Sunday, June 24, 2007

HMDs and "the last mile"

Remember the time that most home users could only use dial-up access to the Internet, even though the Internet backbone was very fast? These users could not enjoy the full Internet experience because of the bandwidth limitations in the "last mile" before their home.

Recent improvements in CPU and GPU power as well as rendering software, leads me to believe that the display quality of head-mounted displays could solve the "last mile" problem of bringing immersive virtual reality to the masses.

When I speak to audiences about head-mounted displays, I usually ask for a show of hands: "how many in the audience have Blockbuster or Netflx subscriptions or regularly rent movies?". A healthy majority usually raises their hands. "Now how many would still continue these subscriptions if all you had at home was a 3 inch black and white television?". Most hands come down. Without quality displays (with high resolution, wide field of view such as those offered by my company), the full potential of virtual reality will not be realized.

Yuval

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