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Optinvent Ora AR glasses boasts 'Flip-Vu' dual position display, aims to take on Google (hands-on)
While Google Glass might be the darling of the augmented reality wearable market, other companies like Vuzix and Epson have had skin in the game for much longer than the folks in Mountain View. One such firm to have caught the AR bug early is Optinvent, which debuted an early version of its ClearVu head-mounted display way back in 2009. Fast forward to 2013, and Optinvent is ready to move on to the final production stage of what it's now calling the Ora, which it hopes will give Google Glass a run for its money, not just with superior optics but a softer blow to the wallet as well. We had a chance to sit down with CEO Kayvan Mirza at the Glazed conference in San Francisco, where we learned more about the Ora and had a chance to try it on ourselves. One of the first things Mirza told us was that the Ora offers "true AR," which overlays the entire display in front of your eyes much like a heads-up display unit. This is unlike Glass, which he says offers more of a "companion display" where you have to look up to view it. Don't be concerned about the Ora completely blocking your sight however, as it has a very unique feature we've yet to see in wearable optics. It's called Flip-Vu, and it lets you pivot the display downward into what's called dashboard or glance mode so that it's now more of a companion display rather than one that dominates your entire field of vision (You can see a demo video of this after the break). Mirza says glancing downward is a much more natural position than looking up, as we tend to look down at our phones and other devices anyway.
Wikitude now augmenting reality on Windows Phone
Ever wonder what your reality could be like with a bit of augmentation? If you're on one of just about any mobile platform known to man (even Bada) you've been able to get one of the best augmented reality browsers on the planet: Wikitude. But, those on Windows Mobile have had to do without. Until now. Wikitude has hit the Windows Phone Marketplace, making use of the Mango updates to let the app dynamically overlay what's going on around you. Best part? It's totally free, so hit it up.
Wikitude Drive AR nav app beta announced, available in Android Market (video)
With all the action going down at Google I/0 you can be excused for missing this latest tidbit: the folks behind Wikitude have made the beta version of Drive (their augmented reality personal navigation app) available for free for 2,000 users. And we just got our hands on it, so we know that there are at least a few downloads left at the Android Market. The full-featured demo sports NAVTEQ map data, both AR street view and 3D map view, worldwide coverage, voice commands, and both driving and walking directions. There's no word yet on when the final version will be released, so this might be your last chance for a while to play with what's stacking up to look like a pretty decent application. See the thing in action and check out the PR yourself after the break.
