The company is hoping that Tel Aviv will provide applications for its AR wearables.
Epson, a company that is best known for its printer tech, has now started an Israel based marketing campaign for its augmented reality glasses only one week after those wearable devices experienced their European and American debuts.
These AR based wearable technology devices are somewhat similar in idea to Google Glass.
Their augmented reality glasses are called the Epson Moverio BT-200. They include sensors, cameras, projects, as well as Bluetooth connection, which allows an Android smartphone or tablet to be displayed and projected onto the glasses so it can be seen by the wearer. Elements of the device’s software were originally developed in Israel, according to the executive vice president in charge of marketing the Movero BT-200, from Epson Europe, Valerie Riffaud-Cangelos.
These augmented reality glasses now need a broader range of apps and Epson is turning back to Israel for them.
The wearables weigh only 88 grams and are filled with various sensor and imaging components that allow wearers to be able to view what they would otherwise see on the screen of the Android device. In this, they are comparable to the idea behind Google Glass. They can see their emails on the glasses or check out the latest social media posts. It is even possible to watch YouTube videos or browse through web content.
Riffaud-Cangelos explained that the whole idea of the Moverio is that it should be used with augmented reality apps. “For example, you could have an app where a person would see an overlay of how to change a tire while they are actually doing it.” In theory, they would be able to save time, frustration, and money because they could follow a pattern that was being shown to them over top of their view of the real world jack and bolts.
Equally, the augmented reality glasses could also be used for fitness activities and for entertainment games. It could demonstrate the right moves for a specific type of physical activity, such as yoga, or show students how something would have looked if they were seeing it hundreds of years ago.
GravitySketch tablet helps to simplify digital design.
The unique mobile device allows users to design and draw in 3D on a tablet equipped with an embedded Arduino chip, a pair of augmented reality glasses and an infrared stylus, allowing them to create their sketches in a digital format without having to transfer a design drawn on paper to a computer.
Users of the tablet can edit, rotate and expand what they create with the stylus while wearing the AR glasses.
Users of GravitySketch make a drawing with an infrared stylus on a gridded perspex pad. The chip and Unity software within the tablet track the stylus and switch the sketches into a three dimensional format. The image that results is sent to Laster AR glasses, which show the design as a 3D object. One or more users can then manipulate or alter the image.
GravitySketch first started in October 2013. It was invented by Pierre Paslier, Guillaume Couche, Oluwaseyi Sosanya, and Daniela Paredes Fuentes, four of London’s College of Art students. The students were inspired to create the digital pad after they surveyed several creators and discovered that for a great number of these individuals, a pencil and a pad of paper is often the simple tools that are used during the initial creative process. It is not until the creator reaches the point of attempting to convert their original vision into a final product that they use a computer.
It is the hope of the team behind the augmented reality tablet that they will be able to bring the two creative processes together, which would lower the barrier that exists between the initial vision and the practical outcome.
The augmented reality device is likely to benefit more than just designers.
It is very likely that 3D interfaces, like that GravitySketch will be found highly useful for various purposes. For instance, it could be utilized by surgeons, who could upload the image of a ligament or bone, and give the surgeons the ability to draw necessary surgical fixtures directly on the image. On the other hand, it could be used in industrial settings for collecting and utilizing data hands-free or even in augmented reality gaming, among other applications.
