Up-close and personal

AS TVs grow ever larger, viewers sit farther and farther back from the screen for the more theatrical experience. But there is a concurrent ...

AS TVs grow ever larger, viewers sit farther and farther back from the screen for the more theatrical experience. But there is a concurrent trend in consumer electronics to shrink the screen and bring it closer to the viewer—within inches of the eyeball itself. Video eyewear, which is worn like glasses, uses two small liquid-crystal displays to give the wearer a feeling of looking at a large-screen TV from about 7 ft away.

Video eyewear didn’t take off in the 1990s, when it was introduced. Consumers probably remember them as looking like the helmets used to train astronauts. Major electronics companies like Sony and Olympus discontinued models several years ago because of slow sales. But the new user-friendly versions continue to get lighter, cheaper and more portable, although they still look as if they come from outer space. Also known as personal media viewers, video glasses or head-mounted devices, these generally cost $200-400. They weigh 2 to 10 ounces, come with their own headphones and plug into portable video devices like iPods, DVD players, video game consoles, video cameras and even some cellphones.

You generally can’t see what is going around you. But then, the people around you can’t see what you’re watching, so the eyewear is useful on planes or elsewhere where privacy is an issue. Most of the tiny screens have a resolution of 320 pixels by 240 pixels, but models are coming out with twice that resolution. The devices are popular with gamers because they offer an immersion experience.

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But the bigger issue, says Michael Gartenberg, research director of JupiterResearch in New York, is that the devices become uncomfortable after prolonged viewing. Indeed, watching screens from so close brings a host of problems. The devices force the eyes to focus a little closer together than is comfortable, although most products have you look several feet ahead, which can help reduce the strain. You sometimes have to slide the glasses down the bridge of your nose, which draws the eyes downward. The intense viewing can also throw off your sense of balance, and if the two lenses are even slightly uneven, your eyes will quickly tire from trying to reconcile the two screens.

Most makers include warnings to take breaks, and the devices become uncomfortable after half an hour to an hour. But there is little research showing that the devices harm vision. Dr Eli Peli, professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, has examined several products and found no association with eye problems. Indeed, Dr Peli has begun using the devices along with small video cameras to help relieve eye problems like night blindness and tunnel vision. He does warn that children under 5, whose binocular vision is still developing, should not use the devices.

Manufacturers are looking for solutions to relieve the strain. Myvu’s Personal Media Viewer Universal Edition has small openings to let you see in front of and around you. You feel less claustrophobic or dizzy, but you risk being distracted from the screen. The smaller screen, whose brightness and contrast can be adjusted, makes the picture crisper, but it is harder to see, especially for those who wear vision-correcting glasses. The company has developed a prescription clip, small lenses that clip onto the devices.

The Argo MP/3G-2 viewer is one of the few video glasses that does not require a separate control box. This feature makes the viewer simpler to use, reduces wires and cuts down on battery use on your iPod or portable device. It also makes the glasses bulkier, despite weighing only 3 ounces. Another unique feature is a rubber shield that fits around the eyes and forehead like a diving mask, limiting outside distractions and improving the screen contrast. The light shield can make a user feel a little claustrophobic and causes slight dizziness if you move your head too often.

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The 640 by 480 screen resolution of the 2.9-ounce Vuzix’s iWear AV920 gives the wearer the feeling of watching a crisp 49-inch screen from 7 ft away. The device further enhances the image by allowing the viewer to tilt the screens to find the ideal viewing angle. A dial on the glasses gives viewers a way to adjust brightness, contrast and backlighting, and it even lets them switch to a 3-D effect, which can be used for 3-D content. Its only disadvantage is its over-ear headphones, which are not as loud as competitors’ earpieces. A jack allows you to add your own headphones, though.

Like those of the Vuzix model, the screens in the 4.8-ounce i-Vue S38 tilt for optimal viewing. The screen is big and bright, although slightly more pixilated than the best competitors’ models. You can see slight light halos around the sides of the image. Also, the brightness differed slightly from one eye to the other, which was a little distracting.

The best feature of each model is that you cannot see what you look like when you have it on. Although a few look a little like the glasses worn by a character on Star Trek or in X-Men, they still need to work on relieving what one company calls the “dorky-look factor.”
-SAM LUBELL (New York Times)