Glasstron
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| Glasstron | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Personal video viewer; also used in Augmented reality research |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Developer | Sony |
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Announcement Date | 3 June 1996 (PLM-50, Japan) |
| Release Date | 21 June 1996 (PLM-50, Japan) |
| Price | 88,000 yen excluding tax (PLM-50, Japan, 1996 launch price) |
| Versions | PLM-50, PLM-100, PLM-A55, PLM-S700 (PC Glasstron), PLM-A35 (Glasstron Lite) |
| Display | |
| Display | Two LCD panels, one per eye |
| Resolution | 180,000 pixels per LCD (PLM-50); SVGA 800 x 600 from a PC (PLM-S700) |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 30 degrees horizontal (PLM-50 and PLM-A35) |
| Optics | |
| Ocularity | Binocular |
| Audio | |
| Audio | In-ear stereo headphones |
| Connectivity | |
| Ports | Composite video and stereo audio mini jacks (PLM-50); S-Video (PLM-A35); PC input (PLM-S700) |
| Power | AC adapter or Sony lithium-ion battery pack in a separate power supply box |
| Device | |
| Weight | About 310 g display unit (PLM-50); 95 g display unit (PLM-A35) |
Glasstron was a line of personal video viewers developed by Sony in the 1990s. They had composite or VGA video input and would display a virtual video screen in front of the user. The first model, the PLM-50, went on sale in Japan on 21 June 1996. It placed two small LCD panels in front of the eyes and was designed to give the impression of a 52-inch screen seen from about 2 m away.[1] Sony lists the PLM-50 among its head-mounted display milestones.[2]
The Glasstron was a head-mounted display for watching video and computer output, not a tracked virtual reality system. Several models had a see-through mode that let the wearer adjust how much of the surroundings showed through the display.[1][3] The see-through mode made the displays useful in early augmented reality and wearable computing research. A 2015 history of mobile AR from Graz University of Technology says that consumer adoption was small, but that the affordable price made the Glasstron popular in AR research labs.[4]
History
PLM-50 (1996)
Sony announced the PLM-50 personal LCD monitor on 3 June 1996. It went on sale in Japan on 21 June 1996 at 88,000 yen excluding tax, with a planned initial production of 5,000 units per month. Sony presented it alongside the D-V500 portable Video CD player and described it as a way to watch a large screen privately, without taking up space or disturbing people nearby. It connected to VCRs, Video CD players and similar video sources.[1]
The PLM-50 used two 0.7-inch LCDs with 180,000 pixels each and had a 30-degree horizontal field of view. Sony built in a diffuser, an optical filter that made the LCD pixel grid less visible. Liquid crystal shutters in front of the display could be varied electrically, so the image could appear against a dark background, as in a cinema, or float over the real surroundings.[1] Sony's corporate history describes it as a head-mounted system that let one person watch video equivalent to a 52-inch screen.[2]
PLM-100 and PLM-A55 (1998)
Sony released the PLM-A55 in Japan on 10 June 1998 at 77,000 yen. PC Watch reported that its display unit weighed 150 g, less than half the weight of the earlier PLM-100, and that a superelastic alloy wire improved the fit. Performance was described as broadly the same as the PLM-100, with a virtual screen equivalent to a 52-inch monitor viewed from 2 m. The PLM-A55 changed the see-through mechanism to a mechanical shutter. Its power box accepted either an NP-F550 lithium-ion battery (about 2 hours 20 minutes of use) or six AA batteries (about 2 hours with alkaline cells). It had built-in in-ear stereo headphones with surround and bass-boost modes, plus a separate headphone jack.[5]
PC Glasstron PLM-S700 (1998)
On 29 September 1998 Sony announced the PC Glasstron PLM-S700, a model meant for use with personal computers. It went on sale in Japan on 10 November 1998 at a suggested retail price of 298,000 yen, with initial production set at 500 units a month. Each of its 0.7-inch LCDs had 1.5 million dots, and it displayed SVGA (800 x 600) images from a PC. Sony compared the effect to a 30-inch screen seen from 1.2 m. It could also be connected to a VCR or DVD player, and it had built-in stereo headphones. The display unit folded for carrying, its main parts were made of magnesium alloy, and Sony said the light display unit stayed comfortable over long use, even for people who wear glasses. A see-through mode adjusted the transparency of the whole screen.[3]
The Deutsches Museum in Munich holds a PLM-S700 in its collection. Its catalogue entry lists a weight of 120 g without the controller box, a 38-degree field of view, a power draw of up to 11 W and a price of US$2,900. The museum says academic developers favored the PLM-S700 for wearable computing, but that its power needs often led to backpack-sized systems.[6]
