Valve: journalist tries studio's AR goggles

Valve's rumoured dabbling in hardware has been exposed by Stuart Isett, an NY Times journalist who visited the Seattle based studio and tried on a pair of AR goggles created by the team itself. The writer has given an account of what the hardware entails.

In his report, Isett said of the AR goggles, "Every way I look, the scene shifts, the battle unfolds. I have a crazy contraption strapped to my head: a boxy set of goggles that looks like a 22nd-century version of a View-Master. It immerses me in a virtual world. I whirl one way and see zombies preparing to snack on my flesh. I turn another and wonder what fresh hell awaits."

Isett added, "The goggles I'm wearing - reminiscent of the ones Google recently unveiled to much hoopla - could unlock new game-playing opportunities. This technology could let players lose themselves inside a virtual reality and, eventually, blend games with their views of the physical world."

Here's a photo of Isett wearing Valve's goggles:

In charge of Valve's wearable computing project, Michael Abrash reportedly explained to Isett that the notion of 'credible' games delivered via AR technology could be as little as 3-5 years away.

Isett's report follows recent job postings made by Valve, calling for hardware engineers to help fill a 'void' in the marketplace left by current control methods.

Cheers Eurogamer.