eMagin @ E3 - Z800 3D Visor
by Peter Rojas 
{ May 19th 2005 at 2:06AM }
The prototype we spotted back at CES was bit rough around the edges, but eMagin was showing off a new version of their Z800 3D Visor wearable virtual reality display, which sports a pair of 16.7 million color, 0.59-inch OLED displays which make it seem like you're standing 12 feet away from a 105-inch screen. Wearable displays are nothing special these days (we've gotten enough headaches to know that all too well), but the real gem here is that they've combined 3D stereovision with a fully immersive head-tracking system that provides a full 360-degree angle of view of the game you're playing. Click for a few more pics.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mills00013 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
what are those cords coming outta the back of that thing? lol this looks like a bad windows computer
RM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Where do I sign up :)
Pat @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Oh my god, it's the real Nintendo RevOlution!
solowCX @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#1, you mean the power cable and VGA cables? Heaven forbid you might actually want to SEE something on your new 3D visor...
eXceL @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
The new Revolution technology anyone? ;)
prabhuly @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I think #1 was thinking it was it's own console, not just a display. Those cords would be pretty ugly on a gaming console.
eXceL @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
The new Revolution technology anyone? ;)
hobgoblin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
that blue box looks similar to a kvm switch.
hmm, wasnt 3d headsets all the rage in the mid 90's?
thankfully it looks like the size of the equipment have come down. but have they solved the problem of eye fatigue from long term use?
Jordan D. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
personally i wouldnt care, free tylenol with every purchase of their game lol
Max @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Am I the only one who has been waiting for light, good, cheap, stereo VR?
I beta tested an old VXF1 with Doom II and Descent, and that f*cking rocked. It came with a proprietary PCI card that I had to install and hook up to my video card, which was probably a turnoff for their target consumers. Too bad the HMD was $1.5K. And they wouldn't let me keep one even though I was a tester!
np @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Revolution! NintendoOn=Revolution!
Blake @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
This isn't revolution. However it looks interesting.
David @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
None of the VR headsets in the past were OLED. Organic light emitting diodes produce a far crisper and more realistic image with a larger field of view. The refresh rate is also much higher. I haven't tried one of these out yet, but from what I understand about OLED, the eye strain should be less because of the higher refresh rate and intensity of the light.
tigerXP @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
i-o Display came out with a similar design to this a while back... hopefully these will do better with the added increase in resolution.
#10. i did beta development work with the VFX1 as well building compenent systems in VR for the telecom industry (when there was a telecom industry). that thing was pretty impressive - aside from the all-surround ear mufflers that made your ears sweat it was a great system.
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I have been tracking this Virtual Reality Head Mounted Display ever since i saw it at CES this year. This is a remarkable new technology. The display uses 2 OLED screens, as you may know OLED does not cause eye fatigue, headcahes or eyestrain.
You can wear this heasdet for hours and even while using prescription glasses and it only runs off a single usb cable connecting to your PC that powers it. So you do not need external batteries. Ofcourse it plugs to graphics card using a VGA cable and has dual monitor support. They are now taking orders, it costs $900 and delivery starts in 30-60 days time. The HMD has a built in noise cancelling microphone and a 360 degree head tracker. The company emagin is hoping to sell a few million of these all over the world, so prices of these should drop over the next 6 months.
You will need a card from Nvidia as they support stereovision in their drivers, if this becomes a big hit, which i am sure will then ATI will be forced to make sterovision drivers other wise there going to lose big time as all their customers will flock to Nvidia. You will need a fast graphics card, but lets talk about it from what i read at CES 2005 in las vegas in January. People were completely immersed by one of these, it gives you a 105 inch viweing screen from 12 feet away, so the things wraps around your eyes and it has been known that you can plug these to game consoles but only play in 2D mode, but PC games play in 3D streovision mode which is totally cool. I hope we can have a more extnesive article written by joystiq. Let's hope they get to play with on of these. Emagin has said that OEM's will include these OLED displays which also are manafactured by emagin, and the OEM's wil make a full visor version. So VR is finally here to stay, oh and the displays are 800 x 600 with a 42 degree diagonal field of view which is real descent and the highest field of view on any headset ever released for consumer gaming, this will be totally immersive.
