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[R] Reflectors and PDLC Smart Glass Film

A project log for T^2 TyMist [gd0138]

I need some virtual desktop monitors that offer 90PPD at 90Hz.

kelvinakelvinA 10/21/2022 at 10:010 Comments

[11:15]

Reflectors

For starters, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of curved guides available on Aliexpress. Actually, it's just this:

Now, because phones are like 75mm, I'm assuming that the reflectors are larger than I need them to be.

The other solution is something like this:

I believe this is a much more accessible method for semi-custom optics. Essentially, it seems to be [Screen]->[lens]->[flat reflector]-[eye]. I think I've got a better chance finding some lenses that will work for this application than a reflector lens, but I won't eliminate the option of spending £30 just to get the curved lenses of the first option. It's just that they look kinda far away:
I'm expecting the main design to look similar to the #Tetent Timespy [gd0136]. Speaking of which, those are what I'd be using as the controllers.

Smart Glass Film

I expected that it would be a special pane of glass, but there's some affordable film on Aliexpress in a variety of different colours.

I'm assuming the second listing has accidentally put "white" on the black listing, since they also have another "white" listing with white film in the product image.

The original idea was to have some pane that gave a frosted glass look and another that changed from transparent to black opaque. The thing is that I have some frosted white film and I tried it around my vision, and it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the Windows 11 "start menu panel material" (officially called Mica) as I expected. I'd also expect that I would run into contrast issues. Additionally, this PDLC film is a lot closer to the near opaque Mica material when OFF (it's transparent when ON) than I expected.

It's also cuttable, flexible, self adhesive and allegedly can even block UV, so I think the black tinted film would be a good solution. I can only assume that AR glasses manufacturers haven't adopted it because it needs low current AC power to turn on the film.

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