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Olympus Eye-Trek

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Olympus Eye-Trek
Basic Info
VR/AR Personal video viewer
Type Head-mounted display
Developer Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
Manufacturer Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
Announcement Date 14 April 1998 (FMD011F)
Release Date June 1998 (Japan, FMD011F); November 1999 (United States, unveiled at Comdex)
Price 50,000 to 150,000 yen in Japan depending on model (manufacturer suggested prices, excluding tax); see the models table
Versions FMD011F, FMD-100, FMD-150W, FMD-200, FMD-700, FMD-250W, FMD-20P, FMD-220
Display
Display Two TFT LCD panels (one per eye)
Resolution 180,000 or 240,000 pixels per panel (delta array), depending on model; FMD-700 rated by Olympus as equivalent to 720,000 pixels
Image
Field of View 30 to 37.5 degrees horizontal, depending on model
Optics
Optics Free-shaped prism (off-axis free-form surface prism)
Ocularity Binocular
Audio
Audio Built-in stereo earphones
Connectivity
Ports Composite and S-Video input on most models; analog RGB (HD15) on FMD-700; component input on FMD-20P
Device
Weight 85 g to 110 g (display unit, excluding cable), depending on model


The Olympus Eye-Trek is a series of consumer head-mounted displays made by the Japanese optics company Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (renamed Olympus Corporation in October 2003) and sold from 1998; production for the Japanese consumer market ended in 2002. Olympus marketed the glasses-style viewers as "face-mounted displays" (FMD): the user wears them like sunglasses and connects them to a television, VCR, DVD player, camcorder or game console to see the picture as a large virtual screen.[1][2]

The first model, the FMD011F, went on sale in Japan in June 1998.[3] Its optics used a "free-shaped prism", which Olympus described as the first practical use of an off-axis free-form surface optical system in a head-mounted display.[4] Olympus's Japanese news releases describe eight models, including widescreen versions, a PC-capable flagship and a model built only for the PlayStation 2.[2][3] Olympus ended production of Eye-Trek units and accessories for the Japanese consumer market in June 2002.[5] Olympus America sold the FMD-150W and FMD-200 in the United States.[6]

The Eye-Trek belongs to the late-1990s generation of consumer video headsets that also includes Sony's Glasstron. An overview of head-mounted displays in Tokyo Electron's Telescope Magazine named Sony and Olympus among the companies whose consumer HMDs, released in the late 1990s, attracted media attention, and listed the Eye-Trek series as an example of an opaque binocular HMD for watching movies and playing games.[7]

Reviewed 15 October 2026. Every cited source reopened: model names, Japanese announcement and release dates, suggested prices, optical, display and weight specifications, OSR mechanism, US launch and prices, end of Japanese production, reception quotes, medical and other uses, and the 2017 EyeTrek INSIGHT EI-10. About review dates.

History

Launch in Japan (1998)

Olympus announced the Eye-Trek on 14 April 1998. Its launch release presented the product as a glasses-style "personal display" equivalent to a 62-inch television viewed from 2 m, and proposed the term face-mounted display as a new concept in contrast to conventional head-mounted displays, summarized as moving from a display that is put on over the head to one that is worn like glasses. The release said the name combined "Eye" (also read as "I", for personal, and as the Japanese word for love) with "Trek" (to travel or venture into the unknown), and that Olympus planned to extend the brand to PCs, PDAs, amusement and simulation.[1]

In September 1998 Olympus stated that the FMD011F had sold out on its release day and that the product had since held a 70 to 80 percent share of its market, according to the company's own survey.[8] That release introduced the first accessories: a synthetic-leather side visor (OL-BHSB11A) that blocks the view at the sides of the eyes for more immersion, and a carrying case (OL-BHCC11A).[8] In November 1998 Olympus sold three pearl-colored editions of the FMD011F (Misty Blue Pearl, Millennium Red Pearl and Midnight Purple Pearl), each limited to 500 units and bundled with the side visor.[9] A clip-on television tuner unit (ET-TV01J), an AV selector and longer cables followed the same month; the tuner fitted into the battery slot of the control unit, and Olympus also sold it in a set with the FMD011F (FMD011F-TV).[10]

