you could use the HMD for 3D games.
    3. The 3D viewing experience with the HMZ-T1 is like viewing a 750-inch screen from 20m distance.
    4. Source: http://www.i4u.com/47613/sony-hmz-t1-3d-oled-hmd-unveiled
  • Things like this have been around for ages. For example you could have bought some MSP-209 video glasses ages ago. I tried a few brands when I live in Japan and they all had the same problem. You were able to see the grid or mesh the pixels sat in. I hope these solve that and compact the screen down.For a decent price and when not made by Sony I may even get a set.
  • Is this just a wearable 3D display? I mean, in the article i see no mention of any head-tracking sensors... Not sure how it would feel to *not* see the image change when i turn my head...
    • You could add a http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/products/trackir5/ [naturalpoint.com] , quite easy to set up and it works, been using one (or older cousins) for ages.

    • In fact, a previous poster mentioned that HMD systems gave them headaches in the past. This is likely caused, in part, by that very disconnect between what your eye's see, what your ears feel, and what your body is doing. Hopefully people don't try to walk with this thing on.

      On the other hand, in spite of their recent troubles, I think Sony has enough money to hire a psychophysicist to help them address these issues.

  • Oh wait, Sony is making this? Oh well. I'll wait for a company with a better track record that doesn't involve pathetic security and willful destruction of people's property.

  • I wonder how much it weighs? Should I start exercising my neck muscles now so I'll be ready? Who's the pencil neck now?

  • Sony says it will start selling a head mounted display that provides a 3D theater

    Fucking already

  • Sony releases a Head mounted display and acts like it invented it...
    Call me when they release a VRD [wikipedia.org]
  • Not only will they only accept Memory Stick, but they'll install a rootkit in my eyes.

  • ...someone gets pulled over for wearing one of these while driving? I'm betting within the first year of release.

    Of course, I have a family member who has a battery powered TV in the passenger seat so she can watch her soaps. (She swears she only watches at stoplights.) So maybe I'm biased.

  • Will it have more colors than just red and black? Because we all know how well that worked...

  • I've had personal experience with this.

    I bought a pair of MyVu glasses, and they work great! But only if you have contact lenses, and don't have astigmatism. I don't have the former and do have the latter, and these things don't fit over my glasses.

    Considering how many people need corrective lenses these days, unless the helmet specifically says it can accommodate glasses, I don't see it becoming popular or much of a success.

  • uh huh... (Score:3)

    by Syberz ( 1170343 ) on Thursday September 01, 2011 @11:10AM (#37275896)
    Because the glasstron [wikipedia.org] sold sooooo well...

  • ...from ten years ago [penny-arcade.com].

  • Now the Virtual I/O iGlasses true stereoscopic in that they had two distinct displays, one for each eye, and each display could be run separately to show the correct offset for stereo vision. They were fairly lightweight, and it had a few design features that made them very nice. First was that they used have silvered prisms to display the image to the eye from the LCD displays. This meant that it could be used not just for VR type games, which is what the place I worked at used it for, but for augmented r

  • I'm bald, and that looks uncomfortable. I'm also wondering how much the final product will weigh.

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