Hasta La Gadget!

Want to be part of the very possible future? Google has just announced that they will be giving U.S. residents the chance to be the first to own a Google Glass, the company’s much-hyped wearable computer. But don’t belt out God Bless America just yet. You have to prove to Google that you really want to own their computer.

Aside from being a resident of the United States, in order to be eligible to pre-order (yes, you’re going to pay) the headset you have to be at least 18-years-old, and finally you have to answer a simple question: “What would you do if you had Glass?” You must answer the question in 50 words or less and send your answer to Google via a Google+ or Twitter account with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Google will then choose 8,000 applicants to become “Glass Explorers.” If you’re one of those people, you’ll still have to fork over $1,500 (USD) to finally get a Glass. So what do you get in exchange for all that trouble? Watch Google’s new video to find out:

Head to the Google Glass website for the full instructions of the contest. Be sure to read the FAQ and Terms as well so you don’t screw up your application. If any other company required you to join a contest for a chance to give them $1500 of your money, that company would have been laughed out of business. But this is Google we’re talking about, and the Glass looks like no mere product.

[Google via Acquire]

If you have a serious need to own your own pair of augmented reality glasses so you can pretend you’re Sergey Brin, Vuzix has a new set of AR glasses that are now available.

The Vuzix Wrap 1200AR glasses offer two small screens that combine to create a 75-inch virtual screen as viewed from 10 feet away. The glasses support both 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios and support display resolutions of up to 720p (though the actual display panels are 800×480 WVGA resolution). The displays have 60 Hz progressive scan update and a 35° diagonal field of view. The little screens also support 24-bit true color.

The glasses themselves weigh about 3 ounces and are highly adjustable allowing users to adjust the diopter and eye separation. They also have display angle adjustment and a pair of discrete 640×480 video cameras which can capture video at 30 frames per second. They’re loaded with a number of sensors including magnetometers, accelerometers, and gyros, allowing for full head tracking.

Despite being lightweight, this isn’t exactly a portable rig – they’re designed to connect to a computer via USB and VGA connections, and you’ll need some augmented reality applications in order to take advantage of them. But assuming you do all of this, you’ll soon be seeing stuff like this right before your eyes (and nobody else around you will.)

You need to have fairly deep pockets if you want to play with a set of these, because they sell for $1499 (USD). But then again, you don’t have a whole lot of cheaper choices unless Google actually releases their Google Glasses to the public.

Vuzix has been producing all sorts of video glasses for a number of years. One of the most recent products that the company has announced is called the Wrap 1200AR. These glasses are see-through augmented reality units providing lots of adjustability to allow wearers the ability to overlay video and other content on what they see in the real world.

These glasses were announced a while back and are now available to purchase for $1499. The Wrap 1200AR glasses are certainly not cheap. The little screens inside the glasses simulate a 75-inch screen as seen from 10 feet away. The display supports 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios and each has a resolution of 852 x 480.

When combined, the two display support resolutions all the way up to 720p. The glasses supports 60 Hz scan rates and have a 35° diagonal field of view. The small displays support 24-bit color and the glasses weigh about 3 ounces. The left and right camera systems can be independently adjusted and the glasses support 2-D and stereoscopic 3-D video.

The video glasses also offer a wide variety of adjustment allowing the user to adjust the eye separation, display angle, and to adjust the diopter. The glasses have tracking technology with 3° of freedom able to track head yaw, pitch, and roll. Connectivity options on the glasses include VGA, and USB. An adapter for DVI connectivity is included.

[via Vuzix]

Vuzix Wrap 1200AR augmented reality eyewear now shipping is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Can 3D glasses get any less fashionable? Of course they can! And here’s some proof. Today, SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) teased its new Eye-Tracking 3D Glasses, which use a pair of small cameras mounted to the eyeglass rim to keep tabs on your gaze, adjusting perspective as you look about a scene. The rig uses ActiveEye technology from Volfoni, and can detect eye distance as well in order to provide a 3D-viewing experience that’s optimized for each user. Adding some optional hardware, including optical targets (as seen in the video after the break), can enable 6D head tacking support, for an even more immersive experience. Naturally, the solution is a bit cumbersome, and while pricing hasn’t been announced, we don’t expect it to come cheap — it’s definitely something you’d be more likely to see implemented as part of a virtual reality system, rather than a device you’d use at home. So, while you may never see such a product in the flesh, you can still get an idea of how it’ll work in the video after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wearables

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Source: SMI (PR Newswire)

We already know that the Explorer Edition of Google Glasses is about to make its public debut shortly, but not before it makes a trip through the FCC first in order to get approval for public sale. An application for Google Glasses was spotted at the FCC, and we’re now getting a closer look at the details of the HUD-equipped glasses before they get handed out to developers.

In the FCC paperwork, the model number is referred to as “XEB,” and this was the first model that was tested back in November. The application mentions that the glasses will have 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, but it won’t support both at the same time, meaning communication can only be active through one or the other at a time.

Other than that, we’re not seeing anything else too special, but we’re positive that we’ll hear more about them in no time. Of course, we were promised a January 2013 release date for the glasses back during Google I/O, and now it looks like it won’t be for a couple more months, but a trip through the FCC is proof that these glasses are actually real, and that we’ll see them real soon.

We saw glimpses of Google’s Glass project earlier last year, and at Google I/O over the summer, the company went all-out to demonstrate the new technology. Developers will be able to get their hands on a pair soon, at a price of $1,500, while regular consumers are said to be able buy a pair sometime within a year from now.

[via Engadget]

Google Glasses make an appearance at the FCC is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.