I have a buddy who flies a BO 105 on EMS in the US and he is on a program that has been using ANVIS 9 for the last year or so.
He said that they are unreal. He flips them down on start up and back up on shutdown. They now do the high recon to the left due to the proximity of the roof and it seems to work ok. Most of their flights are less than one hour and he said you get used to the weight on your neck.
The FAA have certified their use and I believe they can also be used as a corrective lens. The impression I got from him was that basing your view of NVG on anything other than the absolute latest technology may be misleading.
Imagine if we were only starting to fly IFR now....I'm sure that there would be much resistance. I have no doubt that within ten years goggles will be the norm for all night ops.