Pop over to Sony’s website today and you’ll find new information and the pre-order page for the new HD 3D Personal Viewer – that geektastic gadget that harkens back to the early 90s fad of VR (Virtual Reality). It’s very cool that this is finally becoming a reality that we’ll be able to use in our own homes, after it was first teased at the CES 2011 show earlier this year. However, the price of living sci-fi today isn’t cheap..
The Sony Personal Viewer or HMZ-T1 Head Mounted Display – to give it its technical title – is a ‘personal cinematic home entertainment experience’ boasts the Sony spiel and the new preview page offer new video and artistic shots of the newly stylised headset – an improvement on the clunky earlier model which surfaced a few months ago. The details also reveal the true potential that the Personal Viewer can deliver for home cinema, gaming, audio and its compatibility with Sony Blu-Ray and Playstation 3 console.
The details reveal the dual flicker-free OLED screens which sit in front of the user’s eyes, featuring adjustment to suit the individual, in both delivering the high-definition three-dimensional visuals and also sitting comfortably on the users face – an important point we did wonder about early on.
And it’s not just the visuals that cover all dimensions. The audio is provided in the headgear comes at 5.1 virtual high quality sound – replicating all the layers and depths we’d hear in cutting edge cinemas. Using Sony’s Virtual Phone Technology you will ‘experience the roar of the crowd, hear jets shoot past your ears or the crack of thunder all around you” claims the site. This comes as well as a “new experience’ in gaming, with the HMZ-T1 offering the same visual and audio depths during play, on both 2D and 3D games through the Sony PS3. The Sony Personal Viewer also offers remote control and dual output switching.
Sony is confident that its Personal Viewer – the HMZ-T1 – is “the revolution of home entertainment” and we have to agree – it’s an exciting prospect. But as we mentioned, it comes at a cost. Take a seat..
The pre-order page for the gadget is now live on the Sony website, and the price of owning this glorious visual and audio experience is a staggering £799 – with a UK and Europe shipping date to be confirmed (Japan get the gadget Nov 11th).
Still want one – or is the price far too eye-watering?
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.