Some Thoughts

Icuiti's latest: the VR920 headset

Here's another VR-type headset from Icuiti...it's really interesting to see what other companies are doing in the head-worn display space.

Although it's still to be determined whether this product will be a winner, it's pretty clear to me that the appeal of this product is potentially limited to a relatively small niche market of 'ubergamers'.

Now there are just a handful of comments on the Engadget post for this item so far (link above) -- but you can see that the initial responses basically make fun of the product as if it's something from Star Trek.

So, what can be learned from this?

Maybe a couple of things. The category of headworn displays still has a 'geek stigma' associated with it. While the form-factors and feature sets of products like this are improving, they seem unable to flip the switch that ignites the fascination of the real mass market.

So, what's missing here? Well, super hardcore PC gamers, who would probably be the target market for a product like this, are a relatively small portion of the population. They may not worry about people making Star Trek jokes about them if a device like this really improves their gaming experience -- and maybe this product really would do just that.

But let's face it. In order to become a mass market phenomenon, the entire paradigm of wearable displays as we've known them will probably need a total revolution.

These displays are for sitting in your gaming chair, hooking up to your PC, and going for as close to full-on virtual reality as we can get. The question is, how many people really want to do that? Is the interest level in that activity high in the world out there, generally speaking?

I'm not necessarily convinced of that...yet. I think VR will eventually become compelling for the mainstream market. We can indeed see some pretty exciting precursors in virtuality sites like Second Life and other massively multiplayer online games.

But even if there's no flaw in the design or form-factor of devices like this one, there may just not be the willingness to engage in the types of applications that really leverage the advantages of a display like this. Think about it this way -- most uber hardcore gamers already have pretty expensive widescreen LCD displays to go with their Alienware PCs. In reality, a small, comparatively low-resolution screen that's amplified my magnifying glasses may be a less optimal viewing experience than just continuing to game on with the display they already own.

Now, theoretically the real world is blocked out providing greater immersion in the game world, and the head tracking capability described here could be a big value-add. But I'm not sure if the whole premise isn't slightly off -- or maybe just too early yet.

And yet, there's continuous interest and ongoing pursuit of new and innovative head-worn display solutions, from numerous companies. It seems to be generally accepted that one day, one of these displays will hit the target and ignite a fire of demand in the mainstream -- or at least generate some significant sales.

Without going into too much detail, what I can tell you is that the Color Eyewear displays from Microvision will take a different angle from what you've seen coming from other companies...