Glyph, originally developed for military purposes, may bring the 3-D movie experience to viewers anywhere anytime, and then some.
Using retinal display technology, the personal theater glasses give users a distinctively clear image. The device also includes sound, and the wearer can watch movies with just a tiny twist to the band to position it in front of the eyes for beaming images. The images come not from a screen, but, from a series of 2 million mirrors projected directly into the viewer’s retinas.
The technology mimics the way natural light is received by the eyes to prevent eyestrain, nausea, or disorientation when transitioning back to reality. Users have reported that the device is safe and comfortable with the reflected images beamed directly to the back of the retinas, according to the developer, Avegant.
Once a user pulls the band down in front of the eyes, he or she can make adjustments with dials to fine-tune the image. In 80-inch HDTV likeness, the image is displayed 8 inches in front of the user. The glasses do not completely obstruct the viewers’ vision of the outside world, so it is still possible to have a snack just like in a movie theater.
The Glyph can be connected with any source device using a basic HDMI connection. Users can play “Call of Duty Ghosts” on Playstation or Xbox, stream Netflix through their iPhones, and watch Blu-ray movies with the device.
Currently weighing 1.5 pounds, the Glyph will get lighter and slimmer, according to the developer. You can pre-order the glasses from the Avegant website for $499 and expect delivery by first quarter 2015. Avegant had a goal of $250,000 when it started a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to start development. It earned more than $1.5 million in pledges.