Emagin playing Battle field 2 with this online and talking through the built in microphone and playing in stereovision, moving around with the HMD in the world while your are on a jeep firing away with the gun turret with a online player from the otherside of the world controlling the jeep. of course to go online in stereovision with 64 players as promised in Battle field 2 will take a seriously powerful PC with an SLI based graphics card for the umtimate gaming and you would need 2 SLI cards running in parallel.
btw when your playing with the emagin HMD, as it's 800 x 600 you would need to run 8x or 16x anisotropic filtering to smooth it all out and add 4x FSAA to smooth out jaggies as 800 x 600 looks horrible otherwise. But you may not need FSAA as in stereovison jaggies usually disappear.
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
this is emagins website www.emagin.com take a look for more info and the HMD is calle the Z800 3D Visor www.3dvisor.com you can order it from there aswell.
carlos @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Finally!!
i cant wait till the top dog companies (sony,m$,nintendo) start partnering with the VR future
matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
$899 bucks a pop...Thats more than 3X what it costs to by an XBOX or PS2. Maybe this will be affordable by the launch of the next generation counsols.
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Can someone attending e3 please check out this other Virtual relaity display made by a company called 3001 AD there e3 booth number is 6537
their website www.3001ad.com
thanks
Also a bit off topic, but have you noticed there is no sequel to shenmue 2 or 3 i lost count on those games, but it would be really cool on the xbox 360.
one other thing those emagin pictures on here at joystiq show a controller is that a PS2 controller if that means you can use the headset with consoles then that would be so cool. emagin did mention it but i did not think it would be on show floor.
Also if you want to see some more pictures of this display from e3 taken from emagin then you can find the link on emagins website www.emagin.com
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
also NO 18, you think $900 is a lot it's nothing compared to how much other VR comapnys sell their HMD'S at, and there HMD's don't come with head trackers and microphones so this is all crammed into a device thats weighs no more than 280 grams.
This is an incredible achievement, even with te price tag, ofcourse it's more than xbox but this is more for pc gaming, and harware costs more in the pc world. I am going to buty one as i think it will rock.
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
also NO 18, you think $900 is a lot well it's nothing compared to how much other VR companys sell their HMD'S at, and there HMD's don't come with head trackers and microphones so this is all crammed into a device thats weighs no more than 280 grams.
This is an incredible achievement, even with the price tag. Ofcourse it's more than xbox but this is more for pc gaming, and hardware costs more in the PC world. I am going to buy one as i think it will rock.
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
sorry for the double post
Joey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
If anyone here is attending e3 can you also check out the Americas Army south hall booth 1608. They have this emagin VR display with the Quantum 3D Expedition System (some kind of motion tracking device for military training) so this is all running with the emagin HMD. it would be very interesting to hear from some people who have tried these unique devices. You will find emagin at booth 6722.
bandar @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
hey number 15- where on earth did you hear that the company plans on selling a few million of these things??? No way , no how. Not even close to reality.
Oliver @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
The cables on this are way too bulky and uncool. The viewer is very heavy, so I can not envision wearing this for hours. It has low resolution so it can not be used with consoles. For $900 I would rather spend the money on a new console and games.
brandon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
""The cables on this are way too bulky and uncool. The viewer is very heavy, so I can not envision wearing this for hours. It has low resolution so it can not be used with consoles. For $900 I would rather spend the money on a new console and games.""
