We’re all looking for an escape every now and again. Everyone has their own method, but many choose to play games. It will let you run off to a different world and experience adventures unlike anything we have here. However, it’s a bit difficult to be truly immersed in your game when you have your living room showing up in your peripheral.
Last week at E3, I got a little hands on time with something called the cinimizer OLED glasses. These were made by Carl Zeiss, Inc. which is a business that has been making cameras, microscopes, and more for over 160 years. Needless to say, these people have a lot of experience in their field. My big concern was how that experience was going to translate to the gaming world.
Most virtual reality options out there are very large, and can start to bear down on your head after a few hours use. These glasses were very light, only weighing a few more ounces than a regular pair of sunglasses. They’re made of plastic, and hook onto the back of your ears so they don’t fall off. The hooks are adjustable, and thankfully don’t feel intrusive. There are ear buds integrated into the cinimizer, but if you have your favorite headset, you’ll be able to hook in via 3.5mm jack or USB.
The screens inside give you a simulated 40” screen at a 2m distance. Something that I found particularly awesome is the fact that you can focus each eye separately, so those of us who sport glasses with be able to go without. There is a prescription setting from -5 to +2D on either side. To help you really get your head in the game, there are optional eye blockers that will help to shield your peripheral from outside light and movement. Of course, these are a $39 accessory that you would have to pay on top of the $789 you would spend on the glasses. There is another accessory called the Headtracker, another $229 you’d have to sink into this that would let you move your head instead of moving your mouse.
Overall, it’s a neat idea, and they really have thought of everything. Adjustable, lightweight, integrated ear buds, plug-n-play, and rather stylish to boot! At absolute most, I would want to spring for the glasses and light shield. However, using the Headtracker had me feeling woozy after about 2 minutes. Tossing your head around and not moving your torso felt very disorienting. I’m sure with a little more time the hand-eye coordination would improve, but I also experienced issues with the text in the game being far too small to read on the screens, leading to me dying multiple times as I couldn’t follow instructions. Annoying, but can be worked around as there are further adjustments you can make manually regarding the 3D aspect. At the end of the day, this will make the entertainment on your phone, PC, or console more immersive, but as a gimmick peripheral, it’s a bit too pricey.
