Worth Reading?
+7 [17 votes]
I’ll admit that I’m a skeptic when it comes to any technology that boasts real 3D viewing and/or virtual reality. We’ve been promised these sorts of things for a long time, and no one has been able to truly deliver. Which brings me to Vuzix’s new iWear VR920, they’ve made some big promises, but can it deliver?
The iWear VR920 promises to give you a fully-immersive virtual reality experience when gaming. Features include a 32-degree field of view, built-in headphones and microphone, and the largest ever virtual screen which gives you the feeling of watching a 62-inch TV from 9 feet away It might not be the highest resolution, as it only supports up to 1024 x 768. I’m curious how much of a difference that will make while playing the game, as I usually play at 1440 x 900.
While I’m not sure about the whole virtual reality thing, playing World of Warcraft (one of the supported titles) on a 62-inch TV would probably make me wet myself. I’m really happy that they decided to put in a microphone, as I use Ventrilo to communicate with my guildmates. I was disappointed at first to discover that the unit is not wireless, but after thinking about it, I really wouldn’t want my batteries to die and my monitor to go out in the middle of a raid, so I can live with a wire. Besides, I wear a headset anyway for communicating with guild members. The price is a bit steep at $399, but I dare you to find a 62-inch TV for that price. The people at this year’s CES were impressed, as it claimed their 2007 Innovation Award.
Is it 1080p ?
I’ve noted in the article that the resolution only goes up to 1024 x 786. It is a little disappointing, as I play WoW with a widescreen monitor. The game doesn’t look bad at that resolution, so I’m curious to see how it would look on these.