^^^ Clueless! it wont work with consoles huh? oh yeah that's right, because 800x600 is only double the resolution of standard TV and its non-interlaced! If you've ever seen a console or DVD player connected to a 800x600 DLP projector (which I own) you would see that it looks awesome. So this would be perfect for consoles. In fact I wouldnt doubt if some nexgen consoles dont jump all over this. The PS3 and Xbox 360 have been rumored to support multiple TVs so the capability for 3D stereo is going to be there. Oh yes.. The VR of science fiction is going to happen and it will be a big hit once the price becomes more acessible. very exciting time to live in! oh and BTW, that cable on the Z800=no big deal
Dexter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Users may want to do some research before buying.
One reporter said it may pinch the nose and the googles are heavy.
I heavy also read that other similar devices have caused headaches .
Plus the entire entertainment industry is moving towards high resolution and this is low resolution. As one reviewer put it "you’d think a graphics company could put some effort into some decent hi-res prototype shots, but no)"
It is best to wait till they get the bugs out. Other companies such as Icuiti offer a viewer for $500 and Microvision is working on one. My guess is other better viewers will be out soon.
John Court @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#27 Dexter Did you actually try it out? I havenn't, but look at the photo above. The visor is held on your head by straps, It doesn't look like it sits on your nose.
pointy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Dexter- you say the industry is moving towards hif def , but recommend an Icuiti over this Z800? You do realize the Icuiti toy is VGA , right? With no head tracking? And a cheesy little field of view. It would be like looing through toilet paper roll I think. LOL. It's not a gaming HMD - just a viewer just like the dozens of other ones available already. Which is fine if that's what you want. Not me. There is NO comparing the features of the Z800 Visor to anything else in the market at anywhere near the price.
Ernest T @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
As you can see from the picture it does rest on the bridge of the nose.Your nose is what stops it from falling down. I have read other reviews that also say it pinches the nose and can cause headaches. It is not something I would pay $900 for. I especially would not want to wear it for hours.
I suppose it would be intersting as a novelty item. I bet 50 years from now they will still be laughing at them trying to sell a $900 nose pincher.
Pat @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Ernest T, what picture and what review are you looking at? The one above clearly shows this thing hanging from a visor, supported by the forehead and a strap. You must be thinking of older HMDs or some other 3d glasses.
The z800 is much lighter, higher resolution, and lower priced than anything I have ever seen available. I just did a google search and HMDs with similar specs go for $5-30k. And it looks like the OLED image quality is much better than LCD. This has definately made the leap into my wishlist.
cutlass @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#30 what's your hangup with this nose pinching crap. are you deef? it was already pointed out to you that the visor doesn't sit on your nose. you sound a lot like a competitor trying to spear the competition. anyone know where I can try this thing out????
Bill @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#32 Why are people denying it rests on the nose?
This is ridiculous, of course it does. You sound
like a shareholder trying to pump this stock. I hear they have had a lot of trouble financially
and may run out of cash soon. Buy this at your own risk as they may not be able to support it.
I think $900 is a lot to pay for an unproven, low resolution toy that may pinch the nose.
eightcloud @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I'v found some url about discussing by google ....
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=1601028323&tid=ema&sid=1601028323&mid=73457
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=1601028323&tid=ema&sid=1601028323&mid=73459
"SMILES all around from every person I saw try out the Z800. Women, blacks, asians, whites, nerds, and executives you name it. " ^^
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=1601028323&tid=ema&sid=1601028323&mid=73475
USA Today Says Z800 Pinches Nose
The goggles are heavy and may pinch your nose.
"MAY...."
eightcloud @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
"There is absolutely no pinching of the nose." ^^
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=1601028323&tid=ema&sid=1601028323&mid=73959
Just back from SID
by: wintermon1 (48/M/westfield, MA)
I found the headset very comfortable, almost like wearing a baseball cap, but with some weight hanging from the brim. There is absolutely no pinching of the nose.
They also informed me of a higher resolution model coming out at the end of the year.
http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-17599-1992-x-x-x
eMAGIN hopes to release a version of the visor that will run at a resolution of 1280x1024.
warrenE33 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I tried it out. It didn't touch your nose, it was all strapped to your forehead, and quite light with good image quality. (the 3001AD headsets nearby, however, were painful to wear and of much lower quality).
