Laser Pico projector by Microvision

[dorsk188]

Nice idea, but you know how this will be used. Just like cell phone cameras are used.  For pictures of dicks... Except instead of everyone taking pictures of their dicks, they'll be projecting their dicks on the walls, onto cars, on the professor's back. Just suddenly, dicks everywhere...

[mexchico17]

Now wait till they put in image stabilization, accelerometers and gyro so you can calibrate where to display, and then if you are holding it with your hand, you just have to point in the general direction, but the image will barely shake. That would eliminate the need for tripods, stands or holders for the most part.

[jigibao]

great product

[smistry93]

Texas Instruments, 3M or Microvision?

wonder who's going to win the battle

[xevious2501]

this pico projector is really the best of its kind. the fact its a laser instead of an led makes it REALLY bright and usable. the laser nature of infinite sharpness and non distortion is just the icing on the cake. i want one to mount in my car and use on the windshield with 3M's Vikiuiti rear projection film.

very cool idea.

[traceurpaul]

the future =]

[cplai]

Another application of this is not printing the image on a surface, but instead reduce the laser power low enough for the human eyes and simply scan the projection onto the retina directly. The projector can be mounted on an eye glasses frame and the laser bounced off the lens of the glasses. no focusing device needed because the image is "printed" directly on the retina. Just turn your head towards the dark and you can watch a movie inside your eyeballs. Ideal display for computer.

[cjeam9199]

@cplai I don't get the image-onto-retina thing. The light still needs to pass through the lens of the eye, so the image must be produced at a focus that the lens will correct for, so unless the lens dioptre is constantly assessed and corrected for, the image will still need to be consciously focused upon by the user at a distance. And in that case how is it different to a screen? or have I misunderstood?

[cplai]

@cjeam9199 When you project a display through a lens, each pixel on the display will radiate light in all direction, the lens then focus all these beams of light back to one point on the retina. When these beams fail to converge, then the image is not focus and form a blur of light instead of a pin point reproduction of that pixel of light source. Direct printing to the retina comes from one single beam of laser from one fixed emission point aimed at different part of the lens inside your eye...

[cplai]

@cjeam9199 ... cont'd ... lens inside your eyeball. The refraction of the lens will direct the laser beam to various parts on the retina to reproduce a "scan" or "printing" of each on-and-off pixel matrix. It is analogous to a TV CRT tube where the electron gun is replaced by a laser and the phosphorus screen is replaced by your retina. The image is sent pixel by pixel to each location on the retina. No focusing is required because it is not an optical image projection.

[cplai]

@cjeam9199 view this video again and pay particular attention to the explanation on how this pico projector does not use a lens to focus a projected image. This projector places each pixel on the projection surface from one single beam of laser. Basically there is no need for a focusing mechanism, they only need an oscillating mirror to aim the laser beam at various directions. The projection stay sharp independent of how far the projection surface is.

[Delus1on77]

WANT!

[chaydgb]

Awesomet, but where are they getting blue and green diode lasers from? The only true blue (i.e. not 405nm blu-ray types) and green lasers I'm aware of are DPSSFD, which consume both excess power (like 1-2W to create a 100mW beam) and space (in the extra optics required to convert an IR pump laser into blue or green. I mean, it would be technically do-able to make a blue or green laser diode (I'd guess just a larger cavity than a 405nm blu-ray laser) but I've never seen anything on the market.

[inacturi]

here are blue diodes with 445nm on the market, but very expensive and there exist miniature DPSS for green, which are hardly bigger than a diode.

[Dontbiteurwords]

its a little bit ahead of our time. i'm thinking about 5 -8 years

[trekgeek1]

The bi-axis mirror is fine. The refresh rate of the camera is causing the scanning lines to show up. You wouldn't even see them if you were in the room. Most any display will look the same in videos. Why do you think every t.v. commercial has the small print "Screen images simulated" on the bottom of the screen?

[tom3777]

I would like to see this technology incorporated into glasses. It could actually be used as a vision correction or possibly a vision enhancement. Just think about 360-degree vision without turning your head. Or maybe you just want more privacy. This device could be as annoying as someone talking on a cell phone in a public place but instead hes projecting offensive material for all to see.

[cplai]

I see the potential differently. Your proposed device should not be projecting the image onto a wall. The laser power should be reduced 1000 folds and then the image projected directly onto the retina in the eyes. It will be Terminator type vision. You can just turn your head towards a black wall and no body knows what you are watching.

[nightmathzombieethan]

Great! Now I'll NEVER be able to pull myself away from youtube!

LOL This is incredible!

[detibry]

@cplai i think you would need pretty hight resolution for that

[eligao]

bi-axis mirror is crap, that's way u see the black sync lines moving

[kroschfoenig]

I ould not be too enthusiastic. Initially it was announced for end 2008, presented already in 2008 or even 2007. I wil only believe it when it finally hits the market. No date was really given, you have to subscribe to their newsletter and there were just one or two updates so far without really gining a sale date or the like...

[bendhoward]

The projector actually has 3 lasers for color and a small black hole for black.

[piperfect]

how do you project black?

[cplai]

Assuming you are watching the projection in a dark room, then not projecting anything will give you black. The blackness depends on the darkness of your room.

[canersil]

It will be in market mid. of 2009, and price will be $500...

[Tr4sHCr4fT]

have you sources?

[Tr4sHCr4fT]

ah, ok. lets hope this will be real... 500$ is nice.

[ika5263]

awesome! whens it coming out and how much $ will it cost?

[blammms]

nice product. cant wait to get one

[enantiomer2000]

This is awesome. Best of all, this displays DVD quality video.