Screenless video is any system for transmitting visual information from a video source without the use of a
screen
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing or ''silkscreening'', a printing method
* Big screen, a nickname for motion pictures
* Split screen (filmmaking), showing two or more images side by side
* Stochastic screening and Halftone ...
. Screenless computing systems can be divided into three groups: Visual Image,
Retina
The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...
l Direct, and
Synaptic Interface.
Visual image
Visual Image screenless display includes any image that the eye can perceive. The most common example of Visual Image screenless display is a
hologram
Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...
. In these cases, light is reflected off some intermediate object (hologram, LCD panel, or cockpit window) before it reaches the retina. In the case of LCD panels the light is refracted from the back of the panel, but is nonetheless a reflected source. Google has proposed a similar system to replace the screens of
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s and
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s.
Retinal display
Virtual retinal display
A virtual retinal display (VRD), also known as a retinal scan display (RSD) or retinal projector (RP), is a display technology that draws a raster display (like a television) directly onto the retina of the eye.
History
In the past similar s ...
systems are a class of screenless displays in which images are projected directly onto the
retina
The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...
. They are distinguished from visual image systems because light is not
reflected
Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The ...
from some intermediate object onto the retina, it is instead projected directly onto the retina. Retinal Direct systems, once marketed, hold out the promise of extreme privacy when computing work is done in public places because most snooping relies on viewing the same light as the person who is legitimately viewing the screen, and retinal direct systems send light only into the pupils of their intended viewer.
Synaptic interface
Synaptic Interface screenless video does not use light at all. Visual information completely bypasses the eye and is transmitted
directly to the brain. While such systems have only been implemented in humans in rudimentary form - for example, displaying single Braille characters to blind people – success has been achieved in sampling usable video signals from the biological eyes of a living
horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crabs are arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only surviving xiphosurans. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or even crustaceans; they are chelicerates, more closely related to arachnids like spiders, ticks, and scor ...
through their optic nerves, and in sending video signals from electronic cameras into the creatures' brains using the same method.
See also
*
Volumetric display
A volumetric display device is a display device that forms a visual representation of an object in Three-dimensional space, three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image of traditional screens that simulate depth through a number of di ...
*
Fog display
A fog display, fog screen, vapor screen or vapor display is a system that uses haze machines or water vapor to create a semi-transparent wall, or "curtain" of suspended particles which trapped in a thin sheet (laminar flow) of air and are illumin ...
*
Augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
References
{{emerging technologies, displays=yes
Display technology
Virtual reality
User interfaces
Computer graphics
Computer output devices