I don't like the idea of cables on some thing that encourages you to look around 360 degrees. but the problem with emagin's headsets was the lack of tracking precision. i kept find myself looking down at the ground so that i could look forward in the game, because the tracking precision was off. (i could adjustable with the look up/down buttons on the controller, but it was instantly annoying)
I work for a company that does optical 6DOF motion capture, so i'm definitely biased towards motion tracking that actually works.
-For all yall who think VR goggles may make a come back, go read up on "VOR" (vestibulo- ocular reflex). this was the problem that effectively ended the VR goggle revolution before it started. (Basically, no goggles haven't been made fast/precise enough to properly fool your inner ear, but they're so immersive that you can really mess yourself up. People tend to get nauseous and have trouble walking after using goggles for more than an hour or two at a time. For VR goggles to actually be accepted, they'll need to find a way keep up with your head motion perfectly).
Jebis @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
WHY HAS NO ONE MENTIONED THE QUALITY OF THE 3D STEREO? thats all i care about, if it does 3d stereo decently thats all that matters, if its heavy i will hook a rope to it to the ceiling. i just want to feel like i can touch the monsters in doom 3! I used to have a virtual boy, when they were going for like 30 bucks and i loved it, would have been perfect for a FPS like doom, and i am one of the few people who can play one for hours on end with no problems. So if someone could please just answer my question of the 3d experience would be very grateful.
habbahabba @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
i would like to know what the difference is between the Z800 and the i-glasses pro
can anyone help me...
tnx
e3er @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I tried 3001ads gogles, I missed the z800 :P. I thought the 3001ad gogles were more comfortable then my i-glasses svga gogles. The 3001ad ones were hard to put on with my glasses, but once they were on, they distributed the weight much better. The i-glasses use a single strap which you have to put on tight to reduce slipping/shaking, and part of the weight is on your forehead, and after using it for a while the most comfortable position is to face down in your lap. The 3001ad gogles didn't appear to have this problem, the distribution of weight seemed to be more on your face, and it is not just a ring around your head, it has an extra part on the top so part of the weight is on the top of your head.
The displays on the other hand were not so great, mostly because one of them was kind of dim on the bottom. Either I didn't notice a stereoscopic effect, it was turned off, or it didn't have it. With the i-glasses, the reason why you would put the gogles on tight is to reduce shaking, because a little slipping around on your face would cause the internal screen to move a lot and be hard to see, this was kind of dizzying and anoying to have to straighten out once in a while. I didn't notice this problem with the 3001ad though, once I positioned it on my face it would pretty much stay there.
The motion tracking was okay, it seemed like it may have been accurate to the direction I was facing, but there was noticable lag.
To me the design of the z800 looks similar to the i-glasses, the extra strap on top should help distribute the weight better, and may reduce slippage, but it looks like it may also shake a little since it doesn't actually touch your face. Wish I had tried it so I could know :P.
Ebert @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Just a little background on emagin, the manufacturer. In recent years they have had finacial troubles and their stock has plunged and is now a penny stock. They continue to stack up losses year after year.They have never had a profitable year. The last annual report shows that their annual loss more than doubled:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=EMA&annual
Buyer beware of possible support problems.
Phil @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I will agree with the previous poster #36 who stated that the VOR" (vestibulo- ocular reflex)problem has not been cured here. Headaches, nausia, trouble walking after using goggles for more than an hour or two at a time are still a problem. At $900 it is not worth it in my opinion.
Clarence @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I also agree with #36 comments. From everything that I have read the (vestibulo- ocular reflex) is a problem with all VR googles. I read that users after hours of use can become disorientated, nauseous, have trouble walking and headaches can occur. The z800 is no exception.
Boraski @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#37: I would also like to read mentions to the stereo effect, but only to see if it is really supported an if it was enabled in the demo. The quality of stereo does not depend on the Z800 but on the software (i.e. game) that produces the images and feeds them to the visor. And I can tell that calculating good stereo pairs can be tricky. The Z800's job is just to receive different left/right images and display them to the correct eye.
