Head Mounted Dispaly (HMD) hack/modification to make a bigger screen

Hello .... in my first instructables I would like to show you how to hack/modify the monochrome HMD from Wild Planet.

This modification makes the whole thing SMALLER and it makes you feel, that you are sitting in a CINEMA !!!

The disadvantage is, that you have to put it very close to your eye, so people with long eyelashes will not feel comfortable when using it :(

Step 1 About the Head Mounted Display ...

Allowed me some words about the HMD( Head Mounted Display ) and the history of this modification. You can find the HMD in few toys from Wild Planet (www.wildplanet.com) = like Spy Video Car, Spy Video Tank. I can remember, that you could buy it separately - just the Eye Wear - as spare parts for 25$ + cca 30$ shipping. I've got my from the Spy Video Car.

The reason, why I bought this HMD was, that I wanted to use it for a NIGHT VISION*. But when I tried it (with the car or with a small spy camera) & I wasn't really happy about the picture that I can see. I knew before, that the resolution would be something about 320x240 = it's not that bad. The real annoying thing was the size of the picture. I had the feeling, that I'm watching a small TV from a big distance !!! I thought a more powerful lens would do it & but I couldn't imagine where to get it. My first thoughts were, to use the jewellery magnifying glass. Unfortunately I didn't try it L, because one day (I don't know why) I was playing with the lens from my spy camera. To my surprise, it is a very powerful !!! And then I've got the idea ... INSTRUCTABLE :)

Comments

[pietzeekoe]

can someone please tell me where i can get the eyepiece thing??

[der Warst]

That thin film is a polarising filter . All LCD's need those in order to function.
I wouldn't really know how to explain that myself but here's Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display
This foil most of the time is glued directly to the screen itself, which annoyingly, isn't the case here. 
I kinda had exactly the same situation as you with my own HMD when I took it apart, although I managed to find the foil a little faster because I knew what to look for. Sadly, I also dropped the polarising foil and stepped on it while searching for it. Now it has some quite severe scratches and I have to replace it.

A fun thing you can try with that film is placing it at a 90° angle to it's normal position. That should invert the screen.

[vrekks]

awesome instructable! i am using one of these displays(stock) with a fingertip mouse and thumb keyboard and i plan on getting a beagle board for a complete wearable system. its good to see that im not crazy for buying two atvs just for the displays!

[bluehash]

Hi zholy, this looks good and thanks for the link to my webpage.
Waiting on your next instructable.

Just a note: The correct link is
http://www.machinegrid.com/2009/02/taking-apart-the-atv-360-eyepiece-head-mounted-display

[akimbo m]

There does seem to be a prime oppotunity to convert this into a actual heads up display... You might need a superbright LED(stuff like 1-5 watt or something) some special lenses and you have a mini projector! From there you can convert it to display it to a semitransparent plastic, yay!

[zholy]

Yes ... after the 1 comment I couldn't think about anything else ... just, how to transfer the HMD to HUD :) ... I was thinking about using laser (instead of LED) and do some experiments with the lenses from the viewfinder that was left from the original Eye Wear. It's made from 2 lenses ... and I was thinking of projecting in, on my airsoft glasses = so, this will be my next instructable.
Thanks for your comments and ideas.

[Resident Expolsives Expert]

(removed by author or community request)

[zholy]

Thank you for the comment - I will change the name to head mounted display.