Sensics piSight
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| Sensics piSight | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | Enterprise VR |
| Platform | External rendering computers |
| Creator | Sensics |
| Price | About US$27,500-$100,000 (2008 report)[1] |
| System | |
| Operating System | Linux or Windows host software (2008)[1] |
| CPU | Host dependent (inferred from rendering architecture)[2] |
| GPU | Host dependent (inferred from rendering architecture)[2] |
| Display | |
| Display | Tiled OLED microdisplays; configuration dependent[3] |
| Resolution | 2200 x 1200 effective per eye (2006 description)[4] |
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz (2007 specification)[3] |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 82°-180° diagonal, depending on model (2007)[3] |
| Optics | |
| Optics | Custom tiled optics[3] |
| IPD Range | 55-71 mm (2007 specification)[3] |
| Tracking | |
| Tracking | System dependent; see Tracking[1] |
| Device | |
| Weight | 1 kg or less (2007 description)[3] |
The Sensics piSight was a professional virtual reality head-mounted display developed by Sensics, Inc. It combined multiple small displays and their optics into a panorama for each eye. A 2011 display-technology review, State of the Art in Stereoscopic and Autostereoscopic Displays, describes a configuration with 12 microdisplays per eye in a concave arrangement.[5] Component supplier eMagin documented the product in May 2006, describing 150-degree viewing and an effective resolution of 2200 x 1200 pixels per eye.[4]
History and development
Lawrence Brown, a former Johns Hopkins optics researcher, founded Sensics. NASA awarded the company SBIR funding in 2003.[1]
Following a 2007 prototype, a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project delivered piSight to Johnson Space Center in February 2008, with panoramic cameras for Robonaut telepresence.[1]
Maryland's business register lists SENSICS, INC., department ID F07265663, as forfeited. Its filing history dates that action to 6 December 2019. This corporate record does not establish when piSight manufacture or support ended.[6]
Design and hardware
The display tiles face different directions around each eye. The 2011 review illustrates the exposed optics and describes a wraparound image extending to 180 degrees diagonally.[5] Kanematsu Aerospace's 2007 distributor introduction describes modular, optically blended OLED configurations.[3]
The 2006 supplier description calls 2200 x 1200 pixels per eye an effective resolution.[4] The later maximum and effective figures remain distinct.[3]
It had an open frame and adjustable eye spacing.[3]
Tracking
The distributor listed predictive six degrees of freedom tracking.[3] NASA described joystick input, optional InterSense SoniWing motion tracking, customized eye tracking and video see-through configurations.[1]
Software and rendering
WorldViz's Vizard documentation describes rendering individual display panels with asymmetric view frustums updated each frame. The general sensics.piSight() setup uses manufacturer-supplied panelalign.txt for panel counts and alignment, and layout.txt to assign panels to rendering computers. Its documented maximum is 24 panels.[2]
| Documented piSight model | Vizard constructor |
|---|---|
| piSight 76-21 | sensics.piSight_76_21()
|
| piSight 83-22 | sensics.piSight_83_22()
|
| piSight 99-31b | sensics.piSight_99_31b()
|
| piSight 103-32b | sensics.piSight_103_32b()
|
| piSight 120-31 | sensics.piSight_120_31()
|
| piSight 123-32 | sensics.piSight_123_32()
|
| piSight 145-41b | sensics.piSight_145_41b()
|
| piSight 164-41 | sensics.piSight_164_41()
|
The listed model-specific constructors do not require those two files. The same documentation's built-in orientation-sensor example concerns zSight, a different Sensics product.[2]
NASA identified OpenSceneGraph on Linux and WorldViz on Windows as supported software in 2008.[1]
Applications
NASA described soldier and quarterback training, with lunar robotics and hazardous-site operation proposed as further applications.[1]
Automobile designers could inspect virtual interiors before constructing physical vehicles.[1] In September 2006, Sensics announced plans to integrate piSight 150 into Renault's ULTIMATE driving simulator, with a demonstration scheduled for 6 October at the Driving Simulation Conference Europe. Renault's simulation director described selecting the display for visibility studies involving vehicle architecture. This announcement establishes the planned integration and demonstration, rather than measured safety improvements.[7]
Published research
A 2016 Gait & Posture study used a piSight setup to examine reactions to unpredictable forward and backward support-surface movements. Its publisher's apparatus excerpt identifies a 1 kg headset, 20 pixels per degree and a 150° x 60° field of view. The abstract reports 26 healthy young adults in low and high virtual-height conditions. The higher condition increased fear and anxiety and reduced confidence; responses to backward perturbations included earlier and larger center-of-pressure and muscle responses. This was research on postural threat with a particular laboratory setup, not a comparison of headsets or evidence that piSight prevented falls. The publicly accessible abstract and section excerpts do not provide the complete methods or results.[8]
Specifications
The following entries keep the date and configuration limits of their sources.
| Specification | Documented details |
|---|---|
| Display type | Optically joined OLED tiles (2007)[3] |
| Displays per eye | 12 in the configuration described by eMagin in 2006[4] |
| Effective resolution | 2200 x 1200 per eye (2006 supplier description)[4] |
| Higher-resolution configuration | Up to 4200 x 2400 per eye; 2400 x 1720 effective (2007)[3] |
| Pixel count | Multiple tiles; total pixel count is not interchangeable with effective resolution[4] |
| Color depth | 24-bit (2007)[3] |
| Field of view | 82°-180° diagonal; 58°-179° horizontal; 29°-84° vertical, depending on model (2007)[3] |
| Binocular overlap | 48°-90° diagonal (2007)[3] |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz (2007)[3] |
| IPD | 55-71 mm (2007)[3] |
| Tracking | Predictive 6DoF (2007 distributor specification)[3] |
| Weight | 1 kg or less in prose; table: 2 lbs (1 kg), 2007[3] |
| Price range | About US$27,500-$100,000, with customization such as camera arrays (2008)[1] |
| Applications | Professional simulation, design, training and research[7] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 "Virtual Reality System Offers a Wide Perspective". NASA Spinoff. 2008. https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/ct_6.html. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Sensics HMDs". WorldViz Vizard 8.3.1 documentation. https://docs.worldviz.com/vizard/latest/Sensics.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 西野雅博 (2007). "高臨場感ヘッドマウントディスプレイ piSight". Journal of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan 12 (4): 62-63. doi:10.18974/jvrsj.12.4_62. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "eMagin Reports First Quarter 2006 Results". eMagin Corporation, Exhibit 99.1 filed with the SEC. 2006-05-15. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1046995/000101376206001052/ex991.htm. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hakan Urey, Kishore V. Chellappan, Erdem Erden and Phil Surman (2011). "State of the Art in Stereoscopic and Autostereoscopic Displays". Proceedings of the IEEE 99 (4): 540-555. doi:10.1109/JPROC.2010.2098351. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ "SENSICS, INC., department ID F07265663: General Information and Filing History". Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Business Express. https://egov.maryland.gov/BusinessExpress/EntitySearch. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Renault Integrates Sensics Panoramic HMD into ULTIMATE Driving Simulator". Sensics announcement, reproduced by The Auto Channel. 2006-09-26. https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/09/26/023152.html. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ Taylor W. Cleworth, Romeo Chua, J. Timothy Inglis and Mark G. Carpenter (2016). "Influence of virtual height exposure on postural reactions to support surface translations". Gait & Posture 47: 96-102. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.04.006. Retrieved 2026-10-16.