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HoloLens HMD

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athilenius

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2022
Messages
7
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Has anyone played with a Microsoft HoloLens as a HMD? I found this Using augmented reality to reduce workload in offshore environments - CEAS Aeronautical Journal but I'm really surprised to find no mention of the HoloLens in the EAB community.

The idea is pretty simple: take a HoloLens (augmented reality headset that paints images onto the back of your eyeball using lasers, no joke), attach high-precision head tracking within the cockpit (there are several affordable ways to do this thanks to VR tech advances), then piggyback avionics data with sufficient IMU resolution and you have yourself a functional HMD. The information is invaluable for situational awareness... artificial horizon, traffic diamonds and ranging (ADS-B), altitude, airspeed, VSI, AoA/alpha, prograde vector, ISL glideslope/alignment and so on.

The software is not particularly difficult, the spatial transforms are easy-peasy (just a few matrix transforms), and the HUD symbology is easy to paint once you have the data. I have little experience with modern avionics hardware, but it looks like they are generally CAN these days, so easy enough to piggyback. You could also have an entirely separate system if need be. The only really "critical" component would be a robust health-check loop that cuts power to the entire headset the instant things go sideways. It wouldn't be a PFD, so hard failure-modes are a must, as opposed to for example painting an incorrect artificial horizon (which is exactly what happens when an antiquated vacuum system craps out). I have the knowledge to take a crack at the project, but (for now) lack my own E/AB to install it in 😭 Still eyeballing an RV-8 though, so someday soon hopefully!

This seems like a no-brainer given that most of the leading causes of GA fatalities are rooted in a loss of situational awareness. So what am I missing?

Plus... the kid in me that wants to be a fighter pilot gets giddy imagining things like mounting a 365 camera to 'look through' the plane, or an NVG on gimbals for night flying. All this tech is available to consumers now, measured in hundreds "to" thousands instead of hundreds "of" thousands or millions. I think a 20KW phased-array projector is still out of reach though...
 
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