Engineering:Glasstron
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| Manufacturer | Sony |
|---|---|
| Product family | Glasstron |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
The Sony Glasstron was a family of portable head-mounted displays, first released in 1996 with the model PLM-50.[1][2] The products included two LCD screens and two earphones for video and audio respectively. These products are no longer manufactured nor supported by Sony.[citation needed]
The Glasstron was not the first head-mounted display by Sony, with the Visortron being a previous exhibited unit.[3][4] The Sony HMZ-T1 can be considered successors to Glasstron.[2] The head-mounted display developed for Sony during the mid-1990s[which?] by Virtual i-o is completely unrelated to the Glasstron.[1]
One application of this technology was in the game MechWarrior 2, which permitted users to adopt a visual perspective from inside the cockpit of the craft, using their own eyes as visual and seeing the battlefield through their craft's own cockpit.[5]
Models
Five models were released.[citation needed] Supported video inputs included PC (15 pin, VGA interface), Composite and S-Video. A brief list of the models follows:
| Model number | Year of release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PLM-50 | 1996[6] | Released June 1996 in Japan.[6] |
| PLM-A35 | 1997[7] | The most basic model with opaque lenses and has SVGA input.[citation needed] Released June 1997 in USA.[7] |
| PLM-A55 | 1997[7] | This model had a mechanical shutter to allow the display to become see through, without SVGA.[citation needed] Released June 1997 in USA.[7] |
| PLM-S700 / PLM-S700E | 1998[8] | The S700 allowed for see through mode using LCD shutters and had support for SVGA output.[citation needed] Its LCD had over 1.55 million pixels on a component the size of a ten-cent coin at SVGA (800×600) display resolution.[citation needed] The S700 has NTSC input, whilst the S700E has PAL input. The S700 was released on 10 November 1998 in Japan.[8] |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Reality Check". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (85): 14–16. August 1996.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 McCracken, Harry (2 February 2012). "Sony's Highly Personal, Surprisingly Decent 3D Viewer". Time. http://techland.time.com/2012/02/02/sonys-highly-personal-surprisingly-decent-3d-viewer/. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ↑ "Visortron". Baltimore Sun. AP. 10 October 1995. http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bal-japan-audio-fair20090828125502-photo.html. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ↑ Free, John (1993). "Electronics Newsfront: ...and Visortrons from Japan". Popular Science (March 1993): 26. https://books.google.com/books?id=IDpkBfTEN-4C&q=visortron&pg=PA26. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ↑ Tony Sperry. Beyond 3D TV, Lulu Pres, Inc., November 2003.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sony Corporate Info: Projector Head Mounted Display". Sony. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/sonyhistory-n.html. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "VR Wiki: Sony". https://vrwiki.wikispaces.com/Sony. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Sony Announces New Personal LCD Monitor PC Glasstron". Sony. 29 September 1998. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199809/98-101/. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
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