I should be used to sticking odd contraptions on my head during plane flights. I’ve planted a Meta Quest 3S and Apple Vision Pro over my eyes as my in-flight entertainment and tried not to get motion sick while imagining what other passengers think of my sci-fi asshattery. On my latest six-hour, cross-country flight, I took my Nintendo Switch 2 out of my bag, then dug in for a USB cable, two pairs of augmented reality (AR) glasses, and finally a large power brick that was supposed to make this entire tedious experience work together.
Two players can indeed play multiplayer with two AR glasses on one system, and it was a wild ride in my sardine can-sized seat. Getting to that point just requires a rainforest’s worth of cables and gadgets thick enough to choke any constrained space—let alone the three inches of legroom airlines grant you for economy these days.
See Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon
Viture Mobile Dock If we're trying to figure out new use cases for AR Glasses, multiplayer gaming is the oddest one yet. Pros Easy setup
Easy setup Dock build quality is top tier
Dock build quality is top tier Makes Switch 2 accessible with AR Glasses Cons Most cables are not long enough
Most cables are not long enough Battery runs out fast with connected device and glasses
Battery runs out fast with connected device and glasses We need better use cases for AR glasses
The $130 Viture Pro Mobile Dock may be the weirdest way I’ve ever used to play on handhelds. It’s a device that takes the screen output from devices like the Steam Deck, Switch 2, a smartphone, or even an HDMI TV stick and pushes out duplicated pictures for up to two AR glasses at once. It can prove very useful for using AR glasses with more devices, or if you need to replace a screen with AR glasses. For example, Nintendo’s handhelds don’t natively support AR glasses via their USB-C port, but the Switch 2 and the original Switch can thanks to the dock. Viture even sells a $20 mount to hook the dock to the Switch 2, which also operates as a limited external battery. In very specific use cases, the dock can ensure you and a friend can play split-screen multiplayer together without an extra screen. It’s nominally useful for when you’re on a long plane flight where you and a partner want to play the same game side-by-side without needing to squint at an 8-inch screen propped up precariously on a rumbling tray table. It will also make you question just how close your friends are willing to get to you.
See Viture Pro Mobile Dock at Amazon
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