Vuzix Video Eyewear

For those unfamiliar with our company, Vuzix is the largest developer and manufacturers of virtual and augmented reality eyewear systems. We have been developing near-eye displays since the introduction of our VFX1 in 1994 under the company name Forte. If you want more information on our products, and us check out our website at www.vuzix.com.

As the person responsible for our Developer Program I am seeing a growing interest in using our VR video eyewear in Unity3D applications. I think this is great and I am hoping that by participating in this forum I can help to make this easier. To accomplish this it would be helpful for me to better understand the Unity3D development process and we can best help you.

What can Vuzix do to make our stereoscopic 3D video support and head-tracking support easier to implement in Unity3D projects?
I invite your comments and questions either posted here or, if you prefer, PM me or drop me an email.

 

i always wanted to try your products, but they are very expensive, and there's no place to demo them to see if they are worth the price.

Anyway, the only thing i can think of to make stereoscopic 3d easier (as a programmer), is just have a way to specify the depth of an object in the scene, esp when dealing with 2d things like menus, titles, etc. With full 3d objects, have it be done all be automatically, and also have the option to change the depth of objects for non-conventional games/ideas.

 

Presenting stereoscopic 3D is much easier today than it used to be. Our current eyewear model line, the "Wrap" series, supports side-by-side format and the displays are seen by a computer or mobile device as just another external monitor. If the content is side-by-sdie format and run full screen, our eyewear will display it in 3D. This means that on a PC, it will work with virtually any video card and does not require any special drivers. Pretty much the same thing on mobile devices.

On price, many of the models are pretty affordable today with even the newest and most expensive 16:9 widescreen model that includes a $200 head tracker and running under $600 and other models starting at about 1/3 of that.

I hear what you are saying about being able to see the product demoed. There are some retail stores that carry them but they are sold primarily over the web. The big box stores want a huge discount to carry new products and that would simply get passed onto the consumer.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will probably try one of your products sooner or later, so if there is an api for normal programming outside of unity or some unity specific unity code that you can deliver now, i would love to get my hands on it. The only way to know for sure what is needed, is to try it out, play with examples, and see what roadblocks I (and others) encounter.

 

We have an SDK that can be downloaded and used (including commercial applications) free of charge. It is available from www.vuzix.com/developer.

We have had this available for some time and its currently being used by thousands of developers but having a native Unity support or a plug-in would make certainly be preferrable.

 

yeah, native unity code would be best.

 

Unity Wrapper for iWear VR920:

http://www.thirdsight.co/technologies/projects/kinect-superman/

https://github.com/kinectsuperman/Kinect-Superman

Thanks to :

http://www.thirdsight.co/

 

I've integrated Vuzix headwear with some of our projects, and I have to say I found it very easy to work with, integration took less than a day.

Also if it helps anyone else, I use iZ3D drivers to get stereoscopic 3D into our projects with very minimal effort.

 

Thanks for the postings guys.

It should be noted that the above two postings refer to the Vuzix iWear VR920. This was a very popular VR system but it is no longer in production and has been replaced by a "Wrap 920 VR Bundle" and the newer "Wrap 1200VR". It is important to note that the earlier "iWear" model line and the current "Wrap" models support both different stereoscopic 3D video formats and head trackers.

Though the these models use very different head trackers, the same calls are used for both.

The biggest difference, from a programming perspective, is in stereoscopy. The iWear VR920 supported frame sequential stereoscopy that required specific support in the target application or support enabled through an external Vuzix Extension. The Wrap 920VR and Wrap 1200VR support side-by-side stereoscopy. One of the major advantages of side-by-side is that any application of video that is displayed in full screen side-by-side can be viewed in stereoscopic 3D in the Wrap eyewear using virtually any make or model of graphics card and no special 3D video drivers are required.

 

Does that mean we can use the same way of accessing the head tracking data from the superman project with the Wrap 1200 VR? Also is there a 64 bit version of the drivers? Or do they work in 64 bit Windows 7?

 

The drivers for the iWear VR920 are 32-bit but they will work in a 64-bit environment.

 

Excellent ! I've bought a Wrap 1200VR and I have my Unity3D game.

