Good potential - I can imagine all kinds of weird heads-up display-type stuff going on. I do seem to recall a game system suggesting the use of these, with the real-world being the backdrop and virtual items or characters playing active roles.

Bad potential - how long before some nutcase kills a real person because he cannot tell the difference between virtual reality and actual reality?

I think this is quite interesting but I think it would be better if the system tracked eyeball movement and then moved the camera in response.. obviously far more difficult.

A more interesting project I saw before on hackaday was where a guy mounted a camera off the back of his shoulders and set up slightly and wore a pair of goggles. He was literally watching himself walk around as if he was in something like second life.

Infact.. video here: http://www.marcowens.co.uk/avat.html

This is somewhat reminiscent of this project, reported on a while ago:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4472491.stm

Someone wrote a codec that turns movies into Matrix style renderings... This would be pretty funky like that. Would save the Wachowski brothers ^H^H^H^H^H^H Brother and sister Loads of money on special effects.

"If you've ever wondered what it's like to trip on acid"

I'm sure it would be cheaper and a lot more fun (if somewhat less legal) to just drop a tab of acid.

I suppose this does have the advantage that you could "trip" for half an hour during your lunch break and then go back to work without any adverse effects, but that's not "what it's like to trip on acid".

Hey, they're pretty cool if a little geeky. Would be a talking point at a party and depending on the type of party you could get twice the trip. And if they come with headphones, Terminator sound effects, real time object identification system and list of handy responses for when one's grey stuff is off playing with the pixies...

..when it is stereoscopic.

Our eyes are two.

You'll fall on yer butt if you don't have stereo.

I second that! No stereoscopic vision, no overlays, just a bunch of silly hippy filters. I wish I had the time and money to design pointless nonsense all day long.

More like Predator vision!

"You'll fall on yer butt if you don't have stereo."

Having spent a significant length of time with a "panda patch" on my right eye I can dispell this myth. Whilst stereoscopic vision provides better depth perception, monoscopic vision works well enough as long as your point of vision is not directly in line with the object in question. That said, it is pretty naff not doing a stereoscopic version, especially since you can then do some really funky stuff by modifying the effects between eyes!

Acid ... £2 or £3/trip or free if you can find a friendly hippy. Length of fully immersive trip: 8 to 16 hours depending how many you neck.

VR goggles ... don't ring us, we'll ring you. Includes vision only, not hearing, touch, taste, time sense or mental processes. Be sure to wipe them clean when you've finished.

Not really the same after all, perhaps ?

I could just tape my mobile phone to the front of my face as it does the same thing!!!!!

Morons!

"If you've ever wondered what it's like to trip on acid"

then go out and do it,

Anyone who has actually taken acid knows that the visuals are only part of the 'trip'. I suspect the VR stuff here could be fun for 30 mins or so but ulimately dull as the effects become predictable after a while.

Of course I wouldnt say no to a quick test drive just to prove my point :)

If I want to experience the world through a different set of eyes or a different perspective then I'll just drink until I'm pissed enough to start gargling the national anthem. Oh wait....I drink like that anyway.

This is the most pointless invention since the U.S. intelligence test.

Looks like someone watched this video and thought "I'm gonna make that!"

http://www.gethappy.com/watchmore.html

So long as the processing doesn't lag behind head movements and induce motion sickness...

On the face of it, this seems decidedly trivial and clunky.

This was reported on /. a while ago, and a video linked. There is a green screen ASCII filter for these - obviously not the full matrix character set, but close...

Only someone who's never done acid would make such a dumb comparison.

I think I'd REALLY want the sound effects of the shifts between Predator vision types and a switch.

Im sure the manufacturers could have found someone better to model the glasses other than some tramp they found on the street.

having been on many a trips before let me tell you if theres no pixxys smoking crack, pirate ships or all your friends have clown faces its just not worth it.

I miss mushrooms

......rants, rather amusingly, that those who use "acid" to describe wacky crap are just lazy. "Like Terry and June on acid" I believe the joke went, describing the lame comparison of a new tv show with aforementioned drug induced retro TV show moment. No, Terry and June on acid would be four hours of Terry examining the pattern on Junes floral crockery saying "That's quite interesting, ooh that's quite interesting, oooooh that's quite interesting........" over and over again.