VFX1 Headgear: Difference between revisions

Forte VFX1
	Forte VFX1 Headgear
Developer	Forte Technologies, Inc.
Release date	1995
Introductory price	$695
Display	Dual 263 × 230 color LCD displays
Platform	IBM-Compatible PC, ISA bus, MS-DOS

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Revision as of 09:34, 9 October 2019

The Forte VFX1 was a consumer-level head-mounted display marketed during the mid-1990s. It comprised a helmet, a handheld controller, and an ISA interface board, and offered head tracking, stereoscopic 3D, and stereo audio.^[1]

History

The VFX1 was developed in the early 1990s by Forte Technologies, Incorporated. It was released in 1995 with an MSRP of US$695 and an average retail price of $599, and was sold in the US in retail stores including CompUSA and Babbage's. It was superseded by Interactive Imaging Systems' VFX3D in 2000.

Features

Visual: The helmet featured dual 0.7" 263 × 230 LCD displays capable of 256 colors. Optics comprised dual lenses with adjustable focus and interpupillary distance. Field of view was 45 degrees diagonally.

Auditory: The helmet included built-in stereo speakers and a condenser microphone. Audio signals were routed to the sound card's line in/out jacks.

Tracking: Head movements were tracked with internal sensors for pitch (70 degrees), roll (70 degrees), and yaw (360 degrees). A hand-held controller called the Cyberpuck offered three buttons and internal sensors for pitch and roll. It could emulate a mouse and was connected to the helmet by an ACCESS.bus interface cable.

Interface: Audio, video, and tracking information was transmitted through the VIP Board, a 16-bit ISA card that received video input from the video card's 26-pin VESA feature connector and routed audio signals to the sound card's line in/out through external 1/8" audio jacks. Audio, video, and tracking data was exchanged with the headset over a single proprietary 8-foot cable, which could be daisy-chained for improved mobility.

System requirements

IBM-Compatible PC with 386 CPU^[2]
VGA video card with 26-pin VESA feature connector
16-bit ISA expansion slot for VIP board
MS-DOS 5.0 or later
500 KB free hard-drive space for drivers and utilities
20 KB conventional memory for drivers
Optional: stereo sound card

References

^ "Forte VFX1". VRWiki. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
^ "VFX1 Specifications".

External links

[1] "Forte VFX1". VRWiki. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.

[2] "VFX1 Specifications".

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |releasedate = 1995
 |price = $695
-|display = Dual 263 x 230 color LCD displays
+|display = Dual 263 × 230 color LCD displays
 |platform = IBM-Compatible PC, ISA bus, MS-DOS
 }}
-The '''Forte VFX1''' was a consumer-level [[virtual reality headset|head-mounted display]] marketed during the mid-1990s. It comprised a helmet, a handheld controller, and an [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] interface board, and offered head-tracking, stereoscopic 3D, and stereo audio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625174940/http://vrwiki.wikispaces.com/Forte+VFX1|title=VRWiki - Forte VFX1 (archived Jun 2016)}}</ref>
+The '''Forte VFX1''' was a consumer-level [[virtual reality headset|head-mounted display]] marketed during the mid-1990s. It comprised a helmet, a handheld controller, and an [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] interface board, and offered head tracking, stereoscopic 3D, and stereo audio.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vrwiki.wikispaces.com/Forte+VFX1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625174940/http://vrwiki.wikispaces.com/Forte+VFX1 |title=Forte VFX1 |publisher=VRWiki |archive-date=25 June 2016}}</ref>
 ==History==
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 [[File:Forte_VFX1_Cyberpuck_Controller.jpg|thumb|right|Cyberpuck handheld controller]]
-'''Visual:''' The helmet featured dual 0.7" 263 x 230 LCD displays capable of 256 colors. Optics comprised dual lenses with adjustable focus and interpupillary distance. Field of view was 45 degrees diagonally.
+'''Visual:''' The helmet featured dual 0.7" 263 × 230 LCD displays capable of 256 colors. Optics comprised dual lenses with adjustable focus and interpupillary distance. Field of view was 45 degrees diagonally.
 '''Auditory:''' The helmet included built-in stereo speakers and a condenser microphone. Audio signals were routed to the sound card's line in/out jacks.
-'''Tracking:''' Head movements were tracked with internal sensors for pitch (70 degrees), roll (70 degrees), and yaw (360 degrees). A hand-held controller called the '''Cyberpuck''' offered three buttons and internal sensors for pitch and roll. It could emulate a mouse, and connected to the helmet via an [[ACCESS.bus]] interface cable.
+'''Tracking:''' Head movements were tracked with internal sensors for pitch (70 degrees), roll (70 degrees), and yaw (360 degrees). A hand-held controller called the '''Cyberpuck''' offered three buttons and internal sensors for pitch and roll. It could emulate a mouse and was connected to the helmet by an [[ACCESS.bus]] interface cable.
-[[File:Forte_VFX1_VIP_Interface_Board.jpg|thumb|right|VIP Interface Board]]
+[[File:Forte_VFX1_VIP_Interface_Board.jpg|thumb|right|VIP interface board]]
-'''Interface:''' Audio, video, and tracking information was transmitted via the '''VIP Board''', a 16-bit ISA card that received video input from the video card's 26-pin VESA [[feature connector]] and routed audio signals to the sound card's line in/out via external 1/8" audio jacks. Audio, video, and tracking data was exchanged with the headset via a single proprietary 8-foot cable, which could be daisy-chained for improved mobility.
+'''Interface:''' Audio, video, and tracking information was transmitted through the '''VIP Board''', a 16-bit ISA card that received video input from the video card's 26-pin VESA [[feature connector]] and routed audio signals to the sound card's line in/out through external 1/8" audio jacks. Audio, video, and tracking data was exchanged with the headset over a single proprietary 8-foot cable, which could be daisy-chained for improved mobility.
 ==System requirements==
-* IBM-Compatible PC with 386 CPU<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/iis/vfx1-2.html#specifications|title=VFX1 Specifications}}</ref>
+* IBM-Compatible PC with 386 CPU<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/iis/vfx1-2.html#specifications |title=VFX1 Specifications}}</ref>
 * VGA video card with 26-pin VESA feature connector
 * 16-bit ISA expansion slot for VIP board
 * [[MS-DOS 5.0]] or later
-* 500kb free hard drive space for drivers and utilities
+* 500 [[kilobyte|KB]] free hard-drive space for drivers and utilities
-* 20kb conventional memory for drivers
+* 20 KB [[conventional memory]] for drivers
 * Optional: stereo sound card
@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 ==External links==
-* ''{{Citation | url = http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/iis/vfx1.html|title=MINDFLUX - VFX1 Headgear}}''
+* {{Citation | url = http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/iis/vfx1.html |title=MINDFLUX – VFX1 Headgear}}
-* ''[http://www.gosuvr.com/ Virtual-Reality headset]''
+* [http://www.gosuvr.com/ Virtual-Reality headset]
+* {{youtube|J0n5B3fl-bU|Silicon Classics Forte VFX1 Retro-Review}}
-* {{Citation | url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160625174940/http://vrwiki.wikispaces.com/Forte+VFX1|title=VRWiki - Forte VFX1 (archived Jun 2016)}}
-* {{Citation | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0n5B3fl-bU|title=Silicon Classics Forte VFX1 Retro-Review on YouTube}}
 [[Category:Virtual reality headsets]]