Development of Head-Mounted Projection Displays for Distributed, Collaborative, Augmented Reality Applications
This technology enables distributed, collaborative augmented reality applications, such as medical training and remote communication, but is incremental as it builds on existing HMPD concepts.
The paper reviews the development of head-mounted projection displays (HMPDs) as lightweight optics for immersive augmented reality, and describes two novel technologies: a teleportal HMPD for face-to-face communication with shared 3D objects and a mobile HMPD for outdoor use, with applications in medical visualization and infospaces.
Distributed systems technologies supporting 3D visualization and social collaboration will be increasing in frequency and type over time. An emerging type of head-mounted display referred to as the head-mounted projection display (HMPD) was recently developed that only requires ultralight optics (i.e., less than 8 g per eye) that enables immersive multiuser, mobile augmented reality 3D visualization, as well as remote 3D collaborations. In this paper a review of the development of lightweight HMPD technology is provided, together with insight into what makes this technology timely and so unique. Two novel emerging HMPD-based technologies are then described: a teleportal HMPD(T-HMPD) enabling face-to-face communication and visualization of shared 3D virtual objects, and a mobile HMPD (M-HMPD) designed for outdoor wearable visualization and communication. Finally, the use of HMPD in medical visualization and training, as well as in infospaces, two applications developed in the ODA and MIND labs respectively, are discussed.