Head-mounted display

A display headset, also known as a head-mounted display (HMD) is a display that is fixed to a user's head and connects to a computer for display output and optional 3D tracking.

See also near-eye display.

It shares a coordinate system with the user's head. It is either monoscopic or two-view. A head-mounted display is a head-fixed display that rests its mass on the user's head.

Head-mounted displays were part of the second wave of commercially successful VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift.

As computers have become more power efficient, head-worn computers have in most cases replaced head-mounted displays.

An HMD is largely useful if it shows visual content to a large portion of both eyes.

A display is placed very close to the users' eyes, covering a large portion of their field of view. Most headsets are flat focus binocular, meaning two images that are very similar but have different perspectives are channeled into the eyes, one for the left and one for the right, to allow the human perceptual system to perceive binocular disparity and see some depth.

The first was part of Ivan Sutherland's head-mounted three dimensional display project.

Augmented reality HMDs

Augmented reality HMDs are also known as AR headsets. They are either optical see through gadgets or video passthrough gadgets.

In an optical see through device, the displays of these gadgets are transparent. They allow users to see through them while projecting images and information.