A while ago, Tested Meta (that is to say, Facebook) posted a video about hands-on time with a virtual reality (VR) headset prototype and there are some really interesting bits. The video itself is over an hour long, but if you’re primarily interested in the technical angles and why they are important to VR, read on because we’ll highlight each major point of the study.
While it may seem absurd to many of us to have a social network leading to meaningful VR development, no one can say they aren’t taking it seriously. It’s also refreshing to see each prototype demonstrated by a researcher who is clearly thrilled to talk about their work. The big dream is to figure out what it takes to pass the “Visual Turing Test”, which means providing a visual equivalent of a physical reality. Some of these critical elements may come as a bit of a surprise, as they go beyond resolution and field-of-view.
In the video at 9:35, [Douglas Lanman] Shows [Norman Chan] How urgent Variable focus To provide a better visual experience, they then do a walk-through of the various prototypes used to accomplish this. Currently, VR headsets only display visuals on a focal plane, but that means – among other things – blurring a virtual object to the eye. (Incidentally, older people don’t find that part too weird because it’s a common side effect of aging.)
The solution is to change the focus based on where the user is looking [Douglas] It shows all the different ways that have been explored: from motors and actuators that mechanically change the focal length of the display, a solid-state solution consisting of stacked components that can selectively combine or remove light based on its polarization. [Doug]Its pride and excitement is clear, and he really goes into detail about everything.
At the 30:21 sign, [Yang Zhao] Explains the importance of high resolution display and also talks about lenses and optics. Interestingly, ultra-clear text rendering by a high-resolution display is not what ends up being captured. [Norman]The most attention. When high resolution was combined with variable focus, it was the texture of the cushions, the vibrancy of the wall art, and the pattern of the walls that [Norman] He couldn’t stop finding.
39:40 The following is something really interesting, as shown by [Phillip Guan]. A VR headset must apply software corrections for distortion and it turns out that these corrections can be complicated. When passing through a lens an image not only gets some degree of distortion, but that distortion occurs Change Depends on where one’s eyes are looking at nature. All of this must be corrected in software for a high-fidelity experience, but one has to wait to create a physical prototype for a real obstacle and complicate it that different people will have slightly different thematic experiences of distortion. To deal with this, [Phillip] Shows a device whose purpose is to accurately mimic different physical headset designs (including different lenses and users) in the software, allowing you to explore different designs without actually creating anything.
The final prototype – known as Starburst – will soon become clear – appearing at 44:30 and demonstrating the strength of the actual high-speed range. It’s the most undesirable-looking, but it’s mainly due to the car’s headlamps being the backlight. The purpose is not for blind users, but to provide something important, and lack. Why is high brightness so important? The answer is simple: the level of light in the real world is beyond what a modern monitor (or VR headset) can provide. This means that, in VR, a spotlight only looks like one Pictures It’s not really a spotlight Bright, Not in the way your eyes and brain actually feel the sound. While headsets can provide a true HDR experience, that will change and this is what this prototype provides.
It is clear that this aspect is being taken very seriously, and it may be surprising to know that providing a convincing visual experience is sufficient outside of higher resolution and larger field-of-view. Really good VR ideas can be dreamed up in the 1960s, but this video is a great demonstration of what goes into the subtle-hard scientific work of figuring out how to solve a problem.