Avegant Glyph is a Pair of Headphones and VR Glasses in One
You might think: can a VR headset be ever so sleek, far from the conventional bulky form factor? One tech startup defies the design limitations of VR headsets, and came up with a pretty cool-looking VR headset that is also a fully functional noise-cancelling pair of headphones.
The Glyph, a VR headset developed by California-based tech startup Avegant, looks like a normal pair of high-end, noise-cancelling headphones at first glance. But a closer inspection will reveal its biggest feature: a full virtual reality experience in a svelte form factor. Successfully funded at Kickstarter and showcased at various technology fairs such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and the recently held South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas, the Avegant Glyph promises a future of amazing virtual reality experiences in a form that is non-obtrusive and portable enough to take anywhere.
Glyph’s form factor is designed with two purposes: it is a fully-functional pair of headphones with active noise cancellation, and as you pull down the headband into your eyes, it transforms into a VR headset. Its design philosophy could be derived from the ill-fated Google Glass, which featured a small cubic head-mounted display – although the Glyph has a fully enclosed head-mounted display. It can also be attributed to the usual sci-fi gadgets we saw from movies like “Tron”.
Glyph supports a wide range of devices to connect with, including computers, mobile devices like smartphones, and game consoles. It also features head tracking abilities for greater interaction with any virtual content. One key ergonomic feature of the Glyph is it lets the user to see below the display when it is being worn. A sense of enclosed presence can also be felt when the Glyph is worn since it essentially blocks the user’s peripheral vision, making the user to focus on the built-in high-resolution display.
Avegant came up with the portable design of the Glyph that is far from the conventional design of the usual VR suspects like the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. These VR headsets are bulky to start with, but the Glyph took the unchartered path to deliver VR experiences that anyone can take anywhere. In a nutshell, the Glyph attempts to be a mobile theater system, providing rich and immersive theatrical viewing experiences with virtual reality in mind.
For more information on Avegant Glyph, please visit the following websites:
http://avegant.com
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avegantglyph/a-mobile-personal-theater-with-built-in-premium-au
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/4/7491191/vr-company-avegant-shows-off-headphone-inspired-glyph-headset-ces-2015