I would also like to see comments on the displays quality, contrast, black level, resolution, FOV, etc. more than weight and external design.
And the price is attractive to me. Other comparable HMDs cost several thousand dollars.
youwannatradebutter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
The people here who are so desperately harping on about "VOR", "pinching the nose", and other bashing of a product that hasn't even been shipped yet obviously are threatened by the Z800 in some way. People who have ACTUALLY tried it at E3 and last weeks SID have nothing but glowing things to say about the Z800.
VOR is an overblown concern that nobody in the business takes seriously. Otherwise, the military wouldn't be using HMDs in mission-critical training and combat applications.
And for the freaking time, the Z800 simply DOES NOT pinch your nose as the visor sits atop of your head just like a ballcap. Only a retard with no visual acuity would keep claiming they pinch the nose.
And some previous poster is correct-- there is NO WAY eMagin will ever sell "millions" of these. They will sell about more than 10,000 units this year world-wide, though. A ton of them are going to Japan, Korea, and Germany.
mm11 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I attended E3. I spent about 45 minutes playing with the Z800. I tried my best to make myself sick. But I could not.
I thought it was comfortable and once you got used to how to center the headtracker and use the joystick controls it was awesome.
I wish I had more time to use it and did not want to take it off. I did also wish I could have played a few more games with it.
Here are some pictures and videos I took at E3.
h++p://hosting.imageevent.com/emagin/e3videos
h++p://hosting.imageevent.com/emagin/z800pictures
h++p://hosting.imageevent.com/emagin/quantum3d
h++p://hosting.imageevent.com/emagin/emagintshirt
h++p://hosting.imageevent.com/emagin/e3emagin
Melvin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I looked on the internet and there are no less than 6 articles stating that z800 pinches the nose. The VOR sickness is a serious problem and no one knows what the long term effect of it is, but it cant be good. Why risk eye strain, headaches, nausea,disorientation?
youwannatradebutter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Hey, #46--
There are no less than 9 articles, huh? THEY ARE ARE WRITTEN BY YOU!
You spend half your time on the eMagin Yahoo stock message board bashing the Z800 under a few different names, and you have absolutely no credibility. Anyone who has tried the z800 says it is comfortable, and anyone with a pair of working eyes can plainly see that the unit is exactly like a baseball cap-- it fits on your head. You must really underestimate people's intelligence.
As for the VOR thing, my God, give it a rest already. The "studies" you refer to are at a minimum 8 years old, and simply DO NOT APPLY to the Z800, as your peripheral vision is still intact.
We all know that you are directly threatened by the success of the Z800 in some way. We also know that the Icuiti VP od Sales has been known to bash potential competitor's products on various message boards in the past. With your blatant lies about the Z800, it seems a call to the SEC and the AG of New York (gee, you'd be dealing with Eliot Spitzer). Think I'll give them a call today.
habbahabba @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
#45 please tell me if its worth buying it .. i have been dreaming about these things ever since i was a kid ..:)
can u tell me what the negative points are and the positive ..plz do be very critical
thank you
mm11 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
I am buying one and I plan to put it through my own tests.
But from my impression at the E3 show I saw how well it worked and how every single person who put it on smiled.
Even without the headtracker - the 105" screen was amazing to see.
I was very impressed by the construction. It does make you look a little silly wearing it. But who cares. You are inside the game!
I expect next year's Emagin booth at E3 to be even better.
I am friends with Nolan Bushnell and he was very impressed by the Z800.
Melvin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:51PM
Readers should beware of the many charlatan promoters here that want to promote their product and cover up any faults.
Nose pinch confirmation.
There are many articles on it. Here is one from USA Today, one of the nations largest newspapers:
h??p://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-01-08-crazy-gadgets_x.htm
"The only drawback: The goggles are heavy and may pinch your nose."