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LAS VEGAS — When you put on the Royole-X, the world around you disappears entirely.
The headset is being marketed as the "first foldable smart mobile theater," complete with high-resolution images and immersive audio. Its capabilities were demonstrated at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas Monday evening.
While wearing the Royale-X on the crowded conference floor, the device completely blocked out all surrounding sounds. With a black interior framing a 3,300-PPI resolution screen, it really does feel like a miniature movie theater.
The headset can readily be adjusted to accommodate different head sizes and eye spacing. A touch wheel on one of the headphones controls the device, which has a battery that supports five hours of movie viewing, according to a company representative.
Just tried out the @RoyoleOfficial Mobile Theater and it totally did feel like an awesome personal theater #CES2016pic.twitter.com/QBtIesFmWv
— Natalie Crofts (@njcrofts) January 5, 2016
Visuals can be fed to the screen through an external controller by five different methods: HDMI, wireless streaming, Wi-Fi sharing, USB and internal storage. In addition to displaying videos, the headset can also be used to play games.
The surprisingly comfortable device folds to fit in an accompanying carrier case for easier transport, but would still take up a significant amount of space in a backpack. The Royole-X comes in black, red and white.
One negative of the headset is that users might get some stares if they wear it in public, but since they won't be able to see the people looking at them that probably doesn't matter. Another is that at least for now prices start at $699.
Check KSL.com and writer Natalie Crofts' Twitter feed for more CES 2016 updates. The conference officially starts Wednesday and runs through Saturday, but additional press events are held Monday and Tuesday.