Imaging goggles use passive light gathering to improve vision in near-dark conditions. They grant the user the ability to see in darkness, also called darkvision—but because of the restricted field of view and lack of depth perception these goggles provide, they impose a -4 penalty on all Spot and Search checks made by someone wearing them.

Imaging vision goggles must have at least a little light to operate. A cloudy night provides sufficient ambient light, but a pitch-black cave or a sealed room doesn't. For situations of total darkness, the goggles come with an infrared illuminator that, when switched on, operates like a flashlight whose light is visible only to the wearer (or anyone else wearing imaging goggles).