Screenless

Screenless video describes systems for transmitting visual information from a video source without the use of a screen.

Screenless computing systems can be divided into three groups: Visual Image, Retinal Direct, and Synaptic Interface.

Visual Image screenless display includes any screenless image that the eye can perceive. The most common example of Visual Image screenless display is a hologram. Arguably, virtual reality goggles (which consist of two small screens but are nonetheless sufficiently different from traditional computer screens to be considered screenless) and heads-up display in jet fighters (which display images on the clear cockpit window) also are included in Visual Image category. In all of these cases, light is reflected off some intermediate object (hologram, LCD panel, or cockpit window) before it reaches the retina. In the case of LCD panels the light is refracted from the back of the panel, but is nonetheless a reflected source.

Virtual retinal display systems are a class of screenless displays that in which images are projected directly onto the retina. They are distinguished from visual image systems because light is not reflected from some intermediate object onto the retina, it is instead projected directly onto the retina. Retinal Direct systems, once marketed, hold out the promise of extreme privacy when computing work is done in public places because most snooping relies on viewing the same light as the person who is legitimately viewing the screen, and retinal direct systems send light only into the pupils of their intended viewer.

Synaptic Interface screenless video does not use light at all. Visual information completely bypasses the eye and is transmitted directly to the brain. While such systems have yet to be implemented in humans, success has been achieved in sampling usable video signals from the biological eyes of a living horseshoe crab through their optic nerves, and in sending video signals from electronic cameras into the creatures' brains using the same method.

It is also simply possible to use a computer, with or without special programs, simply by memorizing key press patterns or developing keyboard shortcuts. Unexpected error messages, or any interrupting windows, however, may cause this method to fall apart, requiring a restart or activating a display to fix the problem. Another method would allow using a computer using only sounds, vibrations, LEDs, or other methods of output that do not use a screen.