Heads-up Display Beams Content from Phone to Your Face
Why look at your phone to watch a movie when you can beam the clip directly into your retinas? The upcoming Head Mount Display 3330 from Vision Electronics connects to your handset via Wi-Fi, mirroring its display contents on a pair of 800 x 600 lenses.
We had a chance to spend a few moments with the 3330 at Computex 2014 event in Taipei, and we came away impressed with the immersive experience this gadget offers--if not its overall image quality.
The HMD 3330 consists of two lenses that you can position in front of your eyes using a dial. Unlike some other heads-up displays, such as the Vmask, you cannot see through the lenses to the world outside, as all incoming light is blocked by an opaque head piece.An adjustable soft band holds the HMD 3330 to the back of the users' head. It seemed a bit tight when we tried it on.
MORE:Google Glass Alternative Runs Full Android
The bottom of the unit had volume, menu and power buttons. The HMD 3330 gets it power over a USB cable, which means you'll either need to use it near an outlet or bring your own battery pack.
When we watched a video clip, the 800 x 600 images on the lenses were bright and colorful but not especially sharp. That's because of the 3330's modest resolution but also because we used the device with our prescription glasses off.
A Vision Electronics rep told us the device uses either DLNA or Apple's Air Play protocol to stream content over Wi-Fi from your phone. At the booth, the company used a DLNA app called JoyLink on an HTC Android phone. Video playback appeared smooth and lag free. The HMD 3330 could also be used to mirror games, the Android desktop, email or any other app. However, given our inability to see or interact with the phone, anything that required touching the touch screen could be a challenge.
The HMD 3330 is due out later this year for a price between $150 and $199. Unfortunately, there are no immediate plans to bring it to the U.S.
Copyright 2014 LAPTOP Magazine, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
