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Somewhat related, a question for HN people: Is there a product — perhaps some kind of goggles — that I can wear on my face which will simulate the experience o

Somewhat related, a question for HN people: Is there a product — perhaps some kind of goggles — that I can wear on my face which will simulate the experience of watching a big television? I don't want virtual reality or augmented reality or anything like that. I just want to be able to sit on a long-haul flight and isolate my eyes and ears in such a way that it feels like I'm sitting alone in a dark room watching a movie. The movie should play from my iPhone.

nicky0 4y ago
Any VR headset will do that; I know you said no VR but get over that. VR headsets are a head mounted display & audio tech that you can buy. (see e.g. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-stream-movies-in-vr/ https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-stream-movies-in-vr/)
LeoPanthera 4y ago
This used to exist, in the 90s (!), in the form of the Sony Glasstron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasstron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasstron They stopped making them at the end of that decade.
MikusR 4y ago
That's what Quest2 is. You even don't need an iPhone. It's standalone.
- tazjin 4y ago
  You probably don't want to wear a Quest for a full long-haul flight. They're not that comfortable, even with third-party straps. There's also the whole thing where Quest 2 is quite a bit worse than Quest 1 in some aspects that relate to comfort, such as the lack of precise eye distance settings.
Normal_gaussian 4y ago
You can get "headsets" that your phone slots into for less than $50. Pair it with some decent headphones.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
  This is essentially what I'm looking for, but I'm struggling to find a specific product to buy. It seems all of my searches turn up results where I need some dorky hand-held controllers, or I need to be connected to a big gaming PC, or that it's a simple headset but the iPhone doesn't actually fit in it. Do you know any that will fit an iPhone 13? I have some decent noise-cancelling headphones already.
  - Normal_gaussian 4y ago
    Sorry, I'm on Android and haven't used such a headset in a few years.
Guillaume86 4y ago
htc vive flow: https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-flow/overview/ https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-flow/overview/
sintezcs 4y ago
Take a look at this: https://vimeo.com/798231818/660e3a441c?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=194570048 https://vimeo.com/798231818/660e3a441c?embedded=true&source=...
- yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
  It was quite hard for me to follow what this product is or what it is for. It felt more like watching the opening credits of a James Bond movie than a video showing me what product I should buy and why. It also says it isn't actually available for purchase yet.
sokoloff 4y ago
How would having the feeling of watching a movie alone in a dark room while actually sitting on an airplane not be a form of virtual reality?
- lozenge 4y ago
  VR headsets have a scene and use head tracking to make the scene appear stationary. I guess they want to feel like a TV is strapped to their head instead.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
  I've seen many of these clever VR headsets do extra stuff that I don't care about, like allow you to look around a virtual cinema or see other virtual people who might want to virtually watch a movie with me or some nonsense. I don't want any of that. As the adjacent commenter surmised, I just want a television strapped to my head. I don't want other tourists in my peripheral vision, or screaming babies in my ears. Also ideally I'd like to be able to watch a movie with my head at any angle. As I understand it, some (most?) VR headsets will keep the movie screen in the same place, so if you recline your seat and your eyes are pointed more towards the ceiling, the headset allows you to look at the ceiling of the virtual room you're in. I don't want this.
  - dale_glass 4y ago
    > I've seen many of these clever VR headsets do extra stuff that I don't care about, like allow you to look around a virtual cinema or see other virtual people who might want to virtually watch a movie with me or some nonsense. That's kind of the selling point of a VR headset, yes. That's the sort of functionality that got most people interested in it. > I don't want any of that. As the adjacent commenter surmised, I just want a television strapped to my head. This product category has existed for decades, eg: https://www.amazon.com/I-O-Display-iTheaterN-I-Theater-Display-HMD/dp/B000J3AWQA https://www.amazon.com/I-O-Display-iTheaterN-I-Theater-Displ... It should be possible to find an HDMI version somewhere. I don't think they ever got any traction, because this particular use case is so limited, but I'm sure they can still be found somewhere (try ebay, or look for cheap chinese brands taking advantage of interest in VR) That said, IMO the best solution available is the Quest 2. I don't think you'll just find another headset that's going to be affordable and have a good image quality. The hardware in it is excellent. It does all the VR stuff you don't want, but all you seem to need is a video playback app that will make sure to keep the image in front of your face regardless of head position. You won't have company if you don't want it to, the included app simulates an empty cinema except for yourself in it.
akritid 4y ago
Nreal Air is one. Others are launching too. Without the AR parts it is lighter. Works well as plain monitor without any support software. Only slight problem I have with this is it heats up a bit.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
  I've seen a few adverts for the Nreal Air, and it does look interesting. For $380 though I'd like to try them once before buying (and I don't trust the impartiality of any YouTube review people). Do you know if it's possible to try them anywhere?
  - akritid 4y ago
    They don’t even ship where I am. I had to go through postal proxy. If you write some questions I will try to answer them later plus my own comments about any caveats I have found. I think Android is the ideal pairing, using the special software as well. But I only want them as dumb monitor, possibly connected to a keyboard computer to try a new form factor.
  - lagniappe 4y ago
    I have them, they're great. It's like wearing glasses that are 1cm further from your face. It is not something that blocks your lower field of view, which hurts complete immersion.
- akritid 4y ago
  Forgot to mention it needs a couple of adapters to connect it to iPhone.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

nicky0 4y ago

Any VR headset will do that; I know you said no VR but get over that. VR headsets are a head mounted display & audio tech that you can buy. (see e.g. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-stream-movies-in-vr/ https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-stream-movies-in-vr/)

LeoPanthera 4y ago

This used to exist, in the 90s (!), in the form of the Sony Glasstron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasstron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasstron They stopped making them at the end of that decade.

