Watching movies or any programming simultaneously with others is fun partly because you are doing something together and thats the time when you bond by cracking jokes and passing the popcorn. But inventions such as the personal itheatre which lets each person view and listen to his own choice of entertainment beats the very purpose of getting together. Even worse is this iTheatrev which you can put on and connect to the video iPod for watching your entertainment.

The iTheaterV takes video from the source and displays it on two tiny LCDs in a pair of glasses to create the illusion of looking at a much larger screen. The virtual display is said to be a 65in screen at a distance of 2.5m.

It works great and even has a battery life of 4-5 hours with a weight of just 70 grams. But this is going to increase the cocooning effect as I call it of individuals. They may be surrounded by millions of other humans but are completely alone, gadgets such as this will only increase what the iPod started, the increasingly lonely lifestyle that is now becoming the bane of many. After all so many of us would attest to finding wonderful friends amongst strangers whom we met just 'by chance' ; not possible if you were wearing the iTheatrev (you wouldnt even notice that cute guy or girl in the other compartment for example). Sigh. Available in Japan from next month for $320 onwards.

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