Headset turns video iPod into big screen

A Bellevue, Wash.-based company plans to release a new headset this year that makes it seem like you're watching the video iPod on a big-screen TV, according to a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

eMagin's "EyeBud" displays video from the iPod in front of one eye, using optical technology designed to make the picture appear larger and with a higher resolution than the iPod's screen, according to the story. The company's CEO likened the headset, expected to retail for as much as $599, to watching a 105-inch display from 12 feet away, the story said.

Others, however, are likening the EyeBud's appearance to that of a "Star Trek" borg and wondering whether the gadget takes away from the iPod's inherent's coolness. Engadget's Ryan Block, for example, says, "You, too, can rock a 105-inch 'sized' screen in your field of vision while managing to look merely like some bizarre technomad, a marked improvement from previously straight up creepifying HUDs."

eMagin is one of many companies showcasing new products at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.