Insight Media has been stating for some time that cell-phone video and television, as well as smart-phone data and communications functions, will be the killer apps that turn head-wearable displays into a high-volume business. That’s not going to happen overnight since cell-phone video and TV are still in their infancy, and smart phones have only recently started expanding their audience beyond rabid Blackberrians. Consumers must first find the value in these services, learn where and how they wish to use them, and then discover where and when it makes sense for them to close out the world by plugging a head-wearable display into their cell phone.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor
of MDTV Retailer

Part of this process will be learning when the cell phone’s built-in display - no matter how sophisticated - is simply not big enough for the business or entertainment function at hand. It will take time, but it will inevitably happen.

So, we are always interested in new instances of companies taking more rapid steps down this path, and a story from Asia Pulse Businesswire yesterday provided one.

It seems that Kowon Technology Co., a South Korean JV with Kopin Corp. (Taunton, MA.; www.kopin.com), whose major business until now seems to have been manufacturing and selling Kopin microdisplays and modules, "will unveil a piece of video eyewear for mobile entertainment next week."

Indeed, the new MSP-209 is already on Kowon’s website. The lightweight MVS - for mobile video spectacles - weigh only 62 grams, making them the world’s lightest, says Kowon. The light weight is due in part to the lightweight Kopin microdisplays, which measure 4.2×4.8mm and weigh only 2 grams each.

The QVGA displays are incorporated in Kopin’s BDM, or Binocular Display Module, which makes it much easier for customers to produce video eyewear since display mounting and alignment issues are already taken care of. A separate power control kit, which weighs about 40 grams, contains a lithium-polymer battery that lasts for 8 hours.

By the end of the year, Kowon plans to launch an upgraded version that provides TV-quality resolution, Asia Pulse Businesswire said.

Earlier this month, Kopin announced that Icuiti’s DV920 Video Eyewear, which uses Kopin VGA displays, will be sold at 50 of The Sharper Image’s largest retail stores, and will also be available from The Sharper Image on-line. This made The Sharper Image the first major retailer to sell head-wearable displays, Kopin said. The DV920 weights 99 grams.

These are steps along the path to head-wearable displays - or video eyeware or mobile video spectacles - becoming high-volume consumer products.