Augmented Reality eye piece for microscopes, good idea? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 03:08:33 am
content: Hi,So I have been doing some research lately about an AR eye piece, it will mainly be a transparent lens which will display either measurements or overlay an image on top of the optics.For example an oscilloscope display, a multi-meter measurement, a reference image(Bacteria, reference board, etc..), I can think of hundreds or reasons.Is there a market of that and if so how can I conduct a market study before I spend too much resources on this.

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:35:54 am
content: Search "microscope HUD" there seems to be quite a few hits. I imagine biological sciences have the bulk of the applications.

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:53:48 am
content: That is exactly what I wanted to make but someone did it before, I guess I am late to the market.

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:23:30 am
content: It's a big world.It doesn't mean all applications have been exploited.Ages ago someone posted (here?) a HUD addition to safety glasses or spectacles for a DMM. Might have been bluetooth. See if you can find it, it was an interesting project.

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 12:30:19 am
content: On modern microscopes we put everything up on a big monitor and pretty much use the eyepiece only for initial focusing. Pretty much only diehards, metals testing, and field operations folks use the eyepieces once dialed in. I'm not sure there is a market.The reason the eyepieces are still there is autofocus for the incredibly short depth of field nearly always places the focal plane on the wrong part of a sample.Steve

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 01:54:26 am
content: Quote from: LaserSteve on November 13, 2018, 12:30:19 amIt's probably just me but I find without the 'binocular' view down the eye pieces I can't do any soldering or manipulation.It may be because I used a cheap USB microscope but I find looking down the binocular Amscope wins hands down. I'd like a good quality camera microscope for inspection however.

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 05:22:17 am
content: That could be true, for me I never experienced a high quality microscope, that projects into a big screen, but I love using a stereo microscope which gives me depth of field.

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 12:26:15 pm
content: I forgot about soldering SMDs. That still rates eye pieces.Steve

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 06:30:49 pm
content: But you won't need AR for soldering at least I cannot image anything other than project the foot print and making sure that the part is oriented correctly, but I cannot imagine a market for that.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 07:01:49 pm
content: Professional microscopes (for biotechnology) do all sorts of things like that now and have for a while.They use dedicated image recognition hardware/chips.

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 07:46:27 pm
content: Could be useful for some applications of cell micro manipulation. They do use the oculars and I'm not aware of any manufacturer offering a HUD for such applications.

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 09:01:28 pm
content: You know what even if there was no market I will start working on it beginning tonight, it seems like a good experience to learn about lots of things. If anyone is interested or has any ideas, that would really be helpful.I will keep the forum posted, I will create a github repo and make a few drawings to sketch out what to be done.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 01:55:35 am
content: Don’t forget nanotechnology and machine learning, IoT and blockchain enhancement.

author: riyadh144
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 04:51:42 am
content: I honestly didn't think of it as augmented reality, I had a problem where I was trying to scope an SMD component, and everytime I would take a look at the scope my hand would move and that is when I though I would do it.Why do you think it is only a buzz word and something that cannot be useful.

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 06:36:02 am
content: Quote from: Wan Huang Luo on November 14, 2018, 01:55:35 am