MikusR 4y ago

That's what Quest2 is. You even don't need an iPhone. It's standalone.

tazjin 4y ago
You probably don't want to wear a Quest for a full long-haul flight. They're not that comfortable, even with third-party straps. There's also the whole thing where Quest 2 is quite a bit worse than Quest 1 in some aspects that relate to comfort, such as the lack of precise eye distance settings.

Normal_gaussian 4y ago

You can get "headsets" that your phone slots into for less than $50. Pair it with some decent headphones.

yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
This is essentially what I'm looking for, but I'm struggling to find a specific product to buy. It seems all of my searches turn up results where I need some dorky hand-held controllers, or I need to be connected to a big gaming PC, or that it's a simple headset but the iPhone doesn't actually fit in it. Do you know any that will fit an iPhone 13? I have some decent noise-cancelling headphones already.
- Normal_gaussian 4y ago
  Sorry, I'm on Android and haven't used such a headset in a few years.

Guillaume86 4y ago

htc vive flow: https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-flow/overview/ https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-flow/overview/

sintezcs 4y ago

Take a look at this: https://vimeo.com/798231818/660e3a441c?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=194570048 https://vimeo.com/798231818/660e3a441c?embedded=true&source=...

yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
It was quite hard for me to follow what this product is or what it is for. It felt more like watching the opening credits of a James Bond movie than a video showing me what product I should buy and why. It also says it isn't actually available for purchase yet.

sokoloff 4y ago

How would having the feeling of watching a movie alone in a dark room while actually sitting on an airplane not be a form of virtual reality?

lozenge 4y ago
VR headsets have a scene and use head tracking to make the scene appear stationary. I guess they want to feel like a TV is strapped to their head instead.
yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
I've seen many of these clever VR headsets do extra stuff that I don't care about, like allow you to look around a virtual cinema or see other virtual people who might want to virtually watch a movie with me or some nonsense. I don't want any of that. As the adjacent commenter surmised, I just want a television strapped to my head. I don't want other tourists in my peripheral vision, or screaming babies in my ears. Also ideally I'd like to be able to watch a movie with my head at any angle. As I understand it, some (most?) VR headsets will keep the movie screen in the same place, so if you recline your seat and your eyes are pointed more towards the ceiling, the headset allows you to look at the ceiling of the virtual room you're in. I don't want this.
- dale_glass 4y ago
  > I've seen many of these clever VR headsets do extra stuff that I don't care about, like allow you to look around a virtual cinema or see other virtual people who might want to virtually watch a movie with me or some nonsense. That's kind of the selling point of a VR headset, yes. That's the sort of functionality that got most people interested in it. > I don't want any of that. As the adjacent commenter surmised, I just want a television strapped to my head. This product category has existed for decades, eg: https://www.amazon.com/I-O-Display-iTheaterN-I-Theater-Display-HMD/dp/B000J3AWQA https://www.amazon.com/I-O-Display-iTheaterN-I-Theater-Displ... It should be possible to find an HDMI version somewhere. I don't think they ever got any traction, because this particular use case is so limited, but I'm sure they can still be found somewhere (try ebay, or look for cheap chinese brands taking advantage of interest in VR) That said, IMO the best solution available is the Quest 2. I don't think you'll just find another headset that's going to be affordable and have a good image quality. The hardware in it is excellent. It does all the VR stuff you don't want, but all you seem to need is a video playback app that will make sure to keep the image in front of your face regardless of head position. You won't have company if you don't want it to, the included app simulates an empty cinema except for yourself in it.

akritid 4y ago

Nreal Air is one. Others are launching too. Without the AR parts it is lighter. Works well as plain monitor without any support software. Only slight problem I have with this is it heats up a bit.

yakshaving_jgt 4y ago
I've seen a few adverts for the Nreal Air, and it does look interesting. For $380 though I'd like to try them once before buying (and I don't trust the impartiality of any YouTube review people). Do you know if it's possible to try them anywhere?
- akritid 4y ago
  They don’t even ship where I am. I had to go through postal proxy. If you write some questions I will try to answer them later plus my own comments about any caveats I have found. I think Android is the ideal pairing, using the special software as well. But I only want them as dumb monitor, possibly connected to a keyboard computer to try a new form factor.
- lagniappe 4y ago
  I have them, they're great. It's like wearing glasses that are 1cm further from your face. It is not something that blocks your lower field of view, which hurts complete immersion.
akritid 4y ago
Forgot to mention it needs a couple of adapters to connect it to iPhone.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]