Variable-Collimation Display System

To solve the Navy's need for an innovative visual display for providing variable collimation and improved 3D depth perception in rotary-wing flight simulator chin windows, Holochip Corporation is developing a new Variable-Collimation Display (VCD) system. The VCD system is based on the modification of a conventional wide-area collimated (WAC) display with Holochips new adaptive-lens based projection technology. The use of adaptive lens technology in a WAC display enables the generation of 3D images with rapidly-adjustable depth of collimation. As a result, the VCD offers variable collimation and improved 3D depth cues (i.e., accommodation, convergence and binocular disparity) for rotary-wing chin windows and cargo hatches as well as forward out-of-the-windshield (OTW) visualization channels, thus answering the Navy's requirements for a new collimated visual display. Further, the VCD system will have a physical footprint similar to that of conventional WAC chin-window displays, making it compatible with existing Navy flight simulators and allowing easy installation while minimizing the cost of the upgrade. In Phase I, Holochip designed a VCD system capable of achieving the Navys technical requirements. In Phase II, Holochip will complete the construction of a VCD prototype system and install it in a Navy flight simulator test facility.