Question:
How do you play 8 Xbox games on one screen?
Written by Paul Bourke
November 2003
Improved upon initial experiments in December 2002 See
initial report
Answer
One Xbox can be used by 4 players (each using 1/4 of the display). If the image
from 1 Xbox is projected with one polarisation angle and another Xbox is projected
using a polarisation at 90 degrees to the first Xbox, then two groups of 4 players
with correctly matched polaroid glasses can play together. The following image shows
the 8 games on the screen, each quarter of the screen contains two games.
8 games, courtesy of Grenville Armitage,
CAIA
The details
Normally, linear polaroid glasses used in stereoscopic projections have the
angle of polarisation at +45 and -45 degrees. The filters on the projectors
are obviously aligned similarly so that the left eye sees the image from one
projector and the right eye sees the image from the other projector..
Linear polaroid glasses use in stereographics installations
The modified glasses for this exercise need to have matching polarisation angles.
The glasses for one group of 4 players needs to have both filters at +45 degrees,
the glasses for the other group of 4 players have the filters at -45 degrees.
Modified glasses, type 1
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Modified glasses, type 2
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Notes
- Of course two players, each with one Xbox, can play off one screen at full
resolution.
- Sound is an issue, ideally headphones are required since the audio is player
specific
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Dual projectors with linear polaroid filters.
One projector per Xbox.
5m wide screen.
Preserves polarisation of reflected light.
Two Xbox units.
Cables on left go to the projectors.
Cables on the right go to controllers.
One of the 8 controllers
2 of the 8 players
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