Expansion of the range (1999-2001)

On 25 June 1999 Olympus added the FMD-100, a standard 4:3 model with picture and sound adjustment, and the FMD-150W, the first widescreen Eye-Trek, equivalent to a 62-inch 16:9 screen with four display modes (normal, wide, zoom and cinema zoom). Both used an improved prism and a new optical filter. Olympus said the FMD011F had held about 80 percent of shelf sales from December 1998 to March 1999, by its own count. The same release introduced a connection kit for Pioneer's PDV-10 portable DVD player and a joint "Mobile Theater" promotion with Pioneer.[11] A mirror-finish "millennium" edition of the FMD-100, the FMD-100/SP, was released on 20 November 1999 in a run of 1,000 units.[12]

The FMD-200 followed on 26 February 2000. Its display unit weighed 85 g, 23 percent less than the FMD-100, which Olympus called the world's lightest such display, excluding clip-on types; it used smaller 0.55-inch panels and a smaller redesigned prism, and its image was equivalent to a 52-inch screen at 2 m.[13] On 24 June 2000 Olympus released the FMD-700 flagship. It added an analog RGB input for personal computers and Olympus's "Optical Super Resolution" pixel-shifting system (see below). Olympus said that as of May 2000 the Eye-Trek series held over 70 percent of the Japanese market according to domestic point-of-sale data.[3]

Later models concentrated on portable use. The FMD-250W (18 November 2000) succeeded the FMD-150W with a 95 g display unit and a 38 g control unit, and was developed with Pioneer so it could draw power, video and audio directly from Pioneer's PDV-20 portable DVD player through a dedicated cable.[14] Olympus also released direct-connection cables and adapters for Toshiba's MED200AS DVD-ROM and video player, developed jointly with Toshiba,[15] for the PlayStation 2 (ET-MC25G, made under license from Sony Computer Entertainment),[16] and in 2001 for Panasonic's DVD-PV40, launched with joint in-store demonstrations of what the two companies called "Freestyle Theater".[17]

The FMD-20P, released on the same day as the FMD-250W, connected only to the PlayStation 2. It took component video and audio from the console's AV MULTI OUT connector and power from a USB port, and carried the PlayStation 2 logo. Olympus called it the first face-mounted display dedicated to the PlayStation 2.[2] The last new model, the FMD-220, went on sale on 1 November 2001. It had an 85 g display unit with 0.55-inch panels, a 37 g control unit, the direct-connection feature of the FMD-250W and an aqua metallic blue finish.[18]

In October 2001 an Olympus sales subsidiary and the hide MUSEUM in Yokosuka announced "OLYMPUS Eye-Trek presents hide VISUALIVE X'mas special", a screening of video of the musician hide scheduled for 24 and 25 December 2001, at which 30 visitors per show, chosen by lottery, could watch from special Eye-Trek seats. The announcement put the line-up at four models (FMD-250W, FMD-220, FMD-700 and FMD-20P) and claimed a shelf-sales share of about 80 percent as of September 2001, again from Olympus's own survey.[19]

United States

Olympus introduced the Eye-Trek in the United States at Comdex in Las Vegas in November 1999. PC World reported that the model shown, with a 37.5 by 21.7 degree view equivalent to a 62-inch widescreen television, cost US$899 and was available at Sharper Image, and noted that the visor had been on sale in Japan since June 1998.[20] An Olympus America release, which credited the FMD-150W's holiday-season sales for an early-spring introduction of the cheaper FMD-200, gave suggested retail prices of US$599 for the FMD-200 and US$899 for the FMD-150W.[6] In January 2001 PC World listed the FMD-150W at US$850 and the FMD-200 at US$549, and reported that Olympus had just announced the FMD-700 at US$1,199.[21] Macworld gave prices of about US$799 and US$499 for the same two models that month.[22]

