With the Avegant Glyph just about set to start shipping to the public, what we found was a much more polished headset, about to launch in a world that may need some time to warm up to it.

Up to this point, we've been of two minds about the Avegant Glyph. On one hand, the tech is fascinating and the idea itself is an original one (though it's since inspired some copycats, which are in full bloom at CES this year). It's a seemingly innocent pair of headphones that you can slide over your eyes for a private theater experience, courtesy of a unique "Retinal Imaging Technology," which reflects light from a single LED through a series of mirrors that end up as a high-res image for your eyeballs.

On the other hand, though, we couldn't help but think how awkward it would be to wear the Glyph over our eyes in public. Putting wacky headgear on my noggin is par for the course in this line of work, but "regular" folks today may only know how to gawk at people wearing these across from them on the subway.