AAXA L1 laser pico projector hands-on by Mr. Murkycam (video)
By Tim Stevens 
posted March 1st 2010 9:22AM
posted March 1st 2010 9:22AM
posted March 1st 2010 9:22AM
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As stupid as this video was, the product does look to be quite amazing - especially for being essentially a 1st-gen product.
@Hazdaz - I agree. I kept clicking the timebar on the video and it just seemed to repeat itself. Eventually I saw the nice bright large projection. Seems like a decent pico.
But really, demos really need to be done better than this - and with better light :)
So if it's laser, that means that if you look at the light source you'll go blind?
a pico projector with good performance that's awesome, $600 is pretty expensive though, kinda like asking $1000 for a premium netbook
@SchultzMD
Agreed. Awesomeness in our view, cheap as hell parts and labor for sure.
where's the firm that calculates cost to build? they should do this one.
$160 is my guess
That thing is WAY bigger than then penny...
Very impressive. I was expecting a really murky video and a not very useful product, but this looks great! Is it really only 20 lumen? It looks like at least 100. If the tech behind laser projectors are scalable I have a feeling it has the potential to outperform conventional projectors.
@palegolas Attempting to judge the lumens not only by eye, but from a video of the projection? tsk tsk
@Astounding Oh, sorry I was gonna hit the Reply-button and accidently hit the minus-button. Sorry.
Well, no matter how you look at it, 20 lumen is awfully weak. I was under the impression that 20 lumen in 50" would be hard to catch on video at all, especially with a bad camera. I'm just very positive by this. If a bad camera under murky conditions produces such a compelling result, there is probably reason to check it out. One key factor is probably the high contrast ratio.
$1 per row of pixels for a laser pico projector? Sounds fair to me...
I do have some suggestions for them though... They should replace the USB port with a microSD slot, so you can leave your flash memory plugged in without sticking out at all. They should also put a tripod mount like a digital camera has (it might already have this, difficult to tell in Mr. MurkyCam's footage). Also, they really need a better OS on it that can load images faster.
Now I'm gonna leave the feasible realm and post some ideas I dream about... Imagine if it had a web cam built in that detects where the presenter is pointing, whether it be with a finger, yard stick, or laser pointer, and converts that input to touchscreen like input, and imagine if it were running an OS like Android, and imagine if it could do 1080p! I'd spend $2 per row of pixels for all of that!
I'd say there is DEFINATELY a market for this product. As long as that's $599 RRP then I can see it being cheaper once it hits the shops, probably as low as $499 depending on the wholesale cost.
They definately resemble the netbook of data projectors, and look at the size of that market now.
I thought it was a KIRF, no offense :)
Wow, I can't believe how large that can project, for a tiny projector!
Looks great to me. Has anyone seen other pico projectors that work this well?
Yesyesyes!!
I've been waiting on Laser projectors over those crappy little LED ones for ages! Microvision were meant to be releasing something months ago weren't they?
Imagine it, no filters, so they produce perfect blacks (in darkened rooms) as the laser is essentially just switched off for those pixels! Curved surface projection could result in decent complete immersive bubble rooms where multiple cheap laser proj. are used to make a full 360x360 sphere.
Pretty good brightness, although I'm surprised they're not as bright as I thought, but then it could be the crap video.
Its a shame that these products are still quite young, underdeveloped and expensive, lets just hope they don't go the way of OLED and are held back and the price stays high.
Oh yeah - its a shame this model is styled like a 70s tape dictaphone!! Not that it matters much.
@Heliosphan
I kind of dig the 70s Dictaphone look, actually
The AAXA L1 is not using the fast laser switching technology that Microvision is using. Switching the lasers off gives you that great black projection effect. Watch the Microvision experiments here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BB7cI07ZXg to get an idea.
Aaxa uses Liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) technology and although they use lasers as light source, it a different technology.
As rediculous as the image might sound, if you had this thing strapped comfortably on the top of your head, and with some sort of motion tracking then wouldn't this make a pretty good and effective vr rig for games etc? With decent motion tracking for your head wherever you looked would be displayed on the walls around you.
Then a light light-gun, or sitting in a swivel chair would make for some decent fps vr gaming. Better on your head then on your light gun like the redneck dude had it set up.
@Poita That sounds like a brilliant idea to me. If you make it work we'll post about it!
@TimStevens unfortunately Tim, im more of an ideas man than a hands on capable type.
I've been waiting for vr since the early 90's when it became the rage and I even got to try the super heavy headsets on the Virtuality arcade games made by Walden industries in the UK. I remember sega promising a set of vr goggles as far back as the genesis (though i never believed they would deliver). It's like everyone has given up hope. Back then though the three problems were 1. On head head-tracking (solved by wi/track-ir/Natal style off head motion tracking. 2. Heavy head sets (solved by projected visuals) 3. The discomfort of the screen being so close to the eye (again solved by projected images).
Never mind 'where's my jetpack', I can do without that. I still demand an emersive vr rig though.
@TimStevens Great idea. That could be good for augmented reality too, just project a HUD or other items onto whatever you're looking at. hmmm actually here's an idea - plug an iPhone into it, stick it to your head as well, cover the camera and run Layar.
Hey it's got a composite input so I can connect my iPhone and play games. Neat. That plus Need For Speed might make a decent pocketable racing rig.
@grahamj if you manage to get it set up then have a friend video you doing it. Id like to see it in action.
Im convinved that if you had two of these things, or one with a wider screen that was set up on the top of your head then you could have about 210 degrees video wrapped around the room and you would never see the blank wall behind you because when you turned your head the video would automatically project there. with accurate head tracking you pretty much have a full vr rig. Then ad sterovision and some shutter glasses in a room that was idea and you would be fuly imersed at least visually.
Id pay a thousand dollars or so for a well manufactured rig like that.
@Poita Ya that'd be pretty cool for sure. Perhaps a fisheye lens could bend the image such that it took up all of your peripheral vision? I guess resolution would be a problem though. For the head tracking maybe a rear-facing camera could be used along with some image processing (a la optical mouse)
There was a post here or on Giz today about using an LED array for a ceiling so you could paint on it. I was thinking that five of these laser projectors (one per wall plus ceiling) would make for a pretty amazing immersion room at a relatively low cost. Get one of those 6-output ATI cards and the sky's the limit. Video everywhere!
@grahamj Yeah dude, I admit that im all thumbs physically and mentally when it comes to tech hardware and software. If i wasnt Id be all over such a project for a diy job of it.
Its been a long time comming. Its almost like the industry has forgotten how enthusiastic many of us actualy still are for a true vr experience. I think they think that certain stopgaps satisfy us but they don't. video glasses with super limited field of vision, 3D tv, wii etc are all a fun distraction but unless your brain is fooled into feeling that you are 'in' the world then its not the holy grail of vr that we've been waiting for for a long time. I appreciate the tech limiations but when vr was first launched, at least comercially, the software was so crude thath you could hardly make shapes out. Now the graphics and audio side is truly mature and I believe the tech is already here. I think many people like me would even be willing to dedicated a whole room to it. All you really need is a smallish room that you can empty out and paint with a reflective coating. Then you get a tiny projector that can throw an image front, left, right. It wouldnt even have to throw one on the cieling because you can hardly see it unless you look up and then the image would adjust to project sky or whatever. You have that plus a custom controler device for each hand and maybe a sub machine gun shaped shooter device on your shoulder and you are gonna be so imersed.
I wonder how many people there are like me that would spend around $1,000 or even a bit more for such kit? I bet it's alot. Engadget should do a poll. It would make interesting reading for any startup or even big company out there looking for a new market. The games are already out there.