Off topic a little...
I'm wondering why, after over 10 years (or even more) they start developing VR again. Remember playing Quake once for half an hour on VR helmet when i was a kid, and it was kind of fun but nothing exciting... Some time later I found out that they drop VR technology duo to some technical difficulties - people starts to feel funky using it :D
And now after all of these years someone suddenly presents same old technology, but with glasses type thing not a helmet and obviously better resolution.
Question is: why now? what happened in that long period of time.
btw. I don't think they solved old issues.
and ouya? no comments on that, have my phone to call people (which I rarely do ^^) and my PC for work/games. All i need ;)
Actually VR never stopped being developed.
I remember Virtual Reality boom at the time the movie "The Lawnmower Man" hit the cinemas and tapes. It was the firs time I was able to try such an helmet like you mentioned during an exposition.
And once again, as John Carmack mentioned, for the 20 years the technology hasn't improved much (or at least not to the point to be a mainstream product). But VR is an extremely complex subject, still in research and improving every day.
It's also an expensive field to search, and without a "quick to put in shelves" solution I guess few were inclined to invest in such a technology.
In fact, since the first VR helmets, the impulse has been on screen, leading us to the HD monitors/TVs we "all" have in our homes today.
Also, the issue is the fact that goggle-type devices (like VR helmets) are not the most natural device at the moment. Same for 3D goggles which are not yet universal and are being looked as option but not definite technology.
Anyway, it's almost like spatial exploration/rocket building, it is huge hightech works over/for decades.