Virtual i-O glasses
The Virtual i-O glasses were one of the few interesting items to
appear from Escom while they owned the Amiga. In a press release marked the 28th July 1995,
the Escom subsidiary Virtual Products GmbH announced exclusive
rights to distribute the glasses in Europe.
The i-glasses, weighing just eight ounces, were a low-end virtual
reality headset. Two versions of the glasses were released - a PC
specific version that came with custom software, and a video
version that could be used with any TV-compatible computer,
including the Amiga. However, the video version did not support the
head tracking support found in the PC version. This essentially
made it a personal display unit rather than a gateway to a virtual
3D world. The VR glasses were sold in Escom stores and advertised in the national press.
The glasses were badly supported in the Amiga market. Only two
games are known to support the glasses - Gloom Deluxe and the Nemac
IV Director's Cut CD.
Despite making a number of influential friends, including
IBM and Microsoft, the virtual i-O was a short-lived phenomenon. A
few years after Escom entered liquidation the American developers
filed for chapter 11 proceedings (an indication that the company
were reorganizing to better handle their debts).
If you are interested in the I-glasses themselves, read Dr. Peter
Kittels Usenet posting on the
subject.
View advert for the Virtual i-O
Glasses (110K)
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Last Update: 22/6/2002
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