1) Do you have/do you know/ does anybody know a step-by-step way to link the wrap1200VR to unity ?
2) Do I need Unity pro for this ?
3) For this newer version, do I still need iZ3D drivers (what are those drivers for?) ??

yes, a step-by-step instruction would be great...

thanks all

 

The only one of your specific questions I'm able to answer is #3. No, you do not want or need to be using iZ3D drivers. They are a third party driver set that works with the iWear VR920 which uses a different stereoscopic 3D format.

The Wrap series of eyewear, including the Wrap 1200, supports a side-by-side stereoscopic 3D format that does not require special drivers. The Wrap models will display 3D video when full screen side-by-side content is fed to it. It's that simple.

If you wish to enable head tracker support, that will take a little coding but many programmers have stated they have implemented it in about half a day.

It would be great if someone could create a Unity3D plugin but we would need a volunteer to step forward.

 

Ok thank you.. so, I should guess that:

1) If a plugin is needed, then Unity pro is needed... (I guess there is 1 month free trial for unity pro)
2) happy to hear that I can skip iZ3D drivers.. I was about to worry a bit more on that... on the other hand, less google-info is available.
3) so, if side-by-side is needed, I suppose I would only need to implement another camera... Is there any unity expert out there to help me on this ?

Thanks Daddo anyway

 

Hi,

I have been looking at integrating the Vuzix 920 into Unity. I really want to do the VR version because of the head tracker. As far as 3D goes there is this resource...

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/63874-stereo-3D-in-Unity-3D?p=416458&viewfull=1#post416458

Its a Unity package that does all sorts of 3D if your device supports it from anaglyph to side-by-side over-under etc. I am thinking if you do side-by-side with the Vuzix 920/920VR it should work good.

This does require Unity Pro as it uses RenderTextures, a PRO only feature.


This brings me to my next question...

I have a Mac Book Air. It has a Thunderbolt/Mini Display Port out, what's the hardware connections to get it into the device. Do I need a mini display port to vga adapter and then your VGA adapter to the glasses?



- Matt
Mehware

 

I run my Wrap eyewear models on a MacBook Pro that is equipped with a Mini Display Port. It works fine using Apple's Mini Display Port to VGA Adapter. Other brands are likely to work as well as long as they are a direct Mini Display to VGA.

 

the VGA adapter you sell looks it has a usb port to it. does the USB hook to the glasses or computer? I am not sure if I need your VGA adapter or not.

 

The USB connector on the box (VGA Controller) connects to the PC and serves multiple functions including; power supply for the eyewear, audio connection and head tracker data connection. If you are connecting to a PC, the VGA Controller also serves as an interfacing device. Different Controllers are used to enable the interface to a variety of devices and data formats.

The VGA Controller is the sole interface for PC at this time.

 

Hey, thanks for supporting the questions on here. I have a few things that would be good to know...

The wrap 1200VR range - you demonstrate them connecting to an ipod/mobile device. Can they display more than video files or could you use the devices apps and in turn, the device as a remote?

The AR products, they also work with mobile devices. If you built (in unity ) an app that made use of the camera for AR recognition, would the glasses display the data? Secondly, the optional camera attachment, can that work with a mobile device?

I suppose all of my questions are gearing towards making your devices portable and mobile. There are so many more uses and application if the user is not connected to a big box, it would be great to see some details on here about how this could work?

Great range of products...

 

There are two Wrap 1200 models, the base Wrap 1200 and the Wrap 1200VR. The primary different between these two models is the device interface packaged with each of these and, of course, the corresponding cables and a head tracker in the case of the VR. The video eyewear component is the same for each.

The Wrap 1200VR includes an interface for a PC connectioon so sock, out of the box, it won't work with a composite or component video device such as an iPhone or other portable media device. You can purchase one of two optional interfaces that will enable a composite/component video connection and in a few months we'll also offer an HDMI interface but I don't know how that will be packaged yet. The direct connect solution (out of the box) for iPod/iPhone/iPad and other mobiles and portable media players is the Wrap 1200.

A Wrap 1200 or 1200VR with a composite/component interface will connect to any like equipped media player but what is displayed in the Wrap eyewear is totlaly dependent upon the host device. the eyewear simply connects as an external mopnitor. For most of these devices, whatever is displayed on the device's native screen can also be displayed on an external display, such as the Wrap eyewear. In some cases, such as with earlier iOS devices, the device and/or its operating system limits what can be sent to an external display. For some time all you could play externally off an iPhone were video and pictures. Finally they removed the lock and virtually everything plays on an external monitor. Any limitation in this regard is a host device imposed limitation.

