Head Games

People just love taking their media with them wherever they go. Missed an episode of "The Office?" No problem: download it to your iPod, take it on the train and watch it, still in time for a Friday morning water-cooler discussion at, er... the office. But watching videos on that teeny little iPod or media player screen can be a little unsatisfying.

How about watching movies on a laptop? Ever feel like enjoying a "mature" title (simmer down now, I'm talking "R" or "NC-17" here, guys) but worried about exposing the 6-year-old in the seat next to you to a little Too Much Information? Then HeadPlay has just the ticket for you.

HeadPlay offers a new viewing device, the Personal Cinema System, which is compatible with with video iPods, media players or computers. It offers a virtual 52-inch screen inside a stylish pair of glasses. It even offers a 3-D stereoscopic viewing experience with compatible software.

At the ShowStoppers event in Las Vegas, just down the street from CES (how conveeeeenient), HeadPlay was offering up demos of their new system, and it was very impressive. The Personal Cinema System can be connected to any iPod (via mini-USB), media player or portable DVD player (via RCA or S-Video connection) or computer (via VGA jack) to personalize and privatize the viewing experience. The device can even playback AVI or MP4 video files directly via CompactFlash cards or USB flash memory, without an external player. And the makers expect to widen support to include popular video-enabled cell-phones in time for the device's official launch this Spring.

The manufacturers are also working with video card makers to support the new lineup of 3D stereoscopic-enabled computer games for a realistic and immersive 3D experience for games or 3D movies. The unit has individually adjustable diopters for each eye so you can adjust it for your own prescription, if necessary.

Now if they'd just add a camera and an RIP feature (Reality in Picture), so you can still see things in the so-called "Real World" then we'd have the perfect iPod or laptop accessory.

HeadPlay's Personal Cinema System is expected to be available in April, 2007 for an MSRP of $499.