The pinnacle achievement in active eyewear was once simply making a pair of sunglasses that were light and wouldn’t shatter into your eyeballs. While that’s still important, technology has obviously progressed. So what is the future, exactly? Heads-up displays? Augmented reality? Cybernetic retinal implants?
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So far most of what’s been written about Google Glass has been united by one commonality: It’s been written from the perspective of someone who had to wear Glass. Because they were going to write about it. But here’s when you’ll actually want to wear it. Or at least, when I do.
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Google Glass made the world at large aware of the existence and potential of augmented reality headsets and heads-up displays. Surely we’ll see more and more similar devices appear. In fact, one such device could launch before Glass. It’s called the Recon Jet, a nerdy accessory for jocks.
Recon Instruments, the company behind the Recon Jet, clearly designed the headset to augment sports and other outdoor-related activities. It has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and all the other sensors and connectivity technology that Glass has. But instead of projecting its monitor through a prism, the Recon Jet’s display is directly situated at the front of the device. This makes it more visible than the resulting transparent display on the Glass. Recon Instruments placed the Recon Jet’s display below the user’s right eye because according to the company’s research it was the least obtrusive location.
Here’s Mashable’s interview with a spokesman from Recon Instruments:
Without knowing the final specs of both devices, it’s hard to say if the Glass can also do everything that the Recon Jet can. It’s also equally important that Recon Instruments get the support of app developers. One thing’s clear: there’s never been a better time to make prescription contact lenses. Except for the time when there weren’t any prescription contacts.
[Recon Instruments via Mashable via Reddit]
We know Glass comes with some snap-on shades, which is no doubt great when casually vlogging in the sun. If you’re heading down a mountain, though, you’re going to need something a little more like Recon Jet. You may know Recon Instruments from its line of technolicious HUD ski goggles, but Jet sees the firm leap into more casual (yet no less useful) eyewear. Inside you’ll find a dual-core processor, WiFi, GPS, Ant+, Bluetooth and an HD camera, plus all the sensors you could want (altimeter, thermometer, accelerometer etc). Recon Jet comes with its own open platform (which typically has been based on Android), and will have some existing native apps (video streaming, Facebook integration, etc.) on display at Google I/O this week. Comparison with Mountain View’s own product will be inevitable, but we’re guessing that Recon hopes you’ll leave Glass on your desk, while popping Jet on for the weekend.
Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables
JVC Kenwood has announced that it will be releasing a new car navigation system this month which has a head-up display or HUD. The HUD will display useful information, thus allowing the driver to keep maximum concentration on the road […]
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Who hasn’t dreamed of having heads-up display screens directly embedded into their eyes? I guess years of playing Cyberpunk 2020 and reading science-fiction novels have made this a fixture in most settings. While it won’t make readable contact lens displays feasible any time soon, it looks like scientists have actually been able to make contact lenses with embedded LCDs.
Belgian researchers at IMEC were able to create an LCD-embedded contact lens in a working prototype. This LCD display is curved so that it fits the eye. For now, the lens can display rudimentary monochrome graphics, and their images can only be viewed by others, not by the wearer due to the eyes inability to focus on objects so close. However, there are applications where these could be useful. They could work like sunglasses by automatically darkening, as cosmetic enhancements by changing colors, or as an artificial iris.
Now, if they could only figure out the focusing issue, we could someday be walking around like human Terminators.
I have to admit that I didn’t think that heads-up display goggles would be initially be marketed to snowboarders, but I now look forward to having a HUD in my everyday eyewear, or on my motorcycle helmet.
The snow-sport focused Oakley Airwave Goggles have a little prism at the bottom right of your peripheral vision that displays useful information. You can see GPS/navigation routes, buddy tracking to find your friends with goggles, or friends who don’t have them but are running the app, as well as music controls, speed and jump analytics, and more.
You can even pair them to your smartphone and view incoming calls and texts. All of these features are controlled via a wrist remote, and the companion app will work on Android or iOS.
