These XR glasses are the only way I want to watch movies from now on

I’ve mentioned once or twice how I often struggle with XR glasses. It’s not their fault, I just can’t crack the secret to the motion sickness that kicks in mere moments after I slip on a new pair. Thankfully, though, I’m not scared to try, try again. I keep going back for another bite at the apple, hoping to find the one pair that finally works for me. This time, that meant trying on Viture’s new flagship, The Beast.

Based on their specs, I figured these might be the XR glasses I’d been waiting for, so I headed to the Venetian, ducked behind a door, and ended up in the world of Pandora. Here’s how it went.

Bigger, brighter, bolder

As an infrequent wearer of XR glasses, I’m never sure how a new pair will feel on my face. However, since the team at Viture aimed to make The Beast its most immersive pair of glasses to date, I entered my meeting with reasonably high expectations. After all, it’s important to strike the right balance between comfort and capability, as there’s little chance I’ll wear something if it’s not comfortable, regardless of how good it looks or sounds.

As I slowly customized my pair, though, I realized that the team at Viture had put considerable thought into the entire experience. Although the weight of The Beast is noticeable on the front of my face, I never found it uncomfortable, as there are enough different nose pads to attach, allowing for a more cushioned fit. I could have had prescription lenses attached, too, but I’m lucky enough not to need those yet. If I did, they looked easy enough to snap on or off, at least.

Anyway, as I finally slipped on The Beast, which was tethered to an iPhone that served as my trackpad, I quickly understood what the Viture crew was talking about. The Beast came to life, wrapping me in a 58-degree projection that felt as natural as if I were watching TV — right down to its static position in my field of view. I’ll admit I hadn’t expected this, as it caught me off guard when the Avatar: Fire and Ash trailer stayed still as I looked down to orient myself on the trackpad.

What started as confusion quickly turned to comfort, though, as I realized the stationary projection meant I wasn’t getting dizzy right away, allowing me to get lost in the brightly colored trailer. You can switch this, of course, allowing your content to follow your head, which I could understand if you’re used to the XR sensation. I, however, was happy enough with a picture that didn’t move paired with punchy Harman-tuned speakers in each arm.

One piece of Viture’s design that I’ll admit I didn’t quite love is The Beast’s need to be tethered to your phone. I know it’s pretty standard for XR glasses, allowing them to save space on a battery, but I can’t say I missed the feeling of getting tangled up like I’m wearing wired headphones for the first time in several years. It might not be as bad if you tether yourself to a laptop or a gaming handheld like the Lenovo Legion Go 2, though.

A brave new blue world

As I got more comfortable with The Beast, I started to explore some of its other modes. I pressed some of the buttons located at the bottom of the arms, switching between brightness and volume adjustments before experimenting with the different view options. Then, almost by accident, I activated the 2D to 3D upscaling, much to the joy of the Viture team.

I wasn’t sure why they were so excited at first, but then they suggested I go back into the trailer for James Cameron’s latest Avatar flick one more time. I did, and immediately understood what had changed. The clip that had just been presented in 2D — albeit a very good-looking 2D — was now remarkably believable in 3D. It wasn’t as if The Beast had simply separated the picture into layers, either; the depth between the foreground and background felt pretty believable and as close to natural as I could have expected.

Unfortunately, though, it also triggered my motion sickness. I got a little dizzy, toggled it back to 2D, and then decided to give my eyes a break. It’s still impressive, and I absolutely think it’s worth trying if your stomach is stronger than mine. I just didn’t want to push my luck with a long day of CES exploring ahead of me.

As I took off The Beast, though, I was lucky enough to listen in on another XR enthusiast as he sat down for a demo. He explained to the team that he had a flight simulator set up at home and was looking for something that felt a little more immersive than his existing monitor setup.

They set him up with his own pair of The Beast, detailing that he wouldn’t need an external power source and explaining how to run his simulator through the Viture app along the way. And, although I was still a little queasy, I found myself a little envious of what sounded like a pretty cool setup. I probably won’t have a chance to replicate it without a steady stream of anti-nausea medication, but hearing his enthusiasm reminded me what XR glasses are all about.

They might not work for me and my needs, but if you’re looking for a big, bright, immersive pair of frames, it’s hard to find a major flaw with Viture’s The Beast — other than perhaps the three-week delay between placing your pre-order and receiving your frames. But hey, that should be enough time to set up your flight simulator, right?