eMagin SDK Update Expands Z800 3DVisor Utility

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eMagin Corporation continues to extend the utility of its Z800 3DVisor. The company is adding OpenGL (the standard coding language for graphics rendering) and DLL (dynamic link library) functionality to its software developer's kit (SDK) for the award-winning consumer personal display system designed for PC gaming and virtual reality applications. The SDK 2.2 update provides OpenGL functionality and DirectX code samples for the two most common approaches to providing stereovision, "toe-in" and "zero-convergence. Additional sample code taking full advantage of the Z800 3DVisor's six-degree-of-freedom headtracking is also provided.

The new code samples will make it even easier for game developers to adapt them to deliver their 3D graphics in full stereovision regardless of approach and with no need for additional drivers. As with previous releases, this update provides full .Net interoperability and extensive documentation.

Toe-in stereovision is especially valuable in first person shooter games when stereovision adds to the feel of the game but where targeting accuracy is still desired using two eyes. Zero-convergence stereovision is the more typical human use of stereovision which is typically used in 3D movies or just to maximize the full feel of being inside-the-game. Providing these choices to a game developer is quite useful for maximizing creative effects. Switching between the modes can be useful in game situations, better simulating what people's eyes do in real life.

Also included in this update is a DLL (dynamic link library) that enables simple head movements to control actions in a game or simulation. When the original SDK was published in March 2006, eMagin provided sample code and access to the headtracker information. This update to that document includes sample code in both DirectX and OpenGL to enable use of head movements to control specific actions inside a game or simulation. Developers can implement these additions without affecting either game performance or image rendering.

eMagin's Z800 3DVisor delivers a high-color, high-contrast virtual image equivalent to a 105-inch screen viewed from 12 feet, in full-color stereovision. The Z800 3DVisor's high-speed headtracking enables full 360-degree viewing so that users can look around in virtual space just as they would look around the real world. Completing the near-immersive experience is an integrated, audio system with stereo earbuds and a noise-canceling microphone. To power all these capabilities, the Z800 3DVisor requires only a standard USB port and can greatly extend a laptop's battery life when used instead of the standard LCD laptop screen.

The Z800 3DVisor and SDK are compatible with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system.

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