Glasstron
ManufacturerSony
Product familyGlasstron
TypeHead-mounted display

The Sony Glasstron was a family of portable head-mounted displays, first released in 1996 with the model PLM-50.[1][2] The products included two LCD screens and two earphones for video and audio respectively. These products are no longer manufactured nor supported by Sony.

The Glasstron was not the first head-mounted display by Sony, with the Visortron being a previous exhibited unit.[3][4] The Sony HMZ-T1 can be considered successors to Glasstron.[2] The head-mounted display developed for Sony during the mid-1990s by Virtual i-o is completely unrelated to the Glasstron.[1]

One application of this technology was in the game MechWarrior 2, which permitted users to adopt a visual perspective from inside the cockpit of the craft, using their own eyes as visual and seeing the battlefield through their craft's own cockpit.[5]

Models

Five models were released. Supported video inputs included PC (15 pin, VGA interface), Composite and S-Video. A brief list of the models follows:

Model numberYear of releaseNotes
PLM-501996[6]Released June 1996 in Japan.[6]
PLM-A351997[7]The most basic model with opaque lenses and has SVGA input. Released June 1997 in USA.[7]
PLM-A551997[7]This model had a mechanical shutter to allow the display to become see through, without SVGA. Released June 1997 in USA.[7]
PLM-1001998This model had a mechanical shutter to allow the display to become see through, with SVGA, somewhat unstable.
PLM-S700 / PLM-S700E1998[8]The S700 allowed for see through mode using LCD shutters and had support for SVGA output. Its LCD had over 1.55 million pixels on a component the size of a ten-cent coin at SVGA (800×600) display resolution. The S700 has NTSC input, whilst the S700E has PAL input. The S700 was released on 10 November 1998 in Japan.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Reality Check". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 85. Ziff Davis. August 1996. pp. 14–16.
  2. 1 2 McCracken, Harry (2 February 2012). "Sony's Highly Personal, Surprisingly Decent 3D Viewer". Time. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "Visortron". Baltimore Sun. AP. 10 October 1995. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Free, John (1993). "Electronics Newsfront: ...and Visortrons from Japan". Popular Science (March 1993): 26. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Tony Sperry. Beyond 3D TV, Lulu Pres, Inc., November 2003.
  6. 1 2 "Sony Corporate Info: Projector Head Mounted Display". Sony. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "VR Wiki: Sony". VR Wiki. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Sony Announces New Personal LCD Monitor PC Glasstron". Sony. 29 September 1998. Retrieved 23 September 2016.


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