Sony also sold a PC-oriented "Personal LCD Display", the LDI-100B/100BE, with a 1998 operating manual. It used two 1.55 million dot LCDs, accepted SVGA or VGA from a PC, had a see-through function, and was compared to a 30-inch screen seen from about 1.2 m. Its magnesium alloy display unit weighed about 120 g.[7]
Glasstron Lite PLM-A35 (1999)
Sony Marketing announced the PLM-A35, branded "Glasstron Lite", on 5 October 1999. It went on sale in Japan on 10 December 1999 at 58,000 yen excluding tax. Sony called its 95 g display unit the lightest in the industry as of the announcement date and said it was about 30 percent lighter than earlier head-mounted models. The PLM-A35 had a glasses-style design with a mirror-coated front intended to look like sunglasses. It used two 0.55-inch LCDs with 180,000 dots each and a 30-degree horizontal field of view, and it kept the 52-inch virtual screen at about 2 m. Sony said lower power consumption (about 1.7 W) gave about 7 hours of playback on an NP-F550 battery, about three times the PLM-A55. Inputs were a stereo mini jack for video and audio and a 4-pin mini DIN S-Video port, and Sony named DVD players, VCRs and home video game consoles as sources. An optional PLT-V1 TV tuner unit was also offered.[8]
The North American PLM-A35 operating manual, dated 1999, calls the device a "Glasstron Personal Viewer". It describes the image as similar to watching a 52-inch television from about 6.6 feet (2 m) and lists NTSC video and S-Video input.[9]
Models
| Model | Japanese release | Japanese price | LCDs | Virtual screen | Display unit weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLM-50 | 21 June 1996 | 88,000 yen (excluding tax) | Two 0.7-inch, 180,000 pixels each | 52-inch at about 2 m | About 310 g | Electrically variable LCD shutter for see-through viewing[1] |
| PLM-A55 | 10 June 1998 | 77,000 yen | Not stated in source | 52-inch at 2 m | 150 g | Mechanical see-through shutter; runs on NP-F550 or six AA batteries[5] |
| PLM-S700 (PC Glasstron) | 10 November 1998 | 298,000 yen | 0.7-inch, 1.5 million dots each | 30-inch at 1.2 m (SVGA from a PC) | Not stated in press release | SVGA (800 x 600) PC input; see-through mode; magnesium alloy parts[3] |
| PLM-A35 (Glasstron Lite) | 10 December 1999 | 58,000 yen (excluding tax) | Two 0.55-inch, 180,000 dots each | 52-inch at about 2 m | 95 g | Glasses-style design; about 7 hours on an NP-F550 battery[8] |
Design and hardware
The PLM-50, PLM-A55 and PLM-A35 each paired the head-worn display unit with a separate power supply box that held the battery; on the PLM-A35 the video source also connected to that box.[1][5][9] The PLM-50 accepted video through a mini jack and stereo audio through a stereo mini jack, and could run from an AC adapter or an optional Sony NP-F530 or NP-F730 lithium-ion battery. On an NP-F530 it lasted about 2 hours 20 minutes and used about 3.5 W. Its display unit measured 200 x 120 x 260 mm and weighed about 310 g.[1]
Sony built usage safeguards into the product. The PLM-50 showed on-screen viewing status and warnings and could be locked with a password. Sony asked customers not to let children aged 15 or younger use it and not to use it in vehicles or other environments with strong motion. An "AV mute" function blanked the picture and sound and made the display transparent so the wearer could look around without removing it.[1] The PLM-A35 turned itself off after 3 hours of continuous use, following a warning.[8][9] The PC Glasstron announcement carried the same age limit and warned against use while subject to external motion.[3]
Use in augmented reality research
Because the see-through models could show computer graphics over a view of the real world, researchers used them as optical see-through head-mounted displays for augmented reality. The Graz history of mobile AR includes the Glasstron in its timeline of mobile AR milestones, noting its use in wearable AR prototypes.[4]
At Columbia University, Steven Feiner's group built a series of Mobile Augmented Reality System (MARS) prototypes. The first, the 1997 Touring Machine, used a Virtual I/O i-glasses see-through display. For MARS 1999 the team switched to the Sony LDI-100B, which Tobias Höllerer's 2004 dissertation describes as providing 800 x 600 triads, with a dial that adjusted opacity from nearly opaque to about 20 percent transparent. Under a bright cloudy sky, the team found that the preferred setting was close to the most opaque. MARS 2000 moved to the stereo LDI-D100B, which the dissertation labels a Sony Glasstron, and a later MARS version mounted a Point Grey Dragonfly FireWire camera on top of a pair of Sony Glasstron glasses.[10] In a 2004 book chapter, Höllerer and Feiner wrote that the LDI-D100B had been discontinued in June 2000 and that none of the stereo-capable optical see-through displays used in the Columbia MARS prototypes was still on the market.[11]
