Valve's New Hardware Project is Wearable "Steam Glasses"

[synobal]

I know most people see this as silly, but someone has to do the research and development if we ever want this sort of thing to be a reality.

 

[RipRoaringWaterfowl]

What? No SteamBox? No Steamcast? No Apple Valve Red Delicious?

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No, even better!

That right, Gabe Newell, you better:



I'm not leaving! I just bought a timeshare, YOU aren't making me leave!

 

[ThunderCavalier]

... Am I the only one concerned about what could happen if people try using these things while doing something slightly more important? Like walking?

I mean, there are actually people that think it's perfectly OK to fricken text and drive. I don't trust the average human being to not think, "Hey, I can play video games while I'm driving!"

 

[iblis666]

augmented reality glasses that can play bejeweled, hell yah

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Wearable computers? From Valve? Pish and tosh! I scoff at the very notion of Valve releasing anything that isn't hat related.

Capcha: eat your vitamins. Not a bad idea.

 

[Beautiful End]

I'll be expecting flying cars in the next three years or so, too.

You can pre-order them already.

http://www.terrafugia.com/

Oh, geezus...

Spoiler

Hey, we skipped the hoverboards and self-drying clothes and went straight to that? I don't know if I'm contempt with that...

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

They should just build a giant model of City 17, and have players pay to go through it in an HEV suit.
Kill them combine actors.

 

[Strazdas]

Well after the whole mobile gaming blows over we will either have the technology or not to go the next few steps, and those are computers in glasses and later on sprayed monitors on top of eyeball.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I'm not sure I get the point of a video game company doing this. Unless the end goal is to have the glasses be able to double as actual, opaque "eyephones" that people can use in lieu of a TV set or monitor, allowing 3D movies and games to be more immersive. That's something I would love to see, especially now that portable computing devices are approaching the processing power necessary to render photorealistic game graphics.

You read: They're making computer glasses
I read: They're possibly shifting resources from Half Life 3

I know Valve has a habit of not giving people specific job titles, but I don't see much potential overlap in expertise between programming/designing an upcoming game and engineering physical hardware.

I was thinking about money shifting from HL3 to the R&D of these glasses.

Somehow I doubt Valve is going to have problems ensuring that they have enough money for everything they want to do.

 

[Callate]

Cue a lot of bad driving and people walking blithely into traffic...

 

[McMarbles]

This is totally not a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[fanklok]

Just think about it people you could have Gaben explain how your HUD works while you do things.

 

[Therumancer]

So is this somehow related to Google's Project Glass? Or am I just dreaming fluffy dreams?

If one company is working on something like this, it's almost a given that there are rival companies working on the same thing.

The invasive nature of neutral implants has always made me wonder if we'd ever see those in any kind of widespread use because it is after all the brain, something we don't understand as well as we'd like to think we do (take it from someone with brain damage IRL), and truthfully i think people not wanting it to be understood has a lot to do with it, as removing the mystique from humanity has always been one of the big obstacles facing science when it comes to things like psychology, and even the physical aspects of the brain and how it alters personaliy.

That said, some kind of interface glasses sounds cool, though for it to be practical you'd probably have to control it with your eyes, and really I have to wonder how much of a usable interface you could come up with for that. Not to mention the practical concern that we have enough problems with say cell phones, where I'd think "on body computing" would be virtually unusable due to people needing to focus on one thing, basically it's not something your going to be able to use to do computing while you perform tasks like driving, or to say play a game of tetris during an interview or while listening to your boss drone on during a boring meeting. Overall, barring a direct neutral interface of some sort that allows the brain to multi-task at an unprecedented level, I have to wonder if this would ever go beyond "it's neat" because to really use it you'd probably have to sit down somewhere with nothing going on, and if your going to do that I don't see much of an advantage over other portable systems. Heck, a cell phone or DS that fits in your pocket or in a little carrying case is fairly unintrusive but a pair of "Transmetropolitan" type glasses is pretty overt, and I could imagine would interfere on noticing when someone calls you in a waiting room or whatever more than a cell phone or portable would.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

So...Valve is trying to design a HUD based future? Are they working with, or competing against Google? And will this mean my prescriptions now cost exponentially more, because they also have to be Steam compatible? Glasses already run me a sizable chunk of change, and while I'm totally down with the idea of a HUD, ************ don't dare make them contact only. I'll kill a ***** if they make me start putting things in my eye.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

Between this, Project Glass, and the other article I just read [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116859-Science-Brings-Dr-Whos-Sonic-Screwdriver-To-Life], suffice it to say, it seems quite obvious that it is the geek that shall inherit the Earth.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

I want those things right now.
Also, it's only a matter of time before someone says this, so it might as well be me.

"What do the glasses say about his power-level?"