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A Bloomberg terminal is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Bloomberg is testing a new terminal with a virtual-reality wearable headset that would replace the mountain of monitors traders now use.Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Bloomberg LP is showing off a new terminal with a virtual-reality wearable headset to replace the mountain of monitors that many users pile high. The result could one day be rooms of traders who all resemble Geordi La Forge from Star Trek.

The technology uses Oculus Rift, the virtual-reality headsets made by Oculus VR Inc., and allows the user to look at more screens than would be practical in real life. Bloomberg gave a demo of the virtual workspace to Quartz reporter Zachary Seward, who points out that this would make the workstation portable, three-dimensional, and wider than ever.

Oculus VR is the virtual-reality company that Facebook Inc. bought earlier this year for about $2-billion (U.S.) – the social networking giant's first hardware investment. Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg are making a bet that virtual reality could be the social networking platform of the future.

Bloomberg is showing off the headset technology at its Next Big Thing summit in California this week, but it isn't anywhere near being rolled out to the masses. By Mr. Seward's account, the experience can leave users feeling a bit nauseous.

You can read the full account of the virtual Bloomberg terminal and see images here.

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