The wearable technology gadget will be sold for $840 and has been receiving high praise for its style.
Sony has been tossing various ideas for augmented reality headsets around for the last while, in order to provide competition for the Google Glass, but now that the competition has taken a step back, it appears to be a strong time to be able to launch its own device into the market.
For a while, Sony had been thinking about a type of clip-on headset but now it will be a full set of glasses.
The SmartEyeGlass SED-E1 Developer Edition is not yet a consumer product, but it was previewed a number of months ago and it will be arriving in ten different countries. As of March, it will be available in those nations for $840 (¥100,000 yen, or €670). Sony is calling its augmented reality glasses “holographic waveguide technology” that is built into 3mm AR lenses that are worn like typical eyeglasses and that display content directly in the eye line of the wearer.
These augmented reality glasses from Sony are not the first entrance of the brand into wearable technology.
That said, it is the first step into the market in the form of glasses. A demo video for the device was recently released to provide more details about the gadget. This device is moving forward at a time in which the industry is still waiting for the HoloLens from Microsoft, as well as the next version of Glass, the current version of which is no longer being manufactured.
The SmartEyeGlass SED-E1 looks notably more like HoloLens than Glass, as it has a basic green monochrome text display and an up to 15fps diagram display. It also has a3MP camera built into it, making it possible for video and pictures to be taken. This makes it possible for developers to use images taken through the wearable technology in the creation of their apps.
These augmented reality glasses are compatible with Android smartphones and feature a speaker, microphone, battery (providing 80 minutes of life when the camera is active, and 150 minutes without it), Bluetooth, touch controls, and NFC technology.
A military company has now announced wearable tech that brings the devices to consumers.
A company called Osterhout Design Group has been creating heavy duty augmented reality smart glasses over the last six years, for the military and has now announced that it will begin offering products to the consumer market.
This has occurred because of the response that consumers have had to other similar devices, such as Google Glass.
Osterhout Design Group (ODG) intends to offer a more consumer friendly version of its military augmented reality glasses, with a price tag of under $1,000. It has also announced that it will be making that product available before the end of this year. This wearable technology will be capable of doing everything that the military grade devices can do, but will be smaller by about 30 percent, lighter by about 20 percent, and will have a more consumer appealing look.
These augmented reality glasses will be capable of a number of different kinds of functions.
The AR wearable technology will be able to record video, display high-def video, and lay visuals overtop of the view of the real world. The current most recent version of the smart glasses from ODG were released in 2014. Their design has a more rugged fit and are bulkier in size than the wearable devices that will be released for consumers. Those wearables are currently cost around $5,000.
The current version of the smart glasses have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, Bluetooth, WiFi, as well as a global navigation satellite system, in addition to sensors that can determine the direction that the wearer is facing and the angle of the head. The operating system used by the device is an altered version of Android. The battery life for this device can be as short as two hours or as long as almost a full day on one charge, depending on the way in which it is being used.
These augmented reality wearables are capable of doing essentially anything that a tablet can do. The company will be releasing a developer kit to mke it possible for third party players to be able to begin creating apps to be used with the device.
The AR 