Gadgets

VR has been around for a while, but the technology is still a bit shaky. Text has been really hard to read. For games, it’s not a major problem, but in flight or driving sims, it’s a serious issue: readouts need to be read at a glance. Finnish company Varjo has changed that with its VR-2 Pro headset. The bionic display touts “human-eye resolution” (60 pixels per degree) in the “sweet spot” centre, with a more standard resolution on the peripheral vision where the human eye gets blurrier. The VR-2 Pro also has advanced hand tracking as well, tracking individual fingers, which means you don’t really need hand controllers. All this is SteamVR and OpenVR compatible. At $6,000 it is aimed more at companies then gamers, but if you have the cash, it’s the best VR in town.

Varjo VR-2 Pro $6,000 www.varjo.com

Moleskine has been making nice notebooks for years, and it’s now moving into the digital side of life with its Smart Writing Set Ellipse, which consists of a special notepad and a smart pen. The notepad paper has tiny dots on it to aid the pen to record your handwriting exactly and transfer it in real time to your phone. The phone app can add colours, and also has an OCR function to turn your handwritten notes into searchable text files. It can also record the audio going on during the note taking.

Moleskin Smart Writing Set Ellipse $150 www.moleskine.com

Printers have branched out a lot recently, with machines that will print 3D objects and even waffles. The Prinker S is another ground breaking paradigm shift: it prints temporary tattoos on skin. The tattoos are in cosmetic ink and will last for a day or more (if you don’t wash it), but they will come off with makeup remover or good old soap and water. You simply load up a tattoo image from your phone and print away. Choose from hundreds or make your own. Print in black or colour (colour requires an extra ink pack). We in the gadget cupboard realise it’s thoroughly daft and we want one. Badly.

Prinker S $420 www.prinker.us