NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Glasses

As we've already mentioned, the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision kit consists of rechargeable 3D shutter glasses, an infrared emitter / base station, cables, software and a few handy accessories. 

Let's start with the glasses. Dare we say, the first thing you'll notice is that they're more stylish than most of the other 3D glasses out there (remember ELSA's 3D Revelators? Yikes.). There's a power button and indicator LED on the top of one side (visible at the upper-right in the image above), and a USB port on the underside. The USB port is used to charge the glasses, which can operate for about 40 hours between charges. 40 hours of use should be plenty for a couple of days of gaming--that is unless you're a marathon gamer that never sleeps.

The GeForce 3D Vision glasses work by blocking the light to alternating eyes. Each lens is essentially a monochrome LCD display that can be turned on or off. When off, light can pass though; when on, it cannot. This effect allows only certain frames in a game to be viewed by each eye, and each alternating frame is slightly offset, which in turn is perceived by our brains as a 3D image. Much in the same way our eyes actually work. We should note that the glasses provide better viewing angles and resolution than most passive glasses, through the use of higher-quality optics. 

To accompany the glasses, NVIDIA includes a couple of additional nose-pads, a carrying case, and a micro-fiber cloth for safely removing fingerprints, etc. A pair of USB cables are includes as well (not pictured) for charging the glasses and for connecting the base to a PC, as is a driver CD with some sample imagery. A DVI to HDMI cable is included as well, along with a VESA 3-pin stereo cable, to accommodate certain televisions.

Which brings us to the base station / IR emitter. The IR emitter is used to sync the glasses to whatever is being displayed on screen. The emitter transmits data directly to the wireless shutter glasses, within a 20 foot radius. The emitter also features a real-time 3D depth adjustment dial on its back. This feature is crucial for those that tend to get pseudo-motion sickness using stereoscopic 3D glasses like these. Turning the dial alters the 3D effect, which can help uses more easily get acclimated to wearing the glasses.