Well what can i say about purchasing a HMD Dynovisor! lol. These headsets were renown for being rubbish and make no mistake the rumors are true, but when one turned up a while back and having obviously hardly been used, it was another ageing classic that i had to have for my retro collection.
In 1994, Atari teamed up with a company called Virtuality to produce a VR headset system (red unit) aimed at the home market. The result was a low resolution headset being produced, that Atari officials rejected. Back at the drawing board most of the flaws were ironed out and a much better VR headset (blue unit) was produced. This had better voice communication, higher resolution and IPD (Inter Pupil Distance) but by the time this was finished, Atari had pulled the plug.
Two new products later appeared making use of Jaguars VR HMD Technology, these were the Philips Scuba Visor and the Takara Dynovisor. These were virtually identical to each other (pardon the pun) and also to the Jaguar VR headset. They were both to offer ground breaking technology boasting a whopping 120″ display and using Sony Active TFT & LCD Lenses.
Unfortunately only one game was believed to work utilizing the head tracking technology. This was the Atari Jaguars Missile command, the 3d version and the Virtual version.
Dynovisor Specifications
- High Impact ABS Moulded Componants
- Weight – 550 Grams
- Size – 240mm (W) x 140mm (H) x 255mm (L)
- System – Pupil Projection
- Field of View – 120 Inch Screen
- Focus Adjustment – IPD – Inter Pupil Distance Adjustment
- Video Format – NTSC
- Resolution – 180,000 Active TFT Pixels
- Audio – Hi-Fi Stereo Ferrite Magnet Transducer
- Timer – 30 minute Continuing
- Continue Switch – After 30 Minutes Continuing
- PC Version has Custom VGA PC Interface Included
What was the power supply ratings for this? I got one but don’t have a PSU for it… so I can’t use it yet (without fear of frying) I got the Scuba version… though I would love to own the Takara version as well (if someone runs across this and has one for sale, please conact me at my email its thompsonclint on yahoo)
Also, I used to own the Jaguar VR, it actually did have the IPD function on the bottom but to change contrast you had to set a jumper on the inside of the HMD itself.
These (Dynovisor/Scuba) are a serious pain to take apart. I thought I could pull out the Philips (haha… ) and take it apart but it’s some weird security bit that is super long and rather small. Hate to have to go to the store to buy the piece just to take this thing apart but it looks like it will come to that!
Also, I forgot to ask… how much did you end up paying for this version and where did you manage to obtain it? These things seem pretty rare, regardless of Wikipedia saying they sold 55k, which is a lot better number than I had previously thought.
Hi, i’m glad you enjoyed the post. Any hoo i purchased the dynovisor of e-bay some years back and i think i payed about 70 quid believe it or not. Its a mint unit but i payed way over the odds for it. With the unit being japanese it has a 2 pin plug. The plug you would need is AC100V 50-60Hz 6VA – DC 9V 350mA. I also has Media Robotics Co. Ltd written on it. I don’t know if they are still trading but i hope this may help and have a good day : )