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Fraunhofer FEP will show bidirectional AR / VR head mounted display devices based on OLED microdisplay.

Fraunhofer FEP announced that they would show bidirectional AR / VR head mounted display devices based on OLED microdisplay at AWE Europe 2017 from October 19-20. According to Fraunhofer FEP, OLED microdisplay supports SVGA (800 x 600) resolution and can display augmented reality and virtual reality of 2D and 3D content via USB interface and HDMI connection. In addition, it is known that it is possible to use an eye tracking system that uses a photodiode to detect a user’s gaze.

<New HMD device of Fraunhofer FEP, Source: Fraunhofer FEP>

Judith Baumgarten, developer of Fraunhofer FEP, commented, “This exhibition will showcase the quality and versatility of OLED microdisplay,” he said. “It will be a great opportunity to demonstrate Fraunhofer FEP know-how in electronic design.”

In the meantime, AR/VR devices have been developed mainly in the fields of entertainment and games. Fraunhofer FEP, however, is expected to support designers, engineers, surgeons, etc. and enable them to be used as educational media in almost every field.

On the other hand, augmented reality and virtual reality technology are attracting great attention as one of the main technologies of the 4th industrial revolution that has recently attracted attention, and products such as Oculus Rift and Gear VR are continuously being released. According to UBi Research, the AR/VR market will expand full scale in 2019, when 5G is introduced, which can mass-produce UHD contents and transfer large volumes of content fast and the total revenues of virtual reality and augmented reality products will reach $ 58.7 billion by 2021.

OLED, the mainstream of HMD devices for VR

The ‘PlayX4’ opening ceremony, a next-generation augmented game show, was held at Kintex exhibition hall 2, Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do on the 25th. During the event, a number of companies presented VR contents, using HMD (head mounted display) devices in application of OLED, such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Gear VR to improve immersion and reduce motion sickness.

Realitymagiq, a professional of VR game developer, introduced a multiplay game. In reply to a question on immersion into VR, “Device performance is essential for immersive in VR, and to reduce latency, the major culprit for sickness, OLED is more than enough,” said Kim Sung-kyun, the CEO of Realitymagiq. “However, resolution needs to be further developed and so does GPU performance.”

Motionhouse Co., Ltd. has introduced MotionGear for users to experience tilting and engine vibration during actual driving. Oculus Rift OLED-applied headset, was used; “Oculus Rift was the one that could minimize the motion sickness most”, said a participant.

Latency refers to the time length for the CPU to receive information from the tracker and output, which is related to the response time of the display and the information processing of the graphics card. The response time of the display required in VR is known to be less than 3ms. Samsung Display compares the response time between OLED and LCD on the blog and emphasizes that OLED is the optimal display for VR HMD device.

The Response time between OLED and LCD, Source: blog.samsungdisplay.com

In fact, many VR content companies used OLED-applied HMD devices such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Gear VR, and users seemed to enjoy VR game, not suffering from dizziness

Recently, aside from Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, many HMD makers such as recently launched Sony’s PS VR and Royole’s Royole Moon are OLED-based, not LCD, and surely the OLED application is expected to expand further.

[Manufacturing World Japan 2016] Gear VR + Galaxy S6 4D Movie Experience

Dynamo Amusement demonstrated 4D VR contents using Gear VR

 Tokyo = Hyunjoo Kang / jjoo@olednet.com

At Manufacturing World Japan (22-25 June, Tokyo Big Sight), 4D movie was demonstrated through Gear VR.

Dynamo Amusement, a contents company, showed their VR contents Megalodon, and used Samsung Electronics’ Gear VR and Galaxy S6 for demonstration. The company explained that they used these devices as they were popular although the content is not exclusive to these products.

For the demonstration, visitors could sit in chairs installed in the Dynamo Amusement booth wearing Galaxy S6 equipped Gear VR. The focus could be controlled using the wheel on Gear VR.

Megalodon is a clip that shows the deep sea underwater world using CG technology. The moving chairs and air jets are not different from existing 4D contents, but the VR screen provided realistic experience, much more vivid, including the scene where the viewer is swallowed by a giant shark.

However, the picture quality remains an issue. Despite using the wheel to focus, the clear picture was not produced. This is dependent on the resolution of the smartphone connected to the VR device, the Galaxy S6 used in the demonstration has AMOLED panel of 577 ppi, 2560 x 1440. Nonetheless, with Samsung’s recent reveal of 806 ppi AMOLED for VR at 5 inch mark, future picture quality improvement is anticipated.

Additionally, despite the vividness directly ahead, concentration was difficult due to the not insignificant weight of the device. A total weight of 518 g, Gear VR’s 380 g and Galaxy S6’s 138 g, can be heavy to be placed on the head for a long period of time. For longer uses, the weight has to be reduced.

Dynamo Amusement’s Megalodon has the running time of 5 minutes, to be released this summer.