End of production

On 3 June 2002 Olympus announced that it had ended production of Eye-Trek units and accessories for the Japanese consumer market that month, and that sales would end when stock ran out. The notice described the series as on sale since spring 1998, gave no specific reason beyond the company's circumstances, and said Olympus would keep repair parts for about six years after production ended.[5]

Design and hardware

Free-shaped prism

Each Eye-Trek has two small TFT LCD panels whose images are magnified by Olympus's free-shaped prism. The 1998 technical release explained that head-mounted displays generally used concave-mirror optics with a half mirror, which loses three quarters or more of the light. The free-shaped prism instead combines off-axis (decentered) optics, which need no half mirror, with non-rotationally symmetric free-form lens surfaces that correct the aberrations off-axis designs produce. Olympus stated that this made the image about four times brighter than a concave-mirror design, kept it sharp to the corners and allowed a 23 mm eye point, so the display could be worn over prescription glasses.[4]

The brightness supported what Olympus called a "see-around" design: the frames leave the wearer's surroundings visible around the image, which the company presented as a safety feature, while optional side visors (and, from 2001, a "perfect visor" that blocks outside light completely) made viewing more immersive.[1][23] The FMD011F switched itself off automatically about two and a half hours after it was turned on.[1] Olympus's releases warned that the displays were not for children under 16 and that people with heart disorders, high blood pressure, visual field impairment, or eye movement or alignment disorders should consult a doctor before use.[13]

Optical Super Resolution

The FMD-700 used the same 180,000-pixel panels as earlier models but placed an "Optical Super Resolution" (OSR) device, 2.9 mm thick, between the LCD and the prism. According to Olympus, the device combined two liquid crystal polarization cells with three birefringent plates to shift the light of every pixel to four positions on the panel's black matrix. A dedicated video ASIC sampled four sub-images from each 1/30 s frame of the video signal and drove the panel at 1/120 s intervals in step with the shifts, giving what Olympus rated as the equivalent of 720,000 pixels and more than 500 lines of horizontal resolution.[24] Olympus noted that this resolution was still not enough to reproduce VGA or SVGA computer images in full and was unsuitable for text in some cases.[3]

Models

All models accepted NTSC video and had built-in stereo earphones. Fields of view and screen sizes are Olympus's figures; prices are Japanese manufacturer suggested retail prices excluding tax, as stated in Olympus's Japanese releases (at announcement, except the FMD-250W price, which comes from a May 2001 release).

Model Japanese release Price Field of view (H x V) Panels Display unit weight Notes
FMD011F June 1998[3] Not stated in release 35 x 26.6 degrees (62-inch at 2 m) 180,000 pixels x 2 About 110 g First model; composite and S-Video input; three 500-unit color editions in November 1998[1][9]
FMD-100 25 June 1999 69,800 yen 35 x 26.6 degrees (62-inch, 4:3) 180,000 pixels x 2 About 110 g Picture and sound adjustment; FMD-100/SP limited edition (1,000 units) on 20 November 1999[11][12]
FMD-150W 25 June 1999 99,800 yen 37.5 x 21.7 degrees (62-inch, 16:9) 240,000 pixels x 2 About 110 g First widescreen model; four display modes[11]
FMD-200 26 February 2000 63,000 yen 30 x 22.7 degrees (52-inch) 0.55-inch, 180,000 pixels x 2 About 85 g Lighter standard model[13][25]
FMD-700 24 June 2000 150,000 yen 30 x 23 degrees (52-inch) 0.55-inch, 180,000 pixels x 2 (720,000 equivalent with OSR) About 105 g Flagship; analog RGB PC input (50-75 Hz); control unit about 380 g[3][26]
FMD-250W 18 November 2000 75,000 yen 37.5 x 21.7 degrees (62-inch, 16:9) 0.7-inch, 240,000 pixels x 2 About 95 g SRS Headphone sound; 38 g control unit; direct connection to portable DVD players[14][17]
FMD-20P 18 November 2000 50,000 yen 30 x 22.7 degrees (52-inch) 0.55-inch, 180,000 pixels x 2 About 85 g PlayStation 2 only; component input; 35 g control unit[2][27]
FMD-220 1 November 2001 56,000 yen 30 x 22.7 degrees (52-inch) 0.55-inch, 180,000 pixels x 2 About 85 g 37 g control unit; direct connection to portable DVD players and PlayStation 2 through optional cables[23]

