Movies in your head

Sharp, the Japanese electronics giant, says that illusions created when head-mounted video displays are used to display films could be made to appear more natural. At present, the viewer sees an image on a liquid crystal display (LCD) suspended in space. But Sharp is currently working on a head-mounted viewing system that fills the viewers peripheral vision with pictures of the walls, ceiling and seats of a cinema - or any other room. The brightness of the peri-pheral view changes with the bril-liance of the picture, just as it does in a real cinema. And to make you feel as though you are "really there", the headset synthesises ambient sounds, such as the sound of popcorn being munched.