The Avegant Glyph may leave you looking a little like Cyclops from the X-Men, but if the technology behind the personal theatre device is to be believed, users are hardly going to mind the stares they get while using it.

However, the Glyph shouldnt be called an AR or VR device, according to the makers. While the headset creates a screen that floats in front of your face (or at least appears to), it doesnt wrap around you like virtual reality does, and because the technology is only designed to view existing media, not place virtual objects in the real world, its not augmented reality.

Instead, the headset uses high-definition projection technology that incorporates 2m micromirrors into an array, transforming light into pixels in the same way advanced digital projection systems at cinemas do. But instead of shining a picture onto an IMAX screen, the headset uses low-power LEDs to send the image directly into your eyes, immersing you in the action. Its the equivalent to sitting eight feet away from an 80-inch screen with high definition, and still allows you to see whats going on above, below and around the headset.

The device can connect to your smartphone, tablet or desktop, and beams whatever is on screen directly into your eyes. The company raised almost $1.5m (£996,000) on Kickstarter a year ago to build thousands of the headsets, and is now preparing to ship the Glyph to those initial supporters, with latecomers now able to buy one for $699.