Virtual reality headsets might soon become far less cumbersome.
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Japanese electronics corporation Panasonic showed off a VR glasses prototype that looks like something out of a 90s steampunk movie, The Verge reports.
The glasses feature some impressive specs: high resolution micro OLED panels for each eye and support for HDR— high dynamic range technology that’s usually limited to monitors and TVs. In a statement, Panasonic claims the glasses are the world’s first HDR-enabled VR unit.
The idea is to make wearing VR glasses — gone are the days of a full “headset” — as comfortable as possible over longer periods. Rather than requiring users to strap a headset to their heads, Panasonic’s vision is honing in toward a pair of heavier-than-usual glasses.
Unsurprisingly, the early prototype does have its limitations. The Verge‘s Sam Byford described the glasses as “a little front-heavy and slid down my nose whenever I tilted forward.” The OLED panels were also surprisingly small, resulting in a much lower viewing angle than its VR headset predecessors.
Panasonic isn’t intending to bring this exact pair of glasses to the market any time soon.