The HUD is perceived as a 14-inch screen that is five feet away, so refocusing of the eye isn’t necessary. The goggles have built-in GPS and accelerometers, so your data can be stored in them when your phone runs out of juice. The goggles are being launched today, and will sell for $599 (USD) at the Oakley Store.
[via NOTCOT]
Recon Instruments has decided to take its wares off the slopes and into the air, provided enough people bite. The Flight HUD is built around the same core as its ski goggles, but has been tweaked to offer information more relevant to skydivers, base jumpers and wingsuit pilots. The tiny LCD just below the field of vision displays speed, altitude and glide ratio in real time. Rather than simply guess how fast they’re going, adrenaline junkies will be able to see accurate data in the moment and make the appropriate adjustments. Obviously, this is a rather niche market, so Recon Instruments has set a goal: 250 pre-orders to trigger a production run. The early birds can pick up a Flight HUD for $299, while every order placed after the initial 250 will cost $349. To get a run down of the proposed product from renowned aerial daredevil Jeb Corliss check out he video after the break.
Continue reading Recon Instruments offers Flight HUD goggles for wingsuit pilots and skydivers
Filed under: Wearables
Recon Instruments offers Flight HUD goggles for wingsuit pilots and skydivers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Summer in Paris — you can’t walk a block on Champs-Élysées without locking eyes with at least one camera-equipped tourist. But Steve Mann’s shooter wasn’t dangling from his shoulder and neck; it was mounted on his head, with a design strikingly similar to Google’s Project Glass. Unlike that mainstream Mountain View product, however, Mann’s version has reportedly been around in one form or another for 34 years, and was designed with the objective of aiding vision, rather than capturing stills and video or providing a bounty of database-aided readouts. It’s also street-ready today. While on vacation with his family, the Ontario-based “father of wearable computing” was sporting his EyeTap as he walked down the aforementioned French avenue, eventually entering a McDonald’s to refuel after a busy day of sightseeing. He left without his ranch wrap, but with seriously damaged hardware.
What allegedly occurred inside the restaurant is no doubt a result of the increasing presence and subsequent awareness of connected cameras, ranging from consumer gear to professional surveillance equipment. As Mann sat to eat, he writes that a stranger approached him then attempted to pull off his glasses, which, oddly, are permanently affixed to his skull. The man, at that point joined by one other patron and someone that appeared to be a McDonald’s employee, then pushed Mann out of the store and onto the street. As a result of the attack, the eyewear malfunctioned, resulting in the three men being photographed. It wouldn’t be terribly difficult for police to identify those involved, but this encounter may have greater implications. McDonalds has since launched an investigation into the matter and seems to be denying most of the claims, but it’ll be some time yet before the full truth is uncovered. Still, the whole ordeal got us at Engadget thinking — is the planet ready for humans to wear video recorders, and will it ever shake a general unease related to the threat of a world filled with omnipresent cameras? Join us past the break for our take.
Continue reading Editorial: Engadget on EyeTap, Project Glass and the future of wearable cameras
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays
Editorial: Engadget on EyeTap, Project Glass and the future of wearable cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Signs of the Times, Slashgear | Email this | Comments
Remember that Android SDK Recon Instruments finally unveiled for its heads-up display goggles? Well the company was showing off the fruits of its labor here at Google I/O 2012 with two demos — specifically two-way Facebook integration and augmented reality using a Contour camera. In the first demo, the goggles are paired over Bluetooth with an app running on an Android phone. Each time you jump while snowboarding or skying, the accelerometer data from the goggles is sent to the handset which posts a graphic to Facebook showing the distance, height and duration of your flight. Any comments made to the post are then immediately relayed back to the heads-up display. The second demo uses a Contour camera attached to the goggles and paired via Bluetooth. As you look around, the output from the camera appears on the heads-up display augmented with labels showing the location and distance of the nearby train stations based on the compass and GPS data from the goggles. Pretty cool, eh? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our two hands-on videos.
Gallery: Recon Instruments at Google I/O 2012
Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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