> Well, if they get the laser projectors work I wouldn't be surprised if
> the projectors get *much* smaller than they are now (Still they will use
> a lot of power). I think Frauenhofer Institute has some prototype
> working, where the optics (excluding the electronics) is only a few cubic
> cm.

I saw a demo from these guys a couple of years ago which was only a few cc:

http://www.lightblueoptics.com

But as you mentioned, they told me back then the problem was the cost and 
availability of small green laser diodes.  I'm sure that's on the way to 
getting fixed though, and then we'll have all sorts of cool applications :-)

BTW the technology used is pretty interesting, they use a micro display, 
just like in a conventional projector, but instead of creating the image on 
the display, they create a hologram from the image and show this on the 
display, then use the lasers with the display to recreate the image on any 
surface.  The benefits of this system are that the image is always perfectly 
in focus (so no need for moving lens) and that if one pixel or line fails in 
the display, it affects every pixel in the final image equally so you 
essentially don't notice it.  These two things will make them potentially 
very cheap to manufacturer once the laser diodes drop in price.

Post a reply to this message