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Visualized: a history of augmented and virtual reality eyewear
We've seen the prototypes that led Google to Glass, but there are many devices that predate Mountain View's smart specs, and Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, California was able to gather and display a historic number of such headsets this week. From Steve Mann's handmade WearComp 1 and EyeTap prototypes to Glass-like precursors from Optinvent and Vuzix, it's quite the comprehensive collection -- over thirty devices in all. While they may make their way into a museum some day, we're bringing pictures of them all to your screen right now. Enjoy.
Atheer Labs unveils 3D augmented reality mobile platform and a natural human UI (hands-on)
With the advent of Google Glass and the continued development of platforms like the Epson Moverio and Vuzix Smart Glasses, head-mounted wearables are getting a lot of attention these days. Atheer Labs is a small company looking to catch that wave of interest with a new set of intelligent spectacles and a novel way for folks to interact with them. What you see above is company founder Soulaiman Itani wearing Atheer's prototype device that delivers 3D augmented reality and implements what the company calls a "natural human interface." The hardware is still very much in the prototype stage, and the unit we saw was clearly a hand-built affair. It packs a pair of displays, a rechargeable battery, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, plus an accelerometer, gyro and an IR camera into its relatively bulky frame -- so it's not not exactly a form factor ready for retail shelves. However, because of that bulk, it can function as a standalone device (it runs an an open source OS that runs Android apps), though it also has the ability to offload some processing to a smartphone.
APX Labs mods Epson Moverio headset, adds camera, mic and motion sensors for improved AR
Epson's 3D display glasses, the Moverio BT-100 have been floating around as a development platform for a couple years, and APX Labs is the latest to hack the headset. APX Labs is a software firm best known for creating Terminator Vision augmented reality tech for the US military, and it decided to use the BT-100 as a vehicle to develop and showcase a smart glasses platform it's built to work for both business and consumer applications. In order to get the functionality it needed, APX grafted a 5 megapixel camera, mic and a full suite of motion sensors to provide nine-axis head tracking onto a Moverio headset.%Gallery-187866% All that gear is shoved into a 3D-printed module and attached to the BT-100 to turn it into a pair of smart glasses. In addition to the cameras and sensors, APX also hacked an Epson daughter board onto the Moverio's controller to allow an HDMI video feed from a smartphone to be shown on the displays. This result? A system that understands where you are, what you're seeing and hearing and a UI that allows users to glean information from the world around them using voice commands and head gestures. That should sound familiar to fans of Google Glass, but by using Epson's binocular displays, these smart glasses can convey depth in a way Mountain View's monocle cannot. (Not to mention that Glass doesn't even do AR apps... yet). The hardware we got to see was a crude prototype built for demo purposes only, but the software platform shows promise and Epson's got a version two Moverio headset in the works -- so perhaps you can see a bit of the future of smart glasses in the video after the break.
Baidu Eye is no joke, aims to be a Google Glass competitor
We all know that Chinese search giant Baidu is notorious for receiving much inspiration from its US counterpart, Google, and according to the above IM screenshot published on April Fools' Day (now bear with us here), the former is apparently already working on its own version of Glass. This claim is seemingly supported by a couple of articles from Tencent Tech and Sina Tech, who said that the spectacles feature a tiny LCD, image recognition technology, voice control technology and bone conduction audio. These all sound familiar, no? The articles also mentioned Qualcomm's "latest power management chip," which would allegedly push the device's battery life up to 12 hours. That said, Baidu's real goal is apparently to offer an open platform for wearable devices in all shapes and forms: watches, necklaces, headphones and more.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Vuzix's Paul Travers (update: video embedded)
Wearable domination at this year's show? Vuzix certainly had quite a presence at CES with those Smart Glasses we've been hearing so much about. We'll be discussing the product and the state of wearables with the company's CEO, Wearable domination at this year's show? Vuzix certainly had quite a presence at CES with those Smart Glasses we've been hearing so much about. We'll be discussing the product and the state of wearables with the company's CEO, Paul Travers. January 10, 2013 4:30 PM EST Check out our full CES 2013 stage schedule here! Update: Unfortunately Paul was unable to join us.
Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 hands-on at CES 2013 (update: now with video!)
The wearables market is becoming a growing obsession here at CES 2013 -- and it's been the first chance we've got to handle the Vuzix M100 -- its new lightweight set of smartglasses. It'll have some stiff competition from Google's incoming effort, although the premise is a little different -- less augmented reality, more a wearable smart screen that pairs to your tablet or smartphone. We've got a brief video and our first impressions after the break.
Oakley cooking up its own smart glasses, hoping to trump Project Glass with improved style
Oakley's Thump glasses haven't exactly succeeded in fending off the competition when it comes to portable music playback, but that isn't stopping it from working feverishly to develop the next round of vaguely intelligent eyewear. CEO Colin Baden told Bloomberg that the company has been toying with ways to project information onto sunglasses since 1997, hoping to start by augmenting the world of sports before ultimately blending into more consumery pursuits with shades that could run solo or pair up with a smartphone. Functionality is only part of the puzzle, says Baden, as aesthetics play an important role. "People get very particular when they put stuff on their face." This, perhaps, explains the lack of sales of the aforementioned Thumps.
Vuzix augmented reality Smart Glasses prototype hands-on (video)
Remember those wicked holographic augmented reality glasses that DARPA was so hot to build? They're almost here. Hiding out at Vuzix's CES booth we found a functional prototype for its Smart Glasses industrial class monocular display -- a special lens attached to a proprietary display driver that produces a bright, 1.4mm holographic picture for one of your peepers. Vuzix told us the lenses were the fruit of a DARPA project, and could allow soldiers involved in air-to-surface operations to track jets, check their ordinance and mark targets for destruction. The military / industrial monocle will go on sale in Q3 of 2012 for somewhere between $2500-3000. Want to look a little more, well, normal while you're augmenting your reality? You're covered -- or at least you will be in 2013. Not only will Vuzix's consumer facing smart glasses offer you the same holographic heads-up technology that'll power its military bound brother, it'll cost you a bundle less, too: between $350-600. The unit we saw wasn't final, but were told the final unit will be able to accept connections over HDMI, and may even be capable of displaying stereoscopic 3D content -- you know, in case the real world wasn't real enough. Hopefully, we'll be able to tell you those fit next year. Ready to see how you'll be gussying up reality in the future? Hit the break for our hands-on video coverage.
Vuzix designs Smart Glasses to look like sunshades, tout connected transparent display
Vuzix has announced plans to develop a stylish head-mounted display solution in the form of Smart Glasses, through a licensing partnership with Nokia. The yet-unnamed product would integrate a bright, high-contrast display with a pair of seemingly ordinary-looking sunglasses -- sounds like a perfect companion to the ZionEyez in-glasses camera prototype we saw last month. In Vuzix's words: This amazing new technology starts with a compact display engine capable of hi contrast and brightness for outdoor use. The output is then relayed into a 1.4 mm thick plastic waveguide lens with input and output hologram structures on the surface which squeezes the light down the waveguide and then two dimensionally expands the image back into the user's eye, creating an image that is then mixed into the real world. Naturally, the company envisions its Smart Glasses solution as a web-connected device, letting you watch videos or browse the internet while still being able to see-and-avoid pedestrians as you walk on the sidewalk or obstacles while behind the wheel -- try doing that with a Kindle or smartphone (better yet, please don't). Vuzix expects its Smart Glasses solution to start appearing as early as this summer, but we'll be getting an early look next week at CES.
