Smart Glasses Continue Dream of Practical Head-Mounted Displays
Like many innovations just coming to fruition, smart glasses are a technology people first began dreaming of long ago. Wearable tech has always fascinated people, though until the modern age of technology it was impossible to pull off, and the idea of a wearable display has been arguably the most fascinating idea to people for some time. In fact, while Thelma McCollum’s name might not be one everyone knows or thinks of when they think back on great inventors, she actually has patents for dozens of new technologies in the 1940s and beyond. One of these was a patent for a device she referred to as a “stereoscopic television apparatus.” This was in 1945 and, sadly, became largely forgotten. It was not until some fifteen years later or so, in 1960, anybody really began taking the idea of a wearable display with any seriousness. While nothing really came to a real fulfilment, Morton Heilig fascinated people with the idea. Nobody at the time could believe it was even possible but, sure enough, Heilig applied for and received a patent for his own, less bulky, version of a head-mounted display. He followed this up in 1962 with his patent for the “Sensorama Simulator,” a virtual reality simulator complete with handlebars, a binocular display, a vibrating seat, stereophonic speakers, cold air blower, and a device close to the nose which would generate odors according to the action in the film. The intention of this device was to completely immerse a film viewer in every aspect of the film in a way we still cannot quite accomplish, but it was a bold effort to be sure. Obviously, the sheer bulk of such a device made its use impractical en masse, but he did create his dream via an arcade-style machine which played a 3D film along with stereo sound, vibration, smells, and wind. With this machine, he achieved his dream of creating a completely immersive sensory environment, but it would be several more years before the dream of making a truly wearable device would occur. Read more »
