Virtual reality is the next big trend in phones.
eyePhone*, n;
An experimental device that melds virtual reality headsets with the technology you love on your phone. Instead of carrying around a lightweight phone, the eyePhone will fit heavily around your head similar to the Oculus Rift headset. When you turn on the eyePhone, you’ll see a screen about the size of a modern smartphone floating in front of you. It’s slightly transparent to keep you from running into trees, and no one else can see the screen before you. The phone will perform all the basics, including call and text, and hopes to integrate with major mobile applications in the future.
The virtual reality comes in different forms depending on the app. A call starts with a choice of phone: there are retro rotarys, recent push-buttons, and basic touchscreens. Just align your hands with the screen you see in front of you and dial away as if you were really using one of these phones. Rotary is a top choice among hipster beta testers, holding their hands out straight ahead and slowly moving their fingers part of the way through a circle. A few apps are also already integrated, including email, which immerses you in a desolate or overflowing room of envelopes (depending on how you manage your inbox) and is controlled by your thumbs typing in midair, and Facebook, which reads all of your high school frenemies’ posts as you scroll through your news feed.
The eyePhone will completely eliminate any semblance of stealth phone activity, like texting during class or taking pictures of strangers’ outfits. The creators have plans to make the headset fold up”thinner than the Motorola Razr” so it will fit in your pocket, but for now, it will hang around your neck like very heavy reading glasses. No timeline yet on a release for the new eyePhone, though developers can get their hands on a headset by tweeting, “Someone, give me an #eyePhone!”
