from Hacker News

TransparentHMD: Revealing the HMD User’s Face to Bystanders (2017) [pdf]

by ramboldio on 6/8/23, 3:39 PM with 120 comments

  • by AndrewKemendo on 6/8/23, 4:23 PM

    Having patented technology for see through AR display in 2016 that is cited by Apple [1] and knowing how crazy hard it is, it's a little bit refreshing to know that Apple recognized pass-through HMD AR as too hard and decided to invest in compensatory technology instead of trying to solve the hard see through AR problems.

    [1]https://patents.google.com/patent/US10757400B2/en

  • by ladberg on 6/8/23, 4:05 PM

    This is not the same as the Vision Pro's display. This paper describes tracking a single other person and displaying a perspective-correct rendering for them, but the Vision Pro displays a perspective-correct rendering for many viewpoints at once using a lenticular screen.

    Apple's solution works for >1 people at the same time and doesn't require any external tracking (though it's already doing the external tracking regardless), at the cost of lower resolution and only being correct in one dimension vs two.

  • by CharlesW on 6/8/23, 4:11 PM

    Hey @ramboldio, as one of the authors of the paper, do you have insider knowledge that Apple got the idea from your paper vs. Facebook's "bizarre 'reverse passthrough'"¹ prototype from 2021? Is there a licensing arrangement? (Just curious, it's a really interesting idea in any case!)

    ¹ https://www.laptopmag.com/news/facebooks-bizarre-reverse-pas...

  • by TastyLamps on 6/8/23, 5:06 PM

    Google did something similar in 2017 (although it's overlaying your WHOLE FACE) on the headset and only when viewed through a camera: https://blog.google/products/google-ar-vr/google-research-an...

  • by deanCommie on 6/9/23, 12:10 AM

    I have extremely mixed feelings about the fact that Apple seems to have "solved" AR by faking it through VR, and that means that with some iteration, a battery improvement, and a price drop, this could truly be the next revolutionary device that people can't help but want to use.

    And I am scared of what it means for our society when "eye contact" no longer means a direct connection in person, but an indirect one through 2 cameras and 2 screens.

    Obviously this is old hat for Facetime, and all remote collaboration. But in-person too?

  • by billconan on 6/8/23, 3:47 PM

    I prefer no outward-facing display if that can make Vision Pro cheaper.

  • by gfodor on 6/8/23, 7:02 PM

    Anyone who thought reprojection was the solve for AR considered this solution since you'd have to find a way to simulate glass. The first consumer grade passthrough VR was the GearVR in 2015 or so, so I don't think the idea was originally conceived this late.

  • by deanCommie on 6/9/23, 12:10 AM

    I have extremely mixed feelings about the fact that Apple seems to have "solved" AR by faking it through VR, and that means that with some iteration, a battery improvement, and a price drop, this could truly be the next revolutionary device that people can't help but want to use.

    And I am scared of what it means for our society when "eye contact" no longer means a direct connection in person, but an indirect one through 2 cameras and 2 screens.

    Obviously this is old hat for Facetime, and all remote collaboration. But in-person too?

  • by marcell on 6/9/23, 12:13 AM

    How does this technology handle multiple bystanders looking at the display from different angles?

  • by Demmme on 6/8/23, 7:29 PM

    Is this verified?

    U do like the LMU after all I'm in Munich but this though is more obvious than magic.

  • by DonHopkins on 6/8/23, 4:45 PM

    It should be touch sensitive so it can detect when somebody pokes you in the eye.