Procyon with Laxman goggles

I'm a Procyon newbie and a long time AVS user . . . I read CraigT's entry and tried my own very simple
experiment to get color frequencies into my brain yesterday.

In knowing that RGB is used to create a spectrum of colors when blended, I looked at my box of Kleenex
and said, "Why not?"

I neatly folded a tissue in half, placed it between my eyes and the glasses, turned on the Procyon, opened my eyes
and VOILA! I got a great light show of a myriad of colors and patterns with my eyes open.

It may not be the Laxman goggles, but then again, it wasn't $250 either!

I'm just sayin' . . .

Yes, it is surprising how well these 'low tech' solutions work for the eye open experience... kleenex, paper, handkerchiefs... all provide a very nice experience and cheaply too!

So what's the verdict here for Procyon R3 users?

I've been discovering that I personally respond very well to open eye... I used the tissue hack (it did work quite well), but I'd really like a pair of glasses that are built for the open eye purpose.

I'd seen that there was a Mindplace prototype for open eye glasses mentioned on this forum elsewhere... is that available for purchase?

What are our options for open eye/ganzfeld effect with the Procyon R3?

Anybody? :( I'd really like to find a more comfortable way than tissue.

We can't really speak from experience on this issue as we haven't tried it. We are very aware that eye open use is wanted. Personally, I have used a handkerchief and it works pretty well. Thick printer paper works good as well. These are low cost, low tech ways to try.

There are some people on this thread that have tried this Laxman glasses. Maybe you can PM them (which alerts them to the question if they aren't actively monitoring the forum) and they will be able to provide more information.

Hi...I'm sorry to ask a question which has seemingly already been answered, but here goes: what do I need to hook up Laxman glasses to a new procyon? I thought I bought a trrs 3.5mm adaptor, but what I received doesn't fit the Laxman glasses, which have and end that is rectangular with a dimple on one side. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Many thanks in advance.

Hi reckon;

As far as I know, there is no adapter to use the Laxman glasses on the Rev3 Procyon. One solution would be to cut off the Laxman connector and attach a 1/8" TRRS connector to use those glasses with the Procyon.

I've owned a pair of Laxman goggles for a while now (~2 years). They work great with my Rev1 Procyon. The only thing I don't like is the weight of them. It's like wearing heavy ski goggles.

For open-eye sesions I find the stock procyon glasses with a bit of white paper towel works almost as well and is a lot lighter/more comfortable. I hardly ever use my Laxman goggles any more.

Cheers,
TomC

I have tried one session with opened eyes, with a bit of white paper towel and the visuals are amazing!. But is hard relax, fighting for keeping the eyes opened.

I have just received my Laxman goggles from Neurotronics and , unfortunately , I can't seem to get them to work . I have Procyon which I bought when the Procyon first came out (so it's a Rev1 ?) and when I plug in my Procyon ganzframes everything works fine . Is it just a question of the Laxman goggles not working or could there be another explanation ?

The Laxman glasses should work with both rev 1 and rev 2 Procyons, so it could be that the glasses themselves are not working. One of their larger (former) dealers told me that they were seeing around a 50% failure rate, but usually not out of the box--the wire across the middle of the glasses is fragile, apparently. If you know someone else who has a Procyon, maybe you can have them test the Laxman glasses?

Thank you , Robert .
The thing is that I have just noticed that the plug on the Laxman goggles is approximately 1/4 shorter than the one on the Procyon Ganzframes .
Check the photos of the two together and notice the gap between :

Attachment 1106

and

Attachment 1105

Could this have anything to do with the non-functioning of the goggles?
Thanks .

Greetings--I've verified that the Laxman plug is a little shorter than the Procyon R1,2 GanzFrames--but my Laxman goggles do work on those model Procyons, at least the several that I've tried in our office. I know that others on these Forums have sucessfully used this combination, so I suspect that the Laxman glasses either are defective, or they've changed the pinout (which seems less likely). Sorry not to be able to be of further help!
-Robert

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

Hi reckon;

As far as I know, there is no adapter to use the Laxman glasses on the Rev3 Procyon. One solution would be to cut off the Laxman connector and attach a 1/8" TRRS connector to use those glasses with the Procyon.

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Would it be very expensive for MindPlace to create some adapters? There seems to be enough interest. The problem with cutting off/changing the Laxman connector is that one could later buy the Laxman machine too (you never know)... :)

I have just tried some white kitchen wipes I had at home (a bit thick, not quite transparent, and NOT paper, it is real fabric) with a hair band and the Procyon goggles and the effect was better than I would have imagined! It was pretty cool. :)

PS: I also tried a handkerchief and tissues (as mentioned in this thread), but the kitchen wipes are definitely the best because they have a texture that sort of spreads and ramifies the light and the colours... :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighVisions

Would it be very expensive for MindPlace to create some adapters? There seems to be enough interest. The problem with cutting off/changing the Laxman connector is that one could later buy the Laxman machine too (you never know)... :)

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We used to make adapters to allow 2-channel lightframes to connect to the Rev1/Rev2 Procyons, for which there seemed to be huge interest. It cost a lot of money to make them, we couldn't really charge what they were worth and in the end only a handful were ever sold. Doing more adapters for a 3rd party product would at this point be very unlikely. Also, the sort of connector the Laxman uses is difficult (if not impossible) to find in the cable-end female style. You could check with Laxman and see if they would be willing to make an adapter, but for MP, the most sensible thing would be to make our own eyes-open Ganzframes.

I understand, Andy. Particularly considering that you never know - they might change the Laxman glasses connector just after you have made the adapters, so if it is expensive it is better not to make them.
I have been experimenting with different materials and I think my favorite one now is masking tape - it is a bit sticky, but not so sticky that it leaves a mark behind when you take it off, and you can leave it on for several sessions, and I think it works pretty well with open eyes! It also works well with closed eyes. :)

Very cool, HighVisions!

