Eyeglass-Shaped Retinal Scanning Display Developed by Brother, Japan

An innovative eyeglass-shaped retinal scanning display has been developed by Brother, Japan. The prototype was first showcased at the Aichi Expo (Exposition of Global Harmony) in 2005. Apparently, the latest model’s size and weight is reduced to a great extent, less than 1/1000. The main unit installed on the eyeglass frame measures about 20cc and weighs about 25g.

The all-new retinal scanning display irradiates low-intensity light on the retina and scans it with the light at a high speed. The user recognizes the afterimage of the light scanned on the retina as an image. In simpler terms, the retinal scanning display is literally like a projector that makes use of the retina as the “screen.” It’s practically like shooting the movie, right onto the eyeball.

While the conventional invasive head-mounted display (HMD) used an LCD panel etc, Brother’s retinal scanning display claims to offer an unobstructed vision. The image can be viewed in the actual scenery in an overlapping manner.

This time around, Brother is in the works of integrating a light source module in the main unit with the size equivalent to that of the latest prototype’s main unit.

But, alas this amazing eyeglass-shaped retinal scanning display will not be released commercially until fiscal 2010.