The sense of place is the vital element and it's really hard to communicate how significant it is.
If you're sceptical about Oculus Rift, here's an experiment for you. Download Doom and play it back-to-back with a modern FPS. What you'll probably notice most isn't the low resolution or the weird cardboard-cutout objects, but the absence of freelook. You'll find yourself jarring as you try to look up at ledges or peek down through windows, feeling peculiarly constrained, almost as if you're wearing a neck brace. The Rift is at least as big a difference.
HMDs with accurate head tracking are an absolute revelation, because they truly immerse you in the environment. You don't realise how much your natural vision relies upon your ability to take quick glances at odd angles - a look down at your feet to spot the last step, a peek over your shoulder before you merge into traffic and so on.
not necessarily true, depth and focus become an issue. Even with a bigger screen, you still need to know exactly where the eye is looking to provide proper focus on the screens.
If you've been following what John Carmack has been doing with these types of things, that seems to be the conclusion he has come to.
Your solution is certainly simple and cheaper to implement, but isnt anywhere near as effective, immersive, or cool. Eye tracking is defiantly needed to take this to the next level.
If you embed the optics in a contact lens (such as the one that is being readied by iOptik, then you dont need a HMD with embedded optics and can indeed have a large flexible display covering your entire Field of View.
If you're sceptical about Oculus Rift, here's an experiment for you. Download Doom and play it back-to-back with a modern FPS. What you'll probably notice most isn't the low resolution or the weird cardboard-cutout objects, but the absence of freelook. You'll find yourself jarring as you try to look up at ledges or peek down through windows, feeling peculiarly constrained, almost as if you're wearing a neck brace. The Rift is at least as big a difference.
HMDs with accurate head tracking are an absolute revelation, because they truly immerse you in the environment. You don't realise how much your natural vision relies upon your ability to take quick glances at odd angles - a look down at your feet to spot the last step, a peek over your shoulder before you merge into traffic and so on.