Uses

The Eye-Trek was sold mainly for watching video and playing console games. Olympus's 1998 launch release suggested that playing video games on it gave a "virtual" experience not available on an ordinary television, while asking users not to use it with games that have very fast-moving images.[1] PC World reported in 2001 that Japan Airlines offered the Eye-Trek free to first-class passengers on long flights.[21]

Outside entertainment, New Atlas reported in 2004 that Eye-Trek units were used in dentists' chairs to distract patients, especially children, and elsewhere in medicine to reduce pain and stress, as well as in F1 simulators and in virtual reality training, simulation and education.[28] In a 2002 German-language paper in Biomedizinische Technik, authors from the surgical clinic of the Technical University of Munich reported testing the FMD-700 as the display for 14 laparoscopic and 7 combined laparoscopic-endoscopic operations under clinical conditions, and described optical, ergonomic and surgeon-related benefits.[29]

Reception

Reviewing the FMD-150W for PC World in January 2001, Glenn McDonald called it "futuristic-looking and astronomically priced". He found the picture clearer and crisper than his 27-inch television and the headset light and comfortable, but rated the sound as average and criticized the extra cost of the optional battery and charger (US$220, with about 1.5 hours of use per charge) and the need for adapters to connect many sources.[21] Macworld's Peter Cohen described the glasses as "one of the coolest gadgets" he had seen recently but wrote that "they are not without practical limitations", noting that they were designed for NTSC video rather than fine computer detail.[22] At the 1999 Comdex debut, PC World's Cameron Crouch wrote that the headset felt heavier than Olympus's claimed 3.8 ounces.[20]