Let us know what you find works best.

Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

We used to make adapters to allow 2-channel lightframes to connect to the Rev1/Rev2 Procyons, for which there seemed to be huge interest. It cost a lot of money to make them, we couldn't really charge what they were worth and in the end only a handful were ever sold. Doing more adapters for a 3rd party product would at this point be very unlikely. Also, the sort of connector the Laxman uses is difficult (if not impossible) to find in the cable-end female style. You could check with Laxman and see if they would be willing to make an adapter, but for MP, the most sensible thing would be to make our own eyes-open Ganzframes.

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Hello,
was anyone lucky finding a source to get both female and male laxman style sockets and plugs at an online electronic part retailer? Those sockets seem to really be hard to find. and I don't know the exact make / model / type. usb style is just not accurate enough with those hundreds or thousands of plug standards out there.

Matt

I'm not entirely certain, but I think they are a Hirose MQ172 series, 4 conductor.
If that's the right connector, you can get them at mouser, among other places...

If that's the right connector, then I was probably wrong about it being difficult to find... :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

I'm not entirely certain, but I think they are a Hirose MQ172 series, 4 conductor.
If that's the right connector, you can get them at mouser, among other places...

If that's the right connector, then I was probably wrong about it being difficult to find... :(

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Has anyone attempted to source & fit this connector?? :)

Any luck?

I can confirm that the plug is the Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV(50) and is in the Mouser catalog, and it shows that they have stock.

is there a way to use this info to get the laxman glasses to hook up directly to procyon (i.e., connect this plug to cable with 3.5mm on other end)? I'm a bit electronics-challenged so thanks for patience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reckon

is there a way to use this info to get the laxman glasses to hook up directly to procyon (i.e., connect this plug to cable with 3.5mm on other end)? I'm a bit electronics-challenged so thanks for patience.

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Yes, but you would need an electronics-handy person to do the wiring. It's not easy. It would actually be much easier to just cut off the end of the Laxman cable and wire it to a 3.5mm TRRS plug if you don't care about using the Laxman goggles with the Laxman console.
Also, note that you would need a 3.5mm TRRS plug (4-conductor) to go into the Procyon.

Thanks Andy. Do you knw if anyone has actually done this, wire the laxman cable to a 3.5mm trrs plug? I asked a local music/stereo equipment person to do it for me and he said the way the waxman cable is built (to be so flexible, small, etc) means the wires are threaded into fabric which makes it very difficult to do. He actually said he couldn't do it. I didn't press it, but would be curious if anyone else out there has done it successfully. I sure would love to get this thing hooked up to the procyon...at least it appears there is another way to do it. Many thanks.

bumping this thread to see if anyone has an answer to reckon's question -- has anyone actually [heard of someone who] successfully wired the laxman cable to a 3.5mm trrs plug?

I can confirm that working with thin, flexible 4 conductor wire is not for the faint of heart, and could result in considerable frustration. It was a remarkable coincidence that, when the Laxman appeared, it worked correctly with the Procyon: red mapped to red, etc. But as Andy reported, we had to replace a number of consoles and/or GanzFrames using that connector. It was keyed to work in one direction only, and some folks would tend to jam it in the wrong way, forcing the jack off the PCB. Not the ideal user experience, so we changed to the current connector. We've been back at work on our own eyes-open-wear prototypes, and have narrowed the options down to two, so we hope to have one of them into production first half of next year. Also, we will soon have available a Procyon version of the new, 12 LED GanzFrames we are using with the Kasina, which significantly improves the eyes closed experience (3 blue, 2 green and 1 red LED per eye). And if you are interested in a really, really intense Procyon experience, we will very shortly be offering an external power supply and RGB LED array custom made for the Procyon: 2,500 lumens. Turns the entire wall into a compelling, eyes open experience!

-Robert

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

I can confirm that the plug is the Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV(50) and is in the Mouser catalog, and it shows that they have stock.

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It seems that the Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV (50) is discontinued but the Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV (30) is available. Do you know if it's compatible?

The (50) or (30) looks to be an indicator of RoHS compliance. In my mind, they should be identical products. You can confirm with a call to Mouser if you want to be certain.

Attachment 1102

Thank you very much Andy! I just placed the order.
Could you tell me the connections for this plug?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fumanchu

Thank you very much Andy! I just placed the order.
Could you tell me the connections for this plug?

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Dunno. Back when I was building the adapters, we were able to get the plug with the cable already wired.

What exactly are you trying to build? (What version of console to what device?)

An adapter cable from TRRS (female) to Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV (30).
I bought a second-hand Procyon that has this plug, when I receive it I tell you what version it is.

The connections for TRRS are:
Tip - Red
Ring closest to Tip - Green
Ring closest to Sleeve - Blue
Sleeve - Common

And I still need to know the connections for MQ172X-4SA-CV(30)

I would guess it's wired logically:

Pin 1 = RED
Pin 2 = GREEN
Pin 3 = BLUE
Pin 4 = white *not used*
Case = COMMON

So, if this is correct, the connections would be:

HIROSE	TRRS
1	TIP
2	Ring 1
3	Ring 2
4	N/C
Case	Sleeve

I would verify this before sealing up the connectors. Let me know if my guess is correct.

My procyon is here, it's Rev.1.

The connections of the Hirose MQ172X-4SA-CV are:
Pin 1 = RED
Pin 2 = GREEN
Pin 3 = BLUE
Pin 4 = COMMON
Case is not used.
Attachment 1103Attachment 1104

In case anyone's looking for them, there are Male Hirose connectors (with cable) available on eBay.