Varjo headset
The Finland-based VR headset maker Varjo is currently undertaking a particularly ambitious project. They intend to replicate the resolution of the human eye with their “Bionic Display” headset. Now, you may be asking yourself exactly how hard it is to replicate the resolution of the human eye. Well, the answer is that it’s pretty damn hard. Currently, the most advanced V/R (made by Google and LG) utilizes a 16,000,000 pixel, or 16 megapixel display (a megapixel is 1,000,000 pixels). That may sound like a lot, but not compared to the human eye. The human eye sees in a whopping 576 magapixels.
So, how does a virtually unknown Swedish tech company plan on surpassing the tech giants that are Google and LG? Well, the answer is in the tech, of course. There are two methods of display for V/R. The first is a traditional pixel display akin to ones used in smartphones. This is what Google and LG have chosen to utilize for their headset. The only problem is that there are limits to how may pixels you can pack into a traditional pixel display, and this is the reason that Google’s headset is still nowhere near the resolution of the human eye. The other V/R option is called a micropixel display. These displays have a far higher pixel density than those of traditional pixel displays (large enough to match that of a human eye), but our technology is not sufficiently advanced to be able to build them large enough to create an entire V/R headset.
The Google/LG V/R headset
So how exactly is Varjo solving these problems? Their idea is to combine the two displays in a way as to replicate human vision. In human vision, our eyes only see very small areas in focus. Varjo will take advantage of this by using eye tracking software to superimpose/reflect a micropixel display over the area that the user’s eye is focusing on. The rest of the display will be a far lower resolution, but the user’s eye will not be able to recognize this, as it will be out of focus. Because they will be utilizing a lower resolution main display, they can replicate the actual field of view of a human eye. This is something that Google is unable to do with its headset because the main screen is such a high resolution. The implications of this are huge. If they can pull it off, this headset will be virtually indistinguishable from reality.
Obviously, the execution will be harder than coming up with the idea, but Varjo’s development up to this point has been sufficiently convincing as to garner 46 million dollars from people who believe the project will be successful. The headset is due for completion in December of 2018, but don’t get too excited: the headsets will be sold for between 5,000 and 10,000 a piece. You shouldn’t give up hope completely, though, as we have seen other start up companies get their feet wet in the luxury market and then proceed to wade in to the mass market with more affordable products (Tesla). So who knows, maybe a retina resolution headset could be just over your horizon.
Sources
https://www.virtualreality-news.net/news/2018/jun/20/finnish-vr-startup-developing-headset-human-eye-resolution/
Varjo Raises $31 Million to Further Develop ‘Bionic Display’ Headset
https://futurism.com/what-is-the-resolution-of-the-human-eye
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+megapixels+is+the+iphone+camera&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS811US812&oq=how+many+megapixels+is+the+iphone+camera&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.17712j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/25/google-and-lg-display-have-made-the-highest-resolution-vr-screen/
The Key Technology Behind Varjo’s High-res ‘Bionic Display’ Headset