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The Theory uses tiny MicroVision projector to concoct even tinier police chase (video)
Looking like the ghost of Hot Wheels fantasies past, a new video short has beamed out of the minds at The Theory -- a production team that just happens to have a MicroVision pico projector. Called "Speed of Light", the mixed media film was made by projecting shots onto walls, floors and objects like laptops and then filming it with "no CGI trickery" added later, according to the team. Featuring a miniature Ford GT chased by a police car, helicopters, missiles and explosions, the pursuit was filmed with a Canon 5D MkII and HD MiniCam. To see if the little crook gets away with it, peel out to the video after the break.
WOWee and MicroVision offer 200-inch viewing and 'booming sound' on your mobile
Despite all the product rivalry at CES, a little romance was inevitable -- and not just in the Engadget trailer. WOWee, purveyor of the ONE portable speaker, has paired up with MicroVision and its dashing PicoP laser projector technology (shown above) to create a "marriage of sight and sound." It looks like the two companies will start out by simply bundling their respective wares, which will be available together in 120 countries from this quarter, rather than rushing to announce a hybrid device straight away. A wise decision, no doubt.
Microvision PicoMagic touch interactive projector eyes-on
We're often resistant to pico-projectors purely because we've been there, you know? That's why this interactive kit from Microvision is so special. We took a quick look at the prototype of the forthcoming Touch Interactive projector, which senses the interruption pattern of its laser light (think: radar) in order to calculate where you're controlling the device. It makes gesture-based presentation capable without the sort of complicated Kinect setup we've shown you before and, if it works as well outside of the demo environment, (due to arrive at the end of this year) then we'd be pretty impressed with the results. Take a look at the very short video (it's a limited demo at this point) that we've got for you after the break.Dana Murph contributed to this report.
Microvision's PicoMagic apps bring touch interactive, 3D mobile displays to your pico projector
Microvision unveiled a slew of new tools for pico projector enthusiasts today, with its new PicoMagic platform. Fueled by the company's PicoP Gen 2 HD laser display engine, PicoMagic offers a host of new applications to pico presenters, including two on display at this year's CES -- touch interactive and 3D mobile displays. The former, rather obviously, allows users to manipulate images and icons with their sure-handed fingers on any surface, while the latter, known as PicoP 3D, takes this capability to the third dimension. These PicoMagic apps will be available to Gen 2 HD laser display engine owners by late 2012, but you can find more information right now, in the press release that awaits you after the break.
Microvision's SHOWWX+ pico projector gets HDMI upgrade
Look who finally decided to join the HDMI game. It's Microvision's SHOWWX+, now aptly named the SHOWWX+ HDMI. It's still bringing the brightness with 15 laser lumens, a 5,000:1 native contrast ratio, and 2-hour battery life. As before, it supports all your iDevices, and, now, any HDMI-equipped machine, including the BlackBerry PlayBook, pictured above -- not all devices will support full video mirroring, however. Unfortunately, for HD purists, it's still pushing an 848 x 480 native resolution, but if 1080p's not topping your priority list, you can pre-order one now for $370.
Nioncom's pico projector-equipped mini-tablet gets demoed on video
So, Nioncom still hasn't gotten its MemoryKick Vision out the door yet (the company has pushed availability in the the second half of 2011), but the pico projector-equipped "mini-tablet" is still alive... even if it's not so well. The folks at Picopros got their hands on a prototype unit from the company, though, what they manhandled wasn't exactly the Vision. Instead, they fooled around with reference design that sported a smaller screen (3.5-inches versus 4.3) and 4GB of flash storage in place of the 500GB hard drive -- otherwise the two are identical from a hardware perspective. So, while this is certainly a step in the right direction from the renders, you'll forgive us for not remaining a tad skeptical about about its supposed, upcoming release. Check out the slew of videos after the break, and hit up the source link for the complete impressions.
