Future directions in visual display systems

Abstract

Visual displays have evolved in several parallel application areas including television, computer monitors, graphics monitors, portable displays, projection displays and most recently, immersive displays. Film, too, has matured as the highest resolution display medium available. One might mistakenly proclaim that today's visual displays produce an image quality which nearly matches that of our perception. The truth is that primitive cave petroglyphs viewed in fire-light far exceed the visual capacity of any modern imaging and display system. Our visual displays only represent a small piece of what our eyes perceive to be reality.Consider the visual content in a highly ornate architectural space such as the Sistine Chapel. One is immersed within great columns, arches and a ceiling covered with Michelangelo's paintings containing hundreds of human figures. One could argue that this space is a vast immersive display system designed to invoke a sense of awe and communicate a biblical world view. The environment is static, but viewing it involves a great deal of eye, head and body motion. Even our best large-format film displays are at a loss to reproduce the range of colors, dynamic range of intensities, field of view and level of detail present in such a space.Visual displays are arguably becoming our primary means of information delivery. Their design can profoundly affect how we daily communicate and interact with information. As image capture, generation and display technologies advance, we will see visual systems improve in both realism and level of immersion. Arrayed display systems are already providing a leap in simultaneous wide field of view and high resolution. These advances are fundamentally changing the way in which information can be represented by increasing information bandwidth and enabling a deeper engagement of our visual senses.

Mobile information access in the real world: A story of three wireless devices

“…It should also be noted that ergonomic and usability factors vary considerably between different devices, with issues such as display size, weight and adjustability of physical and visual settings all affecting the usability of a particular head-mounted display for any specific task (Bowman et al, 2002). Additionally, the large and encumbering size of CRT-based HMDs is also an identified obstacle towards their adoption (Lantz, 1997), as is the current high cost of HMDs that display both high resolution and a wide field of view. Indeed, the fact that HMDs afford the user the experience a high degree of visual immersion, yet in everyday life a user's field of 8 view is limited, has been shown to be an inhibitor in their popularity, rather than a contributing factor.…”

A survey of large-scale immersive displays

“…Medium-scale displays provide multi-user collaboration [Traill 1997], and include rectilinear immersive displays [Cruz-Neira et al 1993], curved screen displays [Jo et al 2006], and multi-channel "mega walls" [Li 2004], all accommodating a small number of collaborative users. Largescale immersive displays employ wide field-of-view screens such as domes to provide a high sense of immersion for a dozen up to many hundreds of viewers -essentially, VR for a mass audience [Lantz 1997]. Wrap-around cylindrical or dome screens are preferred over rectilinear immersive screens in cinematic applications as they provide a more seamless _____________________ *e-mail: ed@visualbandwidth.com appearance over a greater range of viewing angles and conditions [Lantz 1998].…”

Sistema de realidade virtual para simulador visual de passadiço.

“…Tradicionalmente os sistemas de realidade virtual usam projetores conectados ao sistema computacional, gerando imagens projetadas em telas de grandes dimensões, visando cobrir maior área possível do campo de visão de seus usuários (Lantz, 1997).…”

“…Por não possuírem excentricidades (bordas e quinas) permitem maior sensação de imersão (Lantz, 1997).…”

“…Estes sistemas têm a vantagem de possuírem uma superfície contínua que é tangencial ao campo visual humano (Lantz, 1997). Porém, estes sistemas usam projeção frontal, limitando a distancia do usuário à tela (Soares, 2005).…”