Eric Howlett

Who is Eric Howlett?

Eric Mayorga Howlett was the inventor of the LEEP, extreme wide-angle stereoscopic optics used in photographic and virtual reality systems.

According to Wayne Carlson, professor of design at Ohio State University:

"The Large Expanse, Extra Perspective optical system was designed by Eric Howlett in 1979 and provides the basis for most of the current virtual reality helmets available today. The combined system gave a very wide field of view stereoscopic image. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth [field of view] in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned [used] for the NASA Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW by Scott Fisher."