While a select group of app developers and early adopters are paying $1,500 for prototypes of Google Glass, a competing set of digital eyewear is already making inroads with businesses and software developers who are focused on practical uses for the technology. Epson’s Moverio BT-100 glasses can be purchased for about $400, and the suite of useful apps is growing. The latest is one from APX Labs that enables an HDMI video feed from a smartphone to the glasses.
Epson’s Eric Mizufuka, who manages new ventures for the company, says consumer adoption is his ultimate goal for the Moverio glasses. But for now the glasses are finding the most use in commercial settings. He says factory workers can wear the glasses to see how to assemble equipment, and physicians or nurses can use them to read information about a patient they are attending.
Unlike Google Glass, the Moverio glasses present a binocular image directly in the user’s field of vision. “Our product is very different from Glass,” said Mizufuka. “Theirs is monocular, out of field of view, and it is meant to be always on, to get pop-up information. Our vision is an augmented reality overlay of 3D content.”
Mizufuka says that developers can make the 3D images less distracting by rendering the backgrounds in black, and that this alleviates some of the safety concerns associated with wearable digital displays.
Epson is currently working with the IEEE Computer Society, offering more than $16,000 in scholarships and prizes to students who create successful apps for the Moverio glasses. He says the goal is developing “killer applications, and coming up with applications on the consumer side, getting consuemrs comfortable, and lowering the social stigma about wearing technology.” The buzz surrounding Google Glass should help with that.
Unlike Glass, Moverio includes an Android-powered controller, so in a way it is not entirely hands-free. Mizufuka demonstrates the product below.
