|
Over the past 35-plus years that Honeywell has designed and built head-mounted display systems, there have been many changes in the requirements for displays with many attempts to use a "one size fits all" approach to meet those requirements. While there are overlaps in the requirements for many of the operating environments, any system optimized for use in one environment will not be ideal for use in any other environment. It may not even meet minimum functional needs for some of the environments. An extreme example is, ground soldiers prefer non-see-through displays and use them only when not moving. Pilots are always moving and need see-through displays to maintain situational awareness. This paper highlights the major display design differences imposed by the different use environments and shows examples ofthe designs. No attempt has been made to explore the non-military use of head-mounted display systems. Non-military applications range from game playing, to 3-D CAD, to fire rescue work, to maintenance work, to surgery applications, and NASCAR drivers. While the military usage of displays has been largely focused on enhancing situational awareness, the non-military applications have been either to provide a new viewing perspective or to provide data access. An example of a view not readily attainable in any other way is a surgeon viewing the inside of a patient's body. An application where large volumes of data must be viewed is a chemical plant maintenance worker that needs to know piping diagrams, fluid flows, temperatures and pressures for many processes. A second difference between military and non-military displays is the environmental requirements. For example, a foot soldier's display must work during exposure to rain and snow and an occasional submergence in dirty water. Even the most avid game player would not consider wearing his 3-D display in the shower. In the following pages, we will provide examples of displays designed for several different military environments and describe how their unique requirements/needs affect the design of the helmet mounted display (HMD). From the descriptions, it will be readily apparent that there is not, and probably never will be, a "one size fits all" solution to HMD needs.
|
