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Can AR glasses be used as just a monitor? I am under the impression that they are sort of smart devices. How do they get a video signal from the computer?

by tocs3 1y ago

fragmede 1y ago
xreal air just have a usb-C wire coming down from the back of the glasses
Borealid 1y ago
VR headsets are usually quite smart. For better or for worse - and I personally think it's very much for the better - many AR glasses are a DisplayPort monitor that you wear on your face. They have inertial sensors and speakers, but the interface to the PC is Displayport-over-USBC for video to the glasses, USB Audio Class for the speakers, and usually a proprietary USB peripheral for the inertial measurements. Some AR glasses attempt to require being paired with a dedicated video phone-like device, largely to attempt to extract subscription revenue. Most do not. It's perfectly possible to drive a pair of AR glasses from an Android smartphone, a video-game-focused SBC, or a miniPC. Anything with DisplayPort video out at 1080p or better (3840x1080 if you want 3D videos).
- regularfry 1y ago
  The position measurements on the XReal Air are indeed on a custom USB device, but it's been reverse engineered. You can slurp the positioning data off without too much hassle.
throawayonthe 1y ago
[dead]
kotaKat 1y ago
So, the Xreal glasses are (generally) a dumb USB-C DisplayPort alt-mode device. Plug glasses in, get video to the little displays in your eyes. With a companion app (not needed) you can have your computer do some heavy lifting and make virtual displays out of it. The new "One" unit referenced in this review is the same but does have some smarts to do on-glasses processing of the virtual displays itself instead, if I understand it. Xreal also sells you some companion devices that are just little Android bricks to cast media to and from and play things from as well.
- xattt 1y ago
  What’s the resolution? Can you see the small text of individual items of the Word ribbon?
  - mojomark 1y ago
    I don't know the answer to your question specifically, but in general, if someone tells you the resolution in terms of 'X by Y' pixels, that is unuseful information for an AR display. It drives me bananas that this isn't industry standard after all these years. Instead, you need resolution in terms of Pixels Per Degree (PPD). And, to have any hope of viewing legible text on a virtual monitor projected via an AR HUD, like you can on a physical laptop monitor, you need at least 35PPD.
    - xattt 1y ago
      I didn’t have the vocabulary to see it this way, nor the 35 PPD standard. My experience with headwear is from circa 2016 VR headsets that were running a racing sim, with awful screen door effects. I realize there’s been a decade of progress. However, seeing random no-name AR glasses and being encouraged to buy them “sight-unseen” by a native content article seems like a recipe for being bamboozled.
      - Aaron2222 1y ago
        > Can you see the small text of individual items of the Word ribbon? I tried with my Xreal Air on Windows and macOS, and yes, it's quite legible. Do bear in mind that although the screen is quite close to your eyes, the optics makes the apparent distance quite far. So if you're short-sighted, you will need prescription inserts. I also have some issues with some corners of the screen being slightly cut off, probably a combination of the inserts which I ordered locally as well as the fixed IPD of the older Xreal glasses (the newer Xreal One should be better here with its software IPD adjustment, the Xreal One Pro also comes in two different sizes for different IPD ranges). I also noticed some of the text on the right side of the Word ribbon was a bit blurry, which might be due to the inserts. But in general, I find the display quality great for video, and perfectly good for web browsing (not as good as a Hi-DPI display, but perfectly usable).
bobsmooth 1y ago
Checkout Voidstar Labs. He hacked a set of AR glasses to use as a teleprompter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAuwW7Wzrng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAuwW7Wzrng

Can AR glasses be used as just a monitor? I am under the impression that they are sort of smart devices. How do they get a video signal from the computer?

by tocs3 1y ago

Can AR glasses be used as just a monitor? I am under the impression that they are sort of smart devices. How do they get a video signal from the computer?

fragmede 1y ago

xreal air just have a usb-C wire coming down from the back of the glasses

Borealid 1y ago

VR headsets are usually quite smart. For better or for worse - and I personally think it's very much for the better - many AR glasses are a DisplayPort monitor that you wear on your face. They have inertial sensors and speakers, but the interface to the PC is Displayport-over-USBC for video to the glasses, USB Audio Class for the speakers, and usually a proprietary USB peripheral for the inertial measurements. Some AR glasses attempt to require being paired with a dedicated video phone-like device, largely to attempt to extract subscription revenue. Most do not. It's perfectly possible to drive a pair of AR glasses from an Android smartphone, a video-game-focused SBC, or a miniPC. Anything with DisplayPort video out at 1080p or better (3840x1080 if you want 3D videos).

regularfry 1y ago
The position measurements on the XReal Air are indeed on a custom USB device, but it's been reverse engineered. You can slurp the positioning data off without too much hassle.

throawayonthe 1y ago

[dead]

kotaKat 1y ago

So, the Xreal glasses are (generally) a dumb USB-C DisplayPort alt-mode device. Plug glasses in, get video to the little displays in your eyes. With a companion app (not needed) you can have your computer do some heavy lifting and make virtual displays out of it. The new "One" unit referenced in this review is the same but does have some smarts to do on-glasses processing of the virtual displays itself instead, if I understand it. Xreal also sells you some companion devices that are just little Android bricks to cast media to and from and play things from as well.

xattt 1y ago
What’s the resolution? Can you see the small text of individual items of the Word ribbon?
- mojomark 1y ago
  I don't know the answer to your question specifically, but in general, if someone tells you the resolution in terms of 'X by Y' pixels, that is unuseful information for an AR display. It drives me bananas that this isn't industry standard after all these years. Instead, you need resolution in terms of Pixels Per Degree (PPD). And, to have any hope of viewing legible text on a virtual monitor projected via an AR HUD, like you can on a physical laptop monitor, you need at least 35PPD.
  - xattt 1y ago
    I didn’t have the vocabulary to see it this way, nor the 35 PPD standard. My experience with headwear is from circa 2016 VR headsets that were running a racing sim, with awful screen door effects. I realize there’s been a decade of progress. However, seeing random no-name AR glasses and being encouraged to buy them “sight-unseen” by a native content article seems like a recipe for being bamboozled.
    - Aaron2222 1y ago
      > Can you see the small text of individual items of the Word ribbon? I tried with my Xreal Air on Windows and macOS, and yes, it's quite legible. Do bear in mind that although the screen is quite close to your eyes, the optics makes the apparent distance quite far. So if you're short-sighted, you will need prescription inserts. I also have some issues with some corners of the screen being slightly cut off, probably a combination of the inserts which I ordered locally as well as the fixed IPD of the older Xreal glasses (the newer Xreal One should be better here with its software IPD adjustment, the Xreal One Pro also comes in two different sizes for different IPD ranges). I also noticed some of the text on the right side of the Word ribbon was a bit blurry, which might be due to the inserts. But in general, I find the display quality great for video, and perfectly good for web browsing (not as good as a Hi-DPI display, but perfectly usable).

bobsmooth 1y ago

Checkout Voidstar Labs. He hacked a set of AR glasses to use as a teleprompter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAuwW7Wzrng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAuwW7Wzrng