of kids want an iPad
The Nielsen Company presented a cadre of individuals with a list of nice, shiny gadgets and let them cross off anything and everything they'd like to buy in the next six months, and 31 percent of kids 6-12 picked the iPad as one of them.
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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.