headwear
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Half-Life 2 officially supported on Oculus Rift, beta gets shipped to developers
Gordon Freeman, in your head. Well, that's the plan, with Oculus now offering official beta support for a headset-based Half-Life 2. There's a few known issues to iron out already, including an overly-dim UI and issues with the zoom. But even at this early stage, it appears to lack any gameplay deal-breakers we've seen elsewhere. As mentioned by Valve's Joe Ludwig on the Oculus developer forums, however, the current build is a bit rougher around the edges compared to the Team Fortress 2 beta that launched earlier this year. Developers with the necessary Rift hardware can pick up the files on Steam or follow the developments on Oculus' own forums -- but no comments about headcrab hats and wearables, okay?
The Road to Mordor: A conspiracy of hats
The hat, as they say, makes the man. Or the woman. Or the Dwarf. Unfortunately, in Lord of the Rings Online, the hat often makes the man completely silly. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but the hats in LotRO have garnered the reputation as being goofy as all get out. Sure, this is hardly a fresh observation, but I've wanted to address it in this column for a while now, so it might as well be today! Rumor has it that Turbine's artists drew upon actual medieval outfits to lend an authentic, renaissance faire vibe to the game. This is perhaps why there is such a distinct fashion style in LotRO that you don't see in other MMOs. Our modern sensibilities, with such fashion achievements as tank tops and crocs, make hauberks and codpieces seem quaint and ridiculous. Truly, we are seeing the height of human civilization in 2010. So while it's laudable that Turbine tried to give us the real deal, that doesn't quite excuse the fact that many of the hats -- especially the light armor versions -- are unbearably weird. It's as if, as The Pix'led Life speculated, there's a conspiracy of hats afoot: "Let's see what we can make them swallow!" one artist cackles. "Ooh, I know -- how about 16 varieties of dunce hats?" laughs another. I kid, I kid. There are 17. Hit the jump and let's take a terrifying journey through headgear that seeks to conquer Sauron by making the Enemy laugh himself to death.
Graduation cap modded with LED array, steals show (video)
Yomo Gaocho, an enterprising young man about to graduate from Northwestern University, has put together pretty much the coolest grad cap mod we've seen. Not that we're experts on the subject or anything, but the array of 256 LED lights adorning his cap surely makes for one of the geekiest ways to bid adieu to one's undergraduate studies. He's taking it one step further too, by programming animation patterns into the white LED arrangement and offering advertising space -- we're not kidding -- for any unorthodox companies that may wish to have him as a walking billboard. See Yomo's creation on video after the break, or hit the source for a guide on how to make your own light-fantastic grad cap.
Vuzix Wrap 920AR augmented reality video eyewear: can you afford to look like this?
CES 2010 might go down in history as the show of silly glasses, and Vuzix isn't going to cede any ground to 3D: it's launching a new augmented reality headset called the Wrap 920AR, which features a built-in stereoscopic camera that allows reality and computer-generated imagery to blend in front of your eyes. To be clear, that means you'll actually be looking at reality on a 1,504 x 480 screen while you wear these glasses, but what's one layer of virtualized abstraction between friends who don't mock each other for wearing ridiculous $800 video glasses?
Researchers cram bio-signal monitoring system inside baseball cap
Never before has headgear been so intrinsically linked with actual brain waves. Thanks to a team of researchers looking to create a method for "continuously monitoring high-temporal resolution brain dynamics without requiring conductive gels applied to the scalp," a new baseball cap has been created to do the trick. Said hat conceals five embedded dry electrodes which contact the wearer's forehead, while a single electrode behind the left ear acquires EEG signals. From there, the data is transferred wirelessly and can be processed in real-time to determine a driver's level of drowsiness, for instance. The gurus behind the invention have high hopes for its future, and they've already envisioned it being used in a plethora of medical scenarios and for controlling home electronics. To those about to rock this -- prepare for some serious hat-hair.
Plush Pac-Man headgear munches on ghosts
We've seen some pretty off-kilter headwear in our day, but this plush Pac-Man helmet apparatus is begging for a top slot. This uber-retro head hides no secret in-ear headphones, Bluetooth chip, or whispering voice that alerts you of colored ghosts approaching from the rear, but you're sure to be the life of the party if you roll up with this on your noggin. Reportedly, this spectacular blast from the not-too-distant past is available in both child and adult sizes, but considering that quantities "are limited," we'd suggest coughing up that $29.99 real quick like if this just skyrocketed to the top of your must-have list.[Via Core77]
Remote Wrangler straps remotes, gizmos to your noggin
Let's face it, not everyone can afford to go out and blow hundreds of dollars on a swank universal touchscreen remote or home automation system in order to simplify their life, and for those who are forced to juggle the half-dozen or so remotes required to bring their AV system to life, this here invention is for you. The clever, albeit ungainly Remote Wrangler is a unique (and admittedly unsightly) piece of headgear that turns your average couch potato into a professional wrestler wannabe, and also creates a remote control magnet all around one's face. By utilizing the oh-so-versatile Velcro, this device enables remotes, iPods, junk food, Wiimotes, caffeine pills, and an essentially limitless amount of other objects to flank your dome, theoretically saving you hours on end hunting under murky couch cushions for long lost controllers. As if this weren't enough to warrant an immediate purchase, it also doubles as a battery-powered temporal massager, and while we can't confirm, it looks to come in several editions including one with a built-in afro for the disco set. So if you're single (or would like to be), have no friends whatsoever, and don't even mind personal humiliation, keep an eye out for the Remote Wrangler to hit electronics prank departments sometime in the distant future.
