One of the most comment problems that a small but significant number of users encounter when using virtual reality (VR) is that of motion sickness and headaches. This is something that researchers and developers have been trying to tackle since the early days of the technology and one that now Fraunhofer believe can be dealt with by using high-speed microdisplays that are positioned closer to the users’ eyes.
As reported by venturebeat, the work is being funded by a European project to popularize tiny but cost-effective high-speed screens which the German R&D institute will put on display next month. The key to the innovation is a chip design that enables multiple high-resolution OLED-on-silicon microdisplays to work quickly together at high 120Hz framerates. The displays will also offer a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and ultra-low power consumption and will also include a mode that eliminates flicker and motion artifacts. Because of their speed and quality, the displays promise to reduce motion sickness and headaches.
Fraunhofer are also trying to get more pixels out of these new one-inch microdisplays than that of a 1080p display by offering a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution with a density of 2300 pixels per inch. As two of these displays are used per eye, four displays are used in total with a total pixel resolution of 4800 x 920, which offers a wide field-of-view of over 100 degrees.
These screens are then paired with a new optics system which has been designed by Limbak, a third-party partner on the project. Your typical VR headset will have screens placed around 60 to 75 millimeters from a user’s eyes, were Limbak’s optics will cut the distance down to 37 millimeters, reducing the overall size of the headset. This is one are that Fraunhofer are keen to see developments made with an expect headset weight with this solution to be around three-quarters smaller than a typical headset, without compromising the field-of-view or resolution.
Fraunhofer are planning to exhibit the new displays and a prototype headset at Munich’s AWE Europe 2018 event on October 18th and 19th. Though details such as release date and pricing have yet to be revealed, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all this and more when it becomes available.