You Think Driving While on the Cell Phone is Distracting?

Email in your eye? Next-generation video screen glasses could lay messages or GPS over your field of vision

But one company specialising in cutting edge visual technology waIsraeli company Lumus has shown off the PD-18-2, which may look like a cumbersome pair of shades but allow the user to see high-quality images while they walk.nts to beam information directly into your field of vision.

Lumus, an Israeli company, specialises in what it calls Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology.  It's latest product is the PD-18-2, which may look to the untrained eye like a cumbersome pair of sunglasses. But inside the lenses of the glasses, the user can see high-quality full colour images.

Products like this are already on the market for professional and military use, but where the next-generation PD-18-2 differs is that users can see though the spectacles too, instead of having the images block their vision. The translucent lenses allow for what the manufacturer calls 'augmented vision', overlaying images or graphics over your usual field of vision.

They are designed for professionals such as pilots, surgeons and soldiers but there are hopes that it can be adapted for the consumer market so people could watch film or TV on the move, or play video games as they walk around.

We commute to work approximately 1 hr each way daily, up a main artery towards Washington D.C.  Whenever we see someone doing something stupid in the car, we tray to ascertain whether they are using a cell phone or not.  I would estimate that they are about half the time.

If this technology became available to the DC commuters, I'm sure that some subset of them would adopt the technology, and that it would start to be a significant source of accidents.  But then, the same people are already on their cell phones and texting while driving, so maybe it would only make it a little worse.