It has been a busy trip at CES! Special thanks go to SilverSurfer for doing an awesome job of updating our members with press releases and announcements in our forums newsfeed.
Over the next few days, we are going to share some of the innovations we sampled at CES 2009, and size up where things are headed.
First on the list is Vuzix. Perhaps most famous for their VR920 head mounted display, they are anticipating an April release for their Vuzix Wrap 920AV.
Paul Travers, President of Vuzix (left) and Neil Schneider,
President & CEO of MTBS (right)
MTBS does not do official hardware reviews, but we will say that it is a comfortable experience on the nose, and does have an appealing design. According to Paul Travers, President of Vuzix, it will continue to have 640X480 resolution and head tracking.
However, the reason MTBS thinks this unit is particularly newsworthy is because its benefits go beyond stereoscopic 3D gaming and movies. Vuzix has developed an interface that connects with IPhone and lets wearers use their HMD as a portable GPS. We were not able to try this out at the show, but the glasses are designed in a way that lets you see through them and have a digital S-3D overlay at the same time. Very interesting to say the least!
The Vuzix experience is also designed to be a customized experience. If you wear glasses, you can have your prescription sent to Vuzix, and they will have special add-on lenses made for the HMD which can be swapped in and out.
The remaining question is whether or not the look will be appealing to wear both regularly and publicly – and we will leave that up to the taste of end users.
Hyundai is next!