FaceDisplay: VR for You, Entertainment for Everyone Else!

Imagine a future where no longer are people using their phones and laptops to ignore their surroundings with only a peripheral view of the outside world, but are instead totally immersed in their 3D headsets. Perhaps this will make visiting a coffee shop in the future a very different experience. On the other hand, what if instead of having a VR experience just for yourself, you shared it with the world around you using an externally facing screen (or three)?

That’s the idea behind the FaceDisplay, made by researchers at Ulm University along with the MIT Media Lab. This device, which adds three external touchscreens to an Oculus Rift DK2, allows users to interact externally with the same virtual environment as the person wearing the headset.

Check out the video below to see it in action — you can decide for yourself whether the headset wearer appreciates the extra “help” with his game!

[h/t IEEE Spectrum]