Pretty much the same as above.

We currently use USB webcams on our AR eyewear, maing it a non-proprietary solution taht provides universal support on all Windows PC and other OS with supporting camera drivers. When we start talking about mobiels we run into a problem in that most do not have a USB port able to bring the video in.

We are looking at potential solutions for this but there is nothing I can talk about yet. If you look at our SMARET Glasses Technology announcement at CES last month, you'll quickly see that this is an area we are very aware of and one we fully intend to support.

Thanks for the kind words and support.

 

im currently using wrap 920, i get strange red color artifacts on the objects in the scene.
any idea how to get rid of those?

 

The first thing to do joyceanblue is to identify if the red artifacts (?) is from the eyewear or the scene being displayed. Although your message states you are using a Wrap 920, I am uncertain if it is a Wrap 920 (connecting to a composite video source) or a Wrap 920 VR, connected to a PC - that may have some bearing.

Try connecting to another video source, such as a different mobile phone or a different computer and play a different piece of video. Does it still have the red artifacts? If they are done, it's likely the "scene" content that has the red issues. If it is still there, open the OSD (On-screen Display) and adjust the hue and saturation settings. Hue and saturation adjustment may also help if the content is the source of the problem, due to over saturation.

 

hi there, i am using wrap 920, with vga adapter to connect it to the pc, im attaching a photograph i took (was not easy and it doesnt tell much) it shows the red shimmering splotches on the wall. here is what i did so far
1- i have a pc with ATI V7750 card, and a Laptop with an Nvidia GT 525M, I tried the same scene on both and the problem is there on both the machines, adjusting the brightness makes them disappear from one place but they start to appear in another.
2- i thought it could be the problem with my scene so i downloaded the penthouse scene from gigabidea (nice work by the way) and faced the same problem in that scene.
any suggestion on how to solve this issue?

p.s the scene looks fine on both my lcd and laptop screen.

 

joyceanblue,

I suggest you contact our Customer Service department. One of our tech support folks can walk through the issue with you and either find a solution of arrange for the eyewear to be replaced.

Call 585.359.7575 or email: technical_support@vuzix.com

 

i dont think its under warranty anymore, i got this from our Dubai office along with other hardware they dont use there.

 

I suggest you contact them anyway.

They will try to help you out, warranty or not, and they may be able to identify a resolution or provide other possibilities, such as repair options.

Unfortunately, tech support issues such as this are not my area of expertise and I would hate for you to overlook potential resolutions.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Daddo, Ive sent the tech support an email, lets see if they manage to find any solution.
Regards

 

Do Vuzix AR glasses for Android or iOS require a special plugin, or will things work out of the box?

 

Our video eyewear can be connected to an iOS device in a number of ways, depending upon the model of eyewear. Wrap 920 and lower model numbers connect using composite cables while the Wrap 1200 connects using component cables. In addition most eyewear models also come with a special cable that connects directly to iOS devices, eliminating the cable tangle.

Most Android devices use an HDMI connection and we do not support HDMI at this moment. Without going into a lengthy and complicated discussion, there are a number of challenges with HDMI, its different standards and a resulting mess of incompatibility and product restriction issues. We are working on it but I don't have a date when an HDMI solution will be released.

 

hey Daddo, I saw this article the other day(http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/) and think you guys may be interested in what he is doing, and should send him an email or something

 

Thanks for the heads up Merlinikin. Yes, Valve is doing some exciting stuff worthy of checking out.

 

Can Star 1200 augmented reality glasses be integrated in unity?

 

Audio, video, and camera support should be easy and straightforward on a Windows machine as they all use industry standard technologies and do not require any proprietary drivers or such. Head tracker support does however require application specific support.

Audio: Seen by Windows as ordinary USB speakers.

Video: Mirrors the image displayed on the desktop or laptop monitor. For 3D video, it automatically displays 3D from side-by-side content displayed on the desktop monitor.

