Google’s Project Glass may be getting the lion’s share of media publicity right now, but other companies want to get in your face with wearable technologies too. Oakley’s CEO, Colin Baden, recently told Bloomberg that the company hopes to release sunglasses with the ability to project additional information into the wearer’s field of view. The company envisions marketing the first version to sports athletes, with the possibility of offering a general purpose consumer version later on, which might even link up to a smartphone. Oakley is no newcomer to the idea of souping up your shades. Not only has the company most widely known for sunglasses been toying with projecting things onto their glasses since 1997, but they released the Oakley Thump series of MP3 music playing sunglasses in 1994. An updated version, the Thump 2, remains on sale today.
PixelOptics offers their emPower Smartglasses, billed as the world’s first glasses that change prescription on-demand. The emPower glasses create a near focus zone on demand, using liquid crystals embedded in each lens. In manual mode, the near-focus mode is toggled on and off by touching the temple, while automatic mode is selected with a swipe across the temple. After that, the near-focus mode is enabled or disabled by detecting up and down movements of the wearer’s head. A rechargeable battery in the glasses can be charged overnight by placing the glasses in a special charging dock. PixelOptics claims a charge should last two to three days.
Even the Epson corporation offers its take on the concept of smart eye-wear with their Moverio BT-100. These glasses are powered by an Android based controller unit with an integrated trackpad and WiFi connectivity. The see-through lenses are capable of projecting a perceived 80 inch floating display in front of the wearer’s eyes that can be used for playing games, watching movies, or even web surfing. Epson claims a six-hour battery life, so the Moverio glasses might be great for those long airline flights, if you can justify the $699 price tag.
Whether or not the current offerings strike your fancy, it looks like the trend has begun making the personal computer even more personal. Soon, we’ll be wearing our electronic gadgets instead of shoving them into pockets.
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