The see-through mode did not suit every project. In 1999 Bradley A. Singletary of the Georgia Tech wearable computing group documented converting a PLM-S700 into a monocle display. He wrote that the team could not see enough of the environment through the headset for indoor wearable use, however it was adjusted, and that the unit drew too much power for everyday use, at about 2 hours per NP-F950 battery.[12]
Reception and legacy
Writing for Paleofuture in 2014, Matt Novak called the Glasstron a flop and gave the list price of the original Glasstron as $900.[13]
Sony's next head-mounted display in its corporate milestone list is the HMZ-T1 of 2011, which Sony describes as the world's first 3D-compatible consumer head-mounted display with an HD organic EL (OLED) panel.[2] In a 2012 review of the HMZ-T1 for Time, Harry McCracken called it a fresh take on the Glasstron idea and noted that the original had used LCD screens and did not do 3D or HD.[14]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "場所をとらずに52型相当の迫力ある映像が楽しめるパーソナルLCDモニター"グラストロン"発売". Sony Japan. Sony Corporation. 1996-06-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20201028211730/https://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199606/96CI-075/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Product and Technology Milestones: Projector, Head Mounted Display". Sony Global. Sony Corporation. http://web.archive.org/web/20210111114501/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/sonyhistory-n.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Sony Announces New Personal LCD Monitor PC Glasstron". Sony Global. Sony Corporation. 1998-09-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20201127012726/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199809/98-101/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clemens Arth, Lukas Gruber, Raphael Grasset, Tobias Langlotz, Alessandro Mulloni, Dieter Schmalstieg, Daniel Wagner (2015). "The History of Mobile Augmented Reality: Developments in Mobile AR over the last almost 50 years". Technical Report ICG-TR-2015-001, Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology. https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.01319. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "ソニー、HMD「グラストロン」に小型軽量な新モデル". PC Watch. Impress. 1998-05-11. https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/980511/sony.htm. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Sony PC Glasstron PLM-S700 head-mounted display". Google Arts and Culture. Deutsches Museum. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/sony-pc-glasstron-plm-s700-head-mounted-display/pQHHQDaDp3mx_w. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Personal LCD Display LDI-100B/100BE Operating Instructions". Internet Archive. Sony Corporation. 1998. https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-ca4ecfbe-e030-490d-b06d-897195d90e45. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "新デザインの軽量メガネタイプで、手軽に52型大画面を体感できる "Glasstron Lite(グラストロン・ライト)" 発売". Sony Japan. Sony Marketing. 1999-10-05. https://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/199910/99-1005/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Glasstron PLM-A35 Operating Instructions". Sony Electronics support. Sony Corporation. 1999. http://web.archive.org/web/20260724163004/https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/W000/W0009024M.pdf. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Tobias Hans Höllerer (2004). "User Interfaces for Mobile Augmented Reality Systems". Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University. https://sites.cs.ucsb.edu/~holl/pubs/hollerer-2004-diss.pdf. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Tobias H. Höllerer, Steven K. Feiner (2004). "Mobile Augmented Reality". Telegeoinformatics: Location-Based Computing and Services, Taylor and Francis. https://sites.cs.ucsb.edu/~holl/pubs/hollerer-2004-tandf.pdf. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Bradley A. Singletary (1999). "Converting The Sony Glasstron PLM-S700 into a Monocle Display". Georgia Tech Contextual Computing Group. https://wearables.cc.gatech.edu/resources/glasstron/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Matt Novak (2014-06-05). "Remember Sony's Glasstron from the 1990s?". Paleofuture. https://paleofuture.com/blog/2014/6/5/remember-sonys-glasstron-from-the-1990s. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Harry McCracken (2012-02-02). "Sony's Highly Personal, Surprisingly Decent 3D Viewer". Time. https://techland.time.com/2012/02/02/sonys-highly-personal-surprisingly-decent-3d-viewer/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.