Nioncom announces Android-based, pico projector-equipped MemoryKick Vision
MicroVision may not have any plans to turn the pico projector-equipped "mini-tablet" prototype it showed off at CES earlier this month into an actual product, but it looks like little-known Nioncom is now taking the idea and running with it. While it's still a bit too render-y for our tastes, the company insists that its MemoryKick Vision device is real, and that it will hit the US market sometime in the second quarter of the year. It's based around the same PicoP projector used in MicroVision's prototype, but it beefs things up with a larger 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen and, perhaps most notably, a 2.5-inch hard drive that promises to allow for 500GB to 1TB of storage (it also pushes the device's thickness to a full inch). Otherwise, you can expect to get Android 2.2 for an OS, a 5 megapixel camera, WiFi and Bluetooth, an accelerometer, HDMI in and out, a USB port, and an SD card slot for additional storage. Still no firm word on a price, but the company apparently expects it to be in the "mid-$500 range." %Gallery-114996%
Pioneer prototype laser-based heads-up display with Android hands-on (video)
Looking down at gauges? Officially passe. Check out Pioneer's vision of the future, a prototype that uses an embedded laser projector (a Microvision, as it were). They showed it a little earlier in Japan but this is the first time we've seen it in the US, and we got a chance to try it out. Right now it's just running a static demo, but the idea is that a virtual concierge (represented by our favorite mascot) pops up to give you information, and you could also get streaming video from traffic cameras, all without you having to look down. The information is supposed to come via a smartphone, we learned later an Android one at that, though things are a little vague. A release date is a little vague too, sometime in 2012, though we're told the company is working with car companies. But could we get this by next year? We'll see. %Gallery-113481%
Microvision runs TV out apps, including Rage HD, on the SHOWWX+ pico projector
Last year at Macworld 2010, I got to see the SHOWWX pico projector in action. Back then it was just a prototype, and the company was still shopping around the technology to try and get a unit into production. MicroVision has released the SHOWWX projector at a unit price of US$299. This year's model, however is the SHOWWX+, and while it's still a little unwieldy (and $100 more, at a $399 price point), it's brighter and clearer than ever, and a few tweaks to the iPhone have made it much more useful. First up, TV out was simply a lament last year, but since Apple made it official with iOS 4.0, lots of developers are including a TV out function in their apps, and the SHOWWX+ can project all of them. There's the standard ideas of kicking out regular videos or Netflix (which looks terrific, even on a solid 3G connection), but MicroVision pulled up what we really wanted to see: Rage HD. id added TV out to its app recently, so the projector can put the video on a wall, but id also added support for the in-phone gyroscope. Since the projector is portable, the MicroVision rep can move it around while playing the game, so as the projection on the wall moved, so did the in-game angle. The effect was somewhat fleeting (the gyroscope feature isn't quite perfect, and the image was distorted as it moved around the square walls of the room), but there was a definite virtual reality feel, as if the projector was showing a dynamic window into the world of Rage. So what's the drawback? While the projector is a quality product, and there probably at least a few people out there who could pick one up and use it, even MicroVision agrees the technology has a little way to go before it gets to prime time.
Microvision prototype Android 'mini tablet' with built-in projector hands-on
Microvision has its ShowWX+ pico projector on hand here at Digital Experience, but it also has something of a surprise: a prototype Android "mini tablet" with a built-in projector. No word on any plans for an actual release, but the device is fairly polished for a prototype, and the reference design on which it's based isn't too shabby -- it's got an ARM11 processor, Android 2.2, HDMI in and out, a 3.5-inch capacitive WVGA display, and a 5 megapixel camera. Interestingly, the device also has a 3-axis accelerometer, and Microvision was quick to point out that the device could well be suited for gaming in addition to the usual activities associated with a projector. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look. Update: Video now after the break. %Gallery-112867%
Pioneer teams with Microvision on laser heads-up display, next-gen pico projector tech
Remember when Pioneer's Android minions shot laser beams from their eyes and created an awesome prototype heads-up display? It turns out those lasers came from a Microbision PicoP projector, and that prototype is inching towards reality. You see, Pioneer's partnered with Microvision to build a brand-new laser module for the commercial version -- which is set to debut in 2012 -- using a brand-new display engine and the actual green laser that's been missing from the formula up until now. We can't wait to burn driving directions into our collective retina, so we'll be watching this one closely from now on. PR and video after the break.
Microvision's PicoP-based SHOWWX+ projector: twice as bright, zero percent larger
Still holding out on nabbing a pico projector? We know, we know -- you'll leap when there's 1080p. But if you're kosher with baby steps, Microvision's newest entrant might just fit the bill. The SHOWWX+ is a revamped version of the ouftit's original PicoP-based SHOWWX, and it seems that a full year in the engineering lab has enabled the company to pop out a device that's 50 percent brighter, yet the exact same size. The internal battery can keep the 15 laser lumens shining for two solid hours, and there's also a 5,000:1 native contrast ratio. iDevice users will be elated to know that this guy is a Made for iPod, iPhone and iPad product, enabling it to output Netflix content without any DRM issues (or so we're told). The native resolution still checks in at 848 x 480, and if all that sounds just peachy, you can get one headed your way today for $449. Head on past the break for Netflix and Rage HD demos. %Gallery-108026%
Microvision integrates direct green laser into pico projector prototype, completes RGB achievement
You should by now be aware that we're big fans of Microvision's Show WX pico projectors. Whether integrated into the smartphones or gaming peripherals of the future, we feel like the company's Laser Display Engine has a big part to play in our lives. It's therefore very welcome news to hear that its research team has managed to integrate a "direct" green laser into the portable projector setup, making for simpler and cheaper manufacturing of smaller components. Up to this point, Microvision has been performing its color mixing using a red laser, a blue laser, and a red laser specially re-calibrated to output green light, but that added bit of complexity can now be set aside with the inclusion of lasers that produce green hues natively. The company cites at least five global manufacturers ready to produce direct green beamers in commercial quantities by late 2011, so with a bit of luck and price competition, the pico projector dream might have itself a glorious realization after all.
