2 stories here. The first is a patent found by the website Patent Bolt, describing either a set of glasses or helmet to be worn by a user, and a reflected laser-based stereo image to be displayed appearing in front of the user to focal infinity. What is different about this than most VR HMDs (head mounted displays), is that you can still retain vision of the real world behind the image, where most current displays cut you off completely from reality. This is not only safer but also opens up a path for augmented reality and not just virtual reality. This patent was filed in 3Q 2010 and it is somewhat similar to Apple's patent from 2008, but Apple's patent seems to not be reflective, resulting in the same closed off drawback as other designs.
More patent images after the jump. The other story is a diverging one where one crafty fellow who took matters into his own hands by creating his own Kinect VR experience by combining a PC, a Sony HMZ-T1 HMD, a Kinect, a TrackIR5 (for head tracking), and the game Skyrim.
