Year: 2016
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Focused Reflections from Architectural Windows or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Death Rays
If you haven’t already heard of the notorious “death rays” created by solar reflections off the concave faces of the Vdara Hotel and 20 Fenchurch Street, I’d recommend reading the entertaining article, “A Brief History of Buildings that Melt Things”. Easy to laugh when it’s not your jag that’s melting. Viñoly, the architect of both buildings was quoted by the Guardian as…
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Diffractive Lens vs. Google Cardboard’s Asphere
As I mentioned in my last post, Google Cardboard is the interim hardware for developing Daydream apps. The lenses look very similar to those used in the Oculus Rift development kits, although a bit faster and smaller in diameter. The field of view is also a bit smaller. On-axis, the MTF is nearly perfect, but off axis…
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Google Daydream is a Virtual Reality
At Google I/O on Wednesday, Clay Bavor announced Daydream, which is Google’s new platform for high-quality mobile VR. It will be released this fall in conjunction with VR-optimized Android N. The hardware will consist of a headset and controller that can be used with any “daydream-ready” phone (Samsung, HTC, and LG are among manufacturers designing to this spec). As with Cardboard,…
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Fresnel Lenses and the Oculus Rift CV1
The new consumer version of the Oculus Rift has just been released and there’s been a lot of buzz about the new hybrid fresnel lenses and how they compare with those in the HTC Vive Pre. Incidentally, based on the reviews, these may be different from the lenses that I demoed at CES and apparently, the screen door…
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IODC 2017 to be held in Denver, CO
The International Optical Design Conference (IODC) will be held next year in nearby Denver, CO! Represent!
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360 Video and VR at CES 2016
Seemingly, all possible configurations of multiple video cameras slapped together to create 360-deg video were on display at CES, including the wheeled contraption below from Radiant Images that I came across at VR Fest and the more compact Nikon KeyMission 360, which was kept in a closely-guarded case at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The…
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David Pogue talks optics at CES 2016
One of the free talks at CES was given by David Pogue, in which he shared some very interesting lifehacks from his “Pogue’s Basics” series books. His tip for when you’re having trouble reading distant signage and have forgotten your glasses is to simply make a fist and peer through the tunnel created by your…