Sometimes you find that your lifestyle, or (in some cases) your job, means that you parent somewhat differently than may be the norm. This rare moment of self-reflection came when I was standing in my daughter's room, watching her sleep through a pair of night-vision goggles. This way, I can make sure she actually is sleeping without turning on a light and perhaps waking her, or alerting her to my presence as I bear witness to whatever level of shenanigans she's getting up to.

I wonder, idly, if there is enough ambient light to see the outline of my head. I then wonder if this is how alien abduction memories begin.

Ars Technica reviewed JAKKS Pacific's first pass at night vision technology back in September of last year, but that design had a few flaws. The goggles strapped onto your face too tightly and only allowed one eye to see what was around you in the dark. This made it almost impossible to move normally, and it reduced the toy from a tactical advantage to a fun novelty.

With this second stab at the design, JAKKS has fixed many of these problems: now the goggles operate more like binoculars. They fit around your neck, and they're brought to your face only when you need to see something in the dark. Both eyes also now have a screen in front of them, with a dial to adjust interpupillary distance, so you get a nice, clear, large image of what's going on in front of you.

This makes the product, dare I say, useful? If you don't mind carrying around a large black lump of plastic with you that looks vaguely threatening, this thing has all sorts of uses. My apartment building has a scary-looking staircase going down to the basement entrance outside, and you have to walk away from it when taking out your garbage. Last night I peeked over the railing with the goggles on, peering down into the jet black. All I saw were bum-leavins', and no ninja-attackers. I could rest easy.

Keep in mind that these products don't use true night-vision; instead they operate as an infra-red flashlight, with an optical sensor that can pick up infra-red light. That means that with the goggles on you can see the light coming from your Wii sensor bar, or from your remote control, and if you look at another set of goggles you'll see a blaze of light; it's not like you could get two sets and hunt a friend who also has one; you'd look like beacons to each other when switched on. The goggles also take five AA batteries, making them expensive to feed. The good news is the product is now less expensive, with the binocular-style coming in at $59.99.

The EyeClops Night Vision 2.0 goggles are a fun, inexpensive toy with many neat uses... especially if you're the only person with a set and you're taking part in a midnight Nerf-war, which is something you should plan. The binocular design is a big improvement from the strap-on design of the first set, which took away a large amount of your equilibrium. This is one of those rare times a company makes a product cheaper, yet better.

Verdict: Buy