Turning any pair of eyeglasses into a video
display, a new LCD (liquid crystal display) device
may drop computer information into the field of
vision of surgeons, pilots, and others needing
access to data while going about their work.

A Hungarian computer firm called Albacomp Rt. is
using an LCD screen from Sony to produce the
1-ounce, roughly half-inch square "personal
monitor" that mounts on a user's eyeglasses.

The deal between the companies restricts the
product's use to specialty - not consumer -
markets, such as surgery, aviation, security, and
special police units. Surgeons testing the device
in Budapest have reportedly found it useful in
laparoscopic surgery - which places a thin
fibre-optic scope in a body cavity for diagnostic
and surgical purposes - replacing a conventional
monitor used to track the progress of a probe in
the surgery.

To achieve a perceived image the size of a large
TV screen, the backlit, 180,000-pixel screen
projects its image through a lens and mirror to
both eyes.

The company hopes to sell 10,000 of the devices
in 1998.