Project Tuatara preview: Enter 'infinite reality'
While it seems like the industry's penchant for hyperbole has long exhausted the best buzzwords, Microvision has coined a good one: "infinite reality." Not quite virtual reality, and not quite 3D, Microvision's "Project Tuatara" is a novel concept that enables a new kind of gaming. Gamers are unlikely to be familiar with Microvision, as its breakthrough product is an ultra-portable video projector. However, when you attach said projector technology to a mouse-emulating gyroscopic gun controller, you have something that might pique our interest. At New York Comic Con, Microvision demonstrated how Project Tuatara can be applied to games, by syncing the gun to a wireless HDMI-equipped laptop running Capcom's Lost Planet 2 -- oh, and by inflating a giant black dome to play in.
DIYer combines iPhone 3GS with Show WX for pico projected gaming bliss (video)
The Moject project proved that smartphones and pico projectors do indeed have a thing for one another, but Ethan Janson has taken things one step further with an unnamed contraption that holds his iPhone 3GS, a Microvision Show WX and an "ancient" point-and-shoot camera. Put simply, the handmade thingamajig allows him to play his iPhone games on a far larger screen, and since the Show WX is continually in focus regardless of distance from walls, there's never a blurring issue when flailing about in order to control the gameplay. The full skinny is down there in the source, but shortcut takers can head straight past the break for a video. [Thanks, Ethan]
Laser projector stuck to iPhone for 360 degree gaming
Are you ready to watch some videos of the most unnecessary iPhone modification in the device's recorded history? Check out the two clips posted past the jump to see YouTube user SoundKite's Frankenstein-esque tech mash-up, in which he adheres a Microvision ShowWX laser projector to an iPhone 3GS. While playing a game which uses the iPhone's compass (such as Sky Siege), the projector gives the illusion of 360-degree immersion. It looks awfully neat, though we're not sure how many practical applications it actually has. Though it would be pretty great to hijack a movie theater, and force its patrons to witness our sick Tilt to Live skills.
Mystery buyer orders $8.5 million in Microvision PicoP Laser Display Engines, planning world's greatest rave?
Remember Microvision's little announcement last week that it would be selling its PicoP Laser Display Engine to OEMs, hoping they'd find ways to stuff the thing into little gadgets of all sorts? The company has apparently been doing just that with aplomb, already scoring an $8.5 million order from one top secret client that will "embed the PicoP engine inside a high-end mobile media player for release in late 2010." Unfortunately, this fancy-pants media player isn't set to be announced until just before release, meaning we have many months of delicious speculation ahead of us. Projector Zune? Screenless iPod? Yet another pico projector you have no interest in buying? The possibilities are endless.
Microvision lets others sample its PicoP Laser Display Engine
We're guessing that if you haven't bought a pico projector by now it isn't because they're just too big, but Microvision is doing its part to help make 'em smaller nonetheless. The company has begun initial shipments of its PicoP Laser Display Engine, found inside the Show WX, for other companies who want to make their own projectors -- or rifles. The circuitry that's half the size of the tech in competing pico projectors while still managing WVGA (848 x 480) resolution and a 5000:1 contrast ratio. No word on cost but we're guessing there's a discount if you buy in bulk, and shipping ought to be cheap.
Microvision's Show WX laser pico projector available to buy today, will ship March 24
Okay, so maybe Microvision is a little late with the release of its pocketable Show WX pico projector, but we'd rather have a truly useful projector late than a useless one on time. This laser-based beaut will offer you infinite focus -- something we can vouch for having tried out the same technology integrated in a rifle -- which essentially means that no matter how much you twist or jerk the projector around, or how distant your projected surface is, the picture will remain in focus. An 848 x 480 resolution image can be scaled from less than six inches all the way up to 200, though you're most likely to stick with anything up to 30 in order to make the most of the 10 lumens brightness on offer. The contrast ratio is rated as being greater than 5,000:1 while the battery will last you up to two hours on a charge. The wallet damage is $549 for the standard edition, but the limited edition teased above jumps all the way to $999, for which you'll get a personalized splash screen, LE insignia, a certificate of authenticity, a VGA dock and some other trinkets. Come on, it has lasers inside, it was never gonna be cheap!
Macworld 2010: Hands-on with Microvision's SHOWWX laser pico projector
I'm still skeptical about laser projectors -- while the technology is impressive, the practicality is still a little limited. And unfortunately, Microvision's demo of their SHOWWX projector here at Macworld 2010 didn't do much to change my mind. It's a nice little device -- it's almost exactly the size of the iPhone, and the rep told me that most of the unit is actually the battery -- and there are some good applications for it. But for the consumer market that Microvision really wants, the $500 unit (that will go on sale in March) is still a little too small in terms of scale and usability. Just using the device, which will project clear images and video from an iPhone or iPod on a wall about three to four feet away (more or less depending on ambient light), you can tell that the idea of a microprojector is almost at the level where it could be really successful. As the rep said to us, the iPhone is a 1:1 device, and while many of us do use it to show pictures and video to each other, it's really only meant to show one person at a time. But the projector goes to a "1 to few" relationship instead, and that's a prospect that will be appealing to anyone who wants to show off business presentations, video, or pictures of family members to anyone else.
