Visual Field Augmentation
2nd Generation Device - Virtual Vision Sport - Un-Tethered
Finally I get to mount the camera on the V V Sport. I used a small block of styrene foam, and cut it to roughly follow the curvature of the left side of the visor.
For this phase of testing, I wanted to have a semi stable base that could be re-positioned with some ease.
The foam is carefully carved out to follow the contours of the back of the circuit board.
Most of this imaging has moved inside to my indoor office, so the images are from a very basic Concord Digital camera. I work with some fairly high-end cameras at work, which has been a tremendous help when forced to work with a featureless imaging unit.
The camera is simply taped to the visor with the standard issue of black electrical tape.
As I keep finding, I start a test or experiment with certain pre-conceived ideas that I hope to prove, and another series of issues arise that I would never have thought of, or my theory is not only disproved, but runs completely counter to the logic I had employed to devise the exercise.
In this case the careful alignment of the camera at as straight a line to the bridge piece of the visor proved to throw my sense of spatial reference off. The V V Sport requires that you look slightly downward and to the left.
That eye position was counter to where I thought I was placing my hands and feet. This goes beyond the standard Parallax that would be expected, as there is no eye movement since the Image data fits perfectly in my field of view.
Because I needed to get some mobility and wanted to move more freely than the wall power unit would allow, I grabbed the nearest 12V source I could, a 7.5Ahr Sealed Lead Acid cell reconditioned from a UPS unit. This cell was at 9.5V and has sat for about 2 years, I charged it for about 45 minutes as I was eager to start running some tests.
The smaller pack to the right of the SLA is the 6V power pack and video interface that came with the V V sport.
Over the coming week end I'll run a conditioner on the battery and fully charge.
Here I am after about half an hour of continuous testing. In the course of that 30 minutes I was again amazed by the properties of the B/W camera. Before I could even stand-up and walk about I had to figure out where the power packs were and pick them-up.
Once upright and starting to move about, I quickly started to turn my head as I would have moved just my eyes before. Once out of my office, I was blown away by the brightness of the living room. Beyond re-arranging the furniture monthly my co-habitants seem most at ease with all but one possibly two 40watt lights lit. By contrast I bathe all of my areas, office and workshop so saturated with cool fluorescent light that the ambient light doesn't fluctuate at all regardless of daylight or night
I actually asked how many lights they had on (bear in mind that the visor is completely obscured an I'm navigating on pure mediated reality). The experience is akin to the sci-fi movies where an adventurer crosses into a parallel dimension. I had to lift the Visor to compare the shadowy yellow that I was used to. B/W is an excellent contrast medium for night navigation. Without any hesitation I can say that I have never in my conscious memory seen as much detail or width of field at that light level.
The Camera did have some issues with bright points of light, on our second floor where the bedrooms are we have a chandelier with clear bulbs and 15w filaments. The glare bloomed and bleed so much I had hold my hand over the camera to see where I was going. I went into almost every room and had a good look around, almost all of these rooms had no lights on beyond what came in from the hallway.
Of the numerous cameras I'm currently drooling over at Supercircuits.com they are Super Low Lux with Auto Back Light and Gain Control that will resolve the variance in ambient lighting. It should be noted that there is a clear demarcation point where there was simply not enough light and the camera would almost blackout
The most unexpected finding is the optical distortion of the pin hole type lens on the existing camera, when looking on a level plane across a room it is easy to internalize, and close hand to object tasks are done, with some conscious effort. But when looking at ones feet or at a completely extended hand, the distances seem extreme. I had no trouble climbing a set of 15 steps, so much so I don't recall any conscious effort that stuck in my mind, but I simply could not get down the stairs and eventually lifted the visor until I was back on the main floor.
In Steve Mann's book he discusses "Colinearity of image data" I've read it twice without really getting all the details from the illustrations as their quite fine, but I think I have a sense of what he is saying now.
Barring any family functions this weekend I'll rig a carrying sack for the batteries and try to fine tune the camera placement and reflective prism so I can run for longer periods of time and become more immersed in the mediated experience. I think I'll also try the newest Panasonic video camera. Also I will ask my wife and the kids to try it out and get some of their observations.
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