Camera: The camera is

UVC (Universal Video Class) compliant and does not require special drivers. It is handled like any other USB webcam.​

 

We are working on an augmented reality project presentation and interaction with 3D models within the unity environment. So far we have done several tests with webcam and Android mobile devices and have done quite well. Right now we are considering the use of Augmented Reality glasses and need to know if the models of glasses that are on the website of Vuzix (1200AR and STAR ™ Wrap 1200XLD) can be integrated with any unity through SDK development tool.
I would also like to know the difference between the two models, since economically is very large and we do not know as to specifications will be too.

 

I have two pair of glasses of wrap920AR, one pair of wrap920VR and another iWear VR920 on my school lab, and it would be awesome if vuzix provides the plugins ready to use with unity; instead of writing a plugin for unity using the sdk of vuzix, because some people are not very good with the programming and can't do his own plugins, but they just want use the glasses on their school projects.

 

Hi!
I am interested in developed an 3d application with Unity3d to Android or Iphone/Ipad devices. I´m searching a head mounted display with Head-Tracking compatible unity3d and Android or Iphone/Ipad devices and I´ve found the Vuzix Wrap 1200DX-VR. Are this glasses compatible with an 3d application made with Unity3d Android/Iphone Free Version?

 

Enabling the Wrap 1200DX to display 3D graphics from a Android or iOS device is not difficult in that the eyewear duplicates what is on the device's native display and if the current content is displayed in a supported 3D format and shown full screen, it can be seen in stereoscopic 3D.


The Wrap 1200DX provides a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and it supports the formats that standard specifies. Probably the most common of these is side-by-side. So, if you content is displayed full-screen in side-by-side on the host device, all that is required is selecting the "SxS" display optin fromt he eyewear's onscreen menu. If the host device is HDMI-enabled, the menu options will usually be selected automatically.


Now for the exceptions and issues...
Many Android devices require the use of an MHL Adapter to connect to an HDMI display. This may not be fully HDMI compliant nd reduce some of the features and capabilities normally afforded to a full HDMI-enabled device. Many of these adapters also require a full-time power source.


If you are connected to an iOS device, you will require an HDMI adpater that is compatible with that iOS device type.


Support for the Wrap Tracker is a whole different animal and it is not supported by either Android or iOS devices. The current Wrap Tracker is a Windows only product.


Moving foward, there are solutions on the way. Our recently released M100 Smart Glasses does provide Android support and in fcat, it is an Android device. It does incorporate a head tracing system but it is a monocular device so it does not support sterei video.


Later in 2014, we'll be releasing the first binocular product that will support head tracking and 3D stereo for Android apps. It is the B2500, Smart Glasses. We are also working on iOS support but nothing formal has been announced yet.

 

The landscape of the eyewear market is currently undergoing significant change. The support for a HDMI interface, Smart Glasses technology and other fundamental changes make this a difficult time to expand support for legacy products. the iWear VR920 have been discontinued for a number of years and both of the Wrap 920 variations you mention are also discontinued now, replaced by newer models with significant technical changes.


We are however very aware of the desire for expanded Unity support and as the technology stabilizes over the coming year I am sure the situation will be reevaluated. Some of the technical challenges we have faced in this area are cross platform compatability, with many earlier eywear models being platform specific. With the advent of HDMI support and embedded processors in Smart Glasses, this is canging in a very positive way and these changes will help make more direct Unity support easier.

 

Hello,
I would to develop a unity application that use vuzix sdk for tracking. Can you help me?

 

my question is also regarding support for a legacy product the vr920. have had these for years, used to use them a lot playing fallout 3 on my xp machine. i just ran across them and decided to plug them in and try them with the new far cry, however i am running win 8 x64 and there seems to be some compatibility issues. all the utility and driver downloads on your website are not for win 8, and i cant seem to get win to recognize the glasses for what they are instead of a generic monitor so the necessary resolution options aren't available to get them to work as a 2nd monitor.

would you please confirm that these are functional in win 8 x64, and if so point me to directions and or drivers to make that happen.

thank you so much.

 

What do you recommend as a Unity-based solution for coding to the M100?

 

Hello,

I am currently undertaking a research project to assess the applicability of AR in the Civil Engineering industry. I have access to a pair of the Vuzix M100 Smart Glasses. I am trying to establish the best application to download in order for me to augment a 3D BIM model with the glasses. Can anyone please recommend a suitable app. that will enable me to do this?

Many thanks and kind regards.