Later use of the name

Olympus reused the brand for the EyeTrek INSIGHT EI-10, a 66 g smart-glasses unit for enterprise use that attaches to safety or prescription glasses and that Olympus America made available in the United States from November 2017 at an estimated street price of US$1,499.99. It is a separate product with an OLED display of 640 x 400 pixels, not part of the 1998-2002 video headset series.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "新感覚で手軽にどこでも映像を楽しめる、フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1998-04-14. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1998a/nr980414fmdj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "FMD-20P Face-Mounted Display Eye-Trek Series: New Eye-Trek FMD Model for PlayStation 2". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-10-12. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000b/nr001012fmd20pe.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Eye-Trek FMD-700". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-05-24. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000a/nr000524fmd700e.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "参考資料：新感覚で手軽にどこでも映像を楽しめる、フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」". Olympus news release (Japanese, technical release). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1998-04-14. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1998a/nr980414fmdtrj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "国内向け「Eye-Trek」本体およびオプション品の生産終了のお知らせ". Olympus customer support (Japanese, archived). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2002-06-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20031005004234/http://www.olympus.co.jp:80/jp/support/cs/HMD/Info/n020603a.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Olympus Releases 52-Inch Screen TV That Wears Like A Pair Of Sunglasses". Widescreen Review. https://www.widescreenreview.com/news_detail.php?id=2365. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  7. ↑ "Is the Age of Head-mounted Display Coming? (1/4)". Telescope Magazine. Tokyo Electron. https://www.tel.com/museum/magazine/human/120810_topics_06/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」のオプション サイドバイザーとキャリングケース". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1998-09-24. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1998b/nr980924fmdoptj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」 500台限定生産のカラーバリエーション 3機種". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1998-11-10. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1998b/nr981110fmdbrpj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  10. ↑ "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」向けテレビチューナーユニット他のオプション品". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1998-11-17. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1998b/nr981117fmdtvcj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」 映像・サウンド調整機能付き「FMD-100」、ワイド対応「FMD-150W」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1999-05-17. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1999a/nr990517fmd100j.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」限定1000台 ミレニアムモデル「Eye-Trek FMD-100/SP」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 1999-11-01. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/1999b/nr991101fmdspj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "FMD-200 Face-Mounted Display Eye-Trek Series". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-02-04. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000a/nr000204fmd200e.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "FMD-250W Face-Mounted Display Eye-Trek Series". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-08-31. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000b/nr000831fmd250e.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  15. ↑ "Olympus & Toshiba Jointly Developed 'Mobile Theater'". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-09-13. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000b/nr000913fmdmte.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  16. ↑ "PlayStation 2 Dedicated Direct Connection Cable for FMD-250W". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-10-12. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000b/nr001012pcablee.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Eye-TrekとポータブルDVDプレーヤーのダイレクト接続ケーブルの新発売を機に販売プロモーションを実施". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2001-05-15. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2001a/nr010515fmddvdj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  18. ↑ "FMD-220 Face-Mounted Display Eye-Trek Series". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2001-10-10. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2001b/nr011010fmd220e.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  19. ↑ "「Eye-Trek」を使用した全く新しいビデオライブ『OLYMPUS Eye-Trek presents hide VISUALIVE Xmas special』". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2001-10-25. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2001b/nr011025livej.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Cameron Crouch (1999-11-18). "Olympus's wide-screen headset". PC World, via CNN.com. https://us.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9911/18/comdex.eyetrek.idg/index.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Glenn McDonald (2001-01-18). "Pocket-size home theater creates illusion of 52-inch display". PC World, via CNN.com. https://edition.cnn.com/2001/TECH/computing/01/18/eye.trek.idg/index.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Peter Cohen (2001-01-21). "Eye-Trek glasses offer private video entertainment". Macworld. https://www.macworld.com/article/165431/eyetrek.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "軽量のディスプレイ部、プレイステーション 2などとダイレクト接続可能なEye-Trek「FMD-220」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2001-10-10. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2001b/nr011010fmd220j.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  24. ↑ "FMD-700 Technical Release". Olympus news release. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-05-24. https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2000a/nr000524fmd700tre.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  25. ↑ "フェイス・マウント・ディスプレイ「Eye-Trek」で軽量85g、装着感を大幅に向上させた新機種「FMD-200」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-02-04. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2000a/nr000204fmd200j.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  26. ↑ "72万画素相当の高画質、高音質の迫力サウンドを実現したシリーズの最高機種Eye-Trek「FMD-700」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-05-24. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2000a/nr000524fmd700j.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  27. ↑ "プレイステーション 2専用モデル Eye-Trek「FMD-20P」". Olympus news release (Japanese). Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. 2000-10-12. https://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2000b/nr001012fmd20pj.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  28. ↑ Mike Hanlon (2004-06-04). "Olympus Eye-Trek finding myriad real-world applications". New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/olympus-eye-trek-finding-myriad-real-world-applications/1276/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  29. ↑ J. Harms, A. Schneider (2002). "Optoelectronic display system for minimal invasive laparoscopic operations: initial experiences with new face-mounted display video eyeglasses". Biomedizinische Technik, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 38-42. doi:10.1515/bmte.2002.47.3.38. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11977440/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  30. ↑ John Wallace (2017-11-08). "Olympus introduces smart glasses for use in the enterprise". Laser Focus World. https://laserfocusworld.com/detectors-imaging/article/16569308/olympus-introduces-smart-glasses-for-use-in-the-enterprise. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
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