QJ.NET review: Headplay, your own Personal Cinema System
Headplay is probably every couch potato’s dream. Imagine a TV. Now imagine being able to take it anywhere and everywhere you go (except perhaps in the shower), and being able to watch movies or play games on it anytime you want. That’s the concept for the new “Personal Cinema System” device, Headplay.
Headplay is a head-mounted device; basically, a TV you wear on your head. You can connect it to your gaming consoles, your DVD Player, your iPod, your PC, and maybe your Betamax player if it hasn’t choked on dust yet. If it has a video out function, Headplay can most probably display it. You can also plug in a memory stick and Headplay can run the media files – movies, videos, and images – with its own built-in player.
Once you’re behind the lenses of Headplay it’s pretty easy to just relax and go dead to the world around you. It’s nothing but you and the screen, with the stereo sounds blocking off everything else. It’s like your own movie screen inside your living room.
To read the complete review of Headplay – what it is, what it does, how it plays on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony‘s PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’ Wii on it – click on the link for the full article.
Headplay is probably every couch potato’s dream. Imagine a TV. Now imagine being able to take it anywhere and everywhere you go (except perhaps in the shower), and being able to watch movies or play games on it anytime you want. That’s the concept for the new “Personal Cinema System” device, Headplay.
Headplay is a head-mounted device; a TV you wear on your head. You can connect it to your gaming consoles, your DVD Player, your iPod, your PC, and maybe your Betamax player if it hasn’t choked on dust yet. If it has a video out function, Headplay can most probably display it. You can also plug in a memory stick and Headplay can run the media files – movies, videos, and images – with its own built-in player.
THE HARDWARE
The whole unit is comprised of two main bodies: the Liberator and the Visor. The Liberator is a small black box where every wire is connected to. The Visor is made up of two parts: the hat itself and the optical piece which looks like it was stolen from Scott Summers. There’s also the Navigator – it’s the remote control – that connects the Visor to the Liberator.
The Liberator
The makers had simplicity in mind when they designed it, making sure all we had to worry about was to sit back and enjoy. It operates on a plug-and-play system and there’s only one button on the Liberator; the power button. Talk about simple: if a socket fits, then that’s most likely where it should be.
The only real times you’ll be prevented from moving around while you have the gear on is if it’s plugged into a wall to charge the batteries or if it’s plugged into another bulkier device like a console or a PC. However, you can still walk around about a meter in radius from the Liberator. Or you could just move the fridge beside the couch and be done with it. If you can do the same for the toilet… well, godspeed.
If you’re connected to something portable though – like a USB memory stick, or a portable DVD player – it’s not hard to imagine bringing it along on a road trip… It’s probably best not to drive with it on though. The batteries can last about six hours when it’s fully charged so that’s enough for about three or four movies. Not bad if you’re taking a particularly long plane trip and you don’t like the in-flight movie.
The Navigator
You know how some remotes look simple because they only have a few buttons, but when you use them they’re actually super complicated? That’s not the case with the remote. Navigation is simple with only seven buttons that’s perfectly button-mashable should all be lost. The worst you can do is change the brightness.
The menu itself is instinctive – much like iPod menus – and can easily adjust video and audio settings with a few clicks. It isn’t intrusive either: the menu windows are translucent so you don’t miss anything if you’re watching something.
The Visor
The Visor unit looks and feels like a hat – but is not a hat, so don’t wear it outside lest you walk into a pole – and is comfortable enough to wear for hours. It’s lightweight and won’t slip off easily. It’s held in place by some heavy duty velcro that’s easily adjustable so go and headbang all you want.
The visor can adjust to anything from the size of your head to the grade of your eye. It has a separate lens for each eye, and both can be adjusted for focus and alignment. The optical piece on the hat can also be adjusted to go up or down so you don’t have to constantly move the hat piece.
One disadvantage of giving a large room for adjustability is that it needs a lot of adjustments, and therefore more room for error. If the alignment or the focus isn’t adjusted well, you might notice some blind spots here and there.
As adjustable as it is though, the lenses have their limits. While the focus can be configured for those with weaker eyes, it can only go so far. This is easily remedied by wearing contact lenses or glasses.
PERSONAL CINEMA SYSTEMOnce the adjustments are done it’s pretty much all sitting back. Once you’re behind the lenses of Headplay, it’s pretty easy to just relax and go dead to the world around you. It’s nothing but you and the screen, with the stereo sounds blocking off everything else. It’s like your own movie screen inside your living room.
The video output is pretty sweet: first instinct says the display would be too small to appreciate but it’s actually just right. The display is about the same size as a large TV set would look when viewed from a safe distance – unless you watch TV with your nose to the screen – or the big screen when viewed at eye level from a row in the middle of the theater.
At first try there was some motion sickness involved but that’s just the brain adjusting to having a TV following you instead of the other way around. Once you get used to this fact, it’s all hunky dory. In fact, the best position seems to be lying down or laying back. Preferably on a very comfortable bean bag.
You can hook up a lot of devices onto Headplay, and it can switch between them quite easily even while all of them are turned on. Plug in a console, a PC, and a USB memory card and with a few clicks you can switch between playing Madden while waiting for a group in World of Warcraft, or watch some videos on your USB card while waiting for your downloads to finish.
HEADPLAY FOR STORAGE DEVICESHeadplay’s ability to run media files in USB memory sticks and compact flash cards is truly what makes the Headplay device portable. The seven-button remote shines in the USB function as well. The instinctive values of the simple layout requires little thought to operate.
The menu for watching videos are laid out in a logical hierarchy, and while the music player requires a bit more clicking than a mouse-user is accustomed to, it’s still fool-proof. The image viewer can also play slideshows with its own built-in player with Powerpoint-like transitions: image functions to flip, rotate, and zoom are even available.
HEADPLAY FOR VIDEOS AND MOVIES
Being able to watch movies on Headplay is one of its strongest features, since it was really designed to be a portable movie screen. Headplay can run the most common media formats, including mp3, mpeg, avi, and XviD. You can watch movies, listen to music, and browse through your jpg pictures anywhere you go.
Headplay with iPods
One of the general complaints about iPod Videos is that the screen’s so small that some find it almost impossible to watch anything on it, but Headplay offers a solution by giving iPod videos get the blow up treatment on its screen. We’ve tried it: you’ll just need a TV out cable for your iPod and connect it to the Headplay unit.
There’s a hitch with the quality of the video though, as some details are lost. However, this can be easily remedied by changing your videos’ compression rates. This shouldn’t worry you though, because whether you broadcast your iPod videos on TV or PC, resolutions are always an iffy thing to deal with when enlarged.
Headplay with PCs and Macs
We got the treat to watch TMNT on our laptop too. We fed a DVD of the CG-animated movie into the computer and let it play: all we needed was popcorn and we definitely would have been in our own virtual theaters.
As we stated earlier, once you’re watching a movie – a graphically pleasing movie with blockbuster graphics to boot – and you can easily be absorbed. No worries about folks behind you kicking your seat, no noisy children running up and down the aisles, and most especially, no cellphones ringing every five or so minutes from the crowd.
A minor note of caution though. For movie goers who always have a soft spot throbbing in their hearts, you might want to steer clear away from movies that could reduce you to tears: Schindler’s List, Bambi, the works. Getting teary eyed while using Headplay might prove to be an inconvenience.
HEADPLAY FOR GAMES
The visuals are pretty stunning as it doesn’t lose any detail from the source. Minute details are just as clear as the humongous ones and color doesn’t suffer.
Headplay with the next-gen consoles
In the Xbox 360’s demo for Beautiful Katamari for example, you get to appreciate the size of your Katamari and also be able to snicker at the plight of the struggling golfer stuck between the duck and the cow. And in XBLA’s Boom Boom Rocket, no color is lost and you can clearly see each individual flare streak off. But above all, nothing beats seeing Big Daddy make its first appearance in BioShock when nothing else can avert your eyes from the screen.
Shooters may actually be one of the best genres for Headplay. You get to experience and immerse yourself in the game more because all you see is the screen. You get to be more into your character, seeing behind their eyes. And with that it has to be said that we can’t wait to try this baby out on Halo 3. In the meantime, Headplay on the Wii’s Elebits and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is more than enough to fill the void while we wait.
Though the Nintendo Wii might have its fair share of games oriented more toward “family fun,” we’re not entirely sure if the same concept adapts well with the Headplay unit. Since only one Headplay set can be enjoyed by one person at a given time (for, err, obvious reasons), this is when single-player titles like Zelda: Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 shine.
Headplay works just as well with the Sony PlayStation 3. Each lock of Nariko’s hair is still in place in Heavenly Sword, and the chains of her gargantuan weapon are visible as she dances her death whirls. Meanwhile, you won’t have any problems aiming your crosshairs at Triad goons while running down the streets – and tables, and rails, and walls – of Hong Kong in Stranglehold.
Headplay with PC and Mac OS X platforms
Although Headplay works just as well with the PC and Mac, the resolution only goes up to 1024×768. If you insist on working with a larger resolution, the device will accommodate but the screen will crop out what can’t fit. This is not advisable while playing FPS games like Medal of Honor. It’s bad enough when you get fragged while the whole screen is visible but with that handicap, you’re just askin’ for a whoopin’.
Playing MMORPGS games like World of Warcraft using Headplay has one big pro: we must insist that you watch the cinematics. Throw in a surround-sound system and you have CG nirvana. There were some issues with reading during that game as some of us who’ve tried it found the text a little blurry, but a customized UI took care of that.
HEADPLAY
Despite some minor technical obstacles, Headplay achieves that which it was made for: a portable movie screen. As a gadget which allows you to watch movies in a different way than what you’re used to, Headplay is definitely a revolution in portable home entertainment.
Considering this is a quick impression, you might want to come back and read our more in-depth reviews on using the Headplay in the future. We’ll be getting a closer look at other MMORPGs – World of Warcraft included – and games on the next-gen consoles and the PSP. We can’t wait to try it out on Halo 3 when it comes out.
Headplay is currently on sale and is priced at US$ 499.99. It’s definitely a cool thing to own and might even be a viable option if you’re planning to buy a TV. If you also travel a lot but find yourself idle in transit, Headplay would fit well into your must-haves list.