8 ms·

Sony develops transparent lens eyewear “SmartEyeglass”

31 points by Istof 12y ago

georgemcbay 12y ago
For those thinking about getting Google Glass but who were holding out for something that makes them look way more dorky. Typical of most Sony consumer electronics products post-2000 or so it is kind of amazing in a narrow technical way but completely drops the ball in every other way. In this case, by making you look like the stereotypical "nerd" comedy relief one might see on a tv show or in a bad movie.
imaginenore 12y ago
Ugly.
mplewis 12y ago
This is incredibly ugly. That wouldn't matter if they positioned this product toward industry and manufacturing.
hkmurakami 12y ago
So everyone's commenting about it's ugliness. Definitely the first thing I noticed too. But then this bulkiness reminded me of something... yes... ski goggles and similar athletic corrective lens accessories. Market size and practicality aside, the idea of having a HUD show me some stats while skiing/snowboarding down a mountain seems pretty awesome to me.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- Pxtl 12y ago
  As a cyclist I find all this wearable tech interesting, but the price is too high. Once a glass-like device hits a reasonable price, I'm down.
- wiml 12y ago
  I'm pretty sure I've seen that product already ... aha, yes, it's being marketed to snowboarders: http://www.reconinstruments.com/products/snow2/ http://www.reconinstruments.com/products/snow2/
kabdib 12y ago
The military has a term: RPG, or Rape Prevention Glasses :-)
- reneherse 12y ago
  Not funny and not appropriate.
- zaroth 12y ago
  The term is 'Birth Control Glasses', which is not only less offensive, it actually makes sense.
beggi 12y ago
Huh, so this might be what was needed to make Google Glass look cool.
webwielder 12y ago
For everyone decrying the Apple Watch, this shows what "ugly" and "pointless" truly look like.
Pxtl 12y ago
I'd be interested in this for AR gaming if it were fully stereoscopic and fast, but I doubt it. AR gaming glasses could get away with being that ugly, but you'd have higher processing needs.
SilentDirge 12y ago
Yeah, it's fugly, but in typical Sony fashion, i.e. Exec: "Google Glass is the future. We must own the future. Make a Google Glass Killer". Engineer: "Well, Google has spent years miniaturizing the required tech to make it into a fashion accessory people can accept. It will take us years as well". Exec: "You have 6 months" Bada bing! We get this beauty.
- jonmrodriguez 12y ago
  Sony has had their version working since 2008. http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080523/152287/ http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080523/152287...
eclipxe 12y ago
This is ugly yes, but this is a very different experience than Google Glass. Glass is a tiny screen in the top right of your peripheral vision, which requires a conscious effort to glance up and view. These are complete overlays on top of your complete field of vision. Google Glass can't do real AR, but these can. Ugly, but pretty neat to me!
- dhagz 12y ago
  And in a couple of years, they'll be slimmer and more pretty. I'm not a fan of the way the battery and touch sensor are handled, though. I don't really think there was another way to do it, though.
hagope 12y ago
A look at the specs: 419x138px monochrome green display.. so they basically attached a COG lcd display to glass frames? This actually doesn't seem to hard to hack with off the shelf components...
- darkmighty 12y ago
  Someone correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe it's a lot more complicated then that. Your eye can't focus on a transparent display so close to the eye, so the display light must be highly converged, while incoming light is undisturbed. I'd guess they're instead reflecting light coming from a small projector on the glass with a special coting that reflects only a narrow bandwidth around the green laser light (otherwise transmissivity couldn't be so high).
blueicelt2004 12y ago
Of course it's ugly, its a prototype. Have you ever seen prototypes of the original iPhone and Google glass? Any developer knows you make something functional then you make it practical. If you look at the tech behind the product, it looks promising and I will definitely be watching this product evolve.
azinman2 12y ago
They say kit avail, but how to buy and how much?
foobarguy 12y ago
Wow, many comments about a prototype being ugly. It is as ugly as you or your baby as a fetus. That does not mean you are ugly, does it?
abandonliberty 12y ago
Hoping to have people start developing on it while they improve the technology. Looks ugly now, but it won't in 5 years.

31 points by Istof 12y ago

For those thinking about getting Google Glass but who were holding out for something that makes them look way more dorky. Typical of most Sony consumer electronics products post-2000 or so it is kind of amazing in a narrow technical way but completely drops the ball in every other way. In this case, by making you look like the stereotypical "nerd" comedy relief one might see on a tv show or in a bad movie.

imaginenore 12y ago

Ugly.

mplewis 12y ago

This is incredibly ugly. That wouldn't matter if they positioned this product toward industry and manufacturing.

hkmurakami 12y ago

So everyone's commenting about it's ugliness. Definitely the first thing I noticed too. But then this bulkiness reminded me of something... yes... ski goggles and similar athletic corrective lens accessories. Market size and practicality aside, the idea of having a HUD show me some stats while skiing/snowboarding down a mountain seems pretty awesome to me.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
Pxtl 12y ago
As a cyclist I find all this wearable tech interesting, but the price is too high. Once a glass-like device hits a reasonable price, I'm down.
wiml 12y ago
I'm pretty sure I've seen that product already ... aha, yes, it's being marketed to snowboarders: http://www.reconinstruments.com/products/snow2/ http://www.reconinstruments.com/products/snow2/

kabdib 12y ago

The military has a term: RPG, or Rape Prevention Glasses :-)

reneherse 12y ago
Not funny and not appropriate.
zaroth 12y ago
The term is 'Birth Control Glasses', which is not only less offensive, it actually makes sense.

beggi 12y ago

Huh, so this might be what was needed to make Google Glass look cool.

webwielder 12y ago

For everyone decrying the Apple Watch, this shows what "ugly" and "pointless" truly look like.

Pxtl 12y ago

I'd be interested in this for AR gaming if it were fully stereoscopic and fast, but I doubt it. AR gaming glasses could get away with being that ugly, but you'd have higher processing needs.

SilentDirge 12y ago

Yeah, it's fugly, but in typical Sony fashion, i.e. Exec: "Google Glass is the future. We must own the future. Make a Google Glass Killer". Engineer: "Well, Google has spent years miniaturizing the required tech to make it into a fashion accessory people can accept. It will take us years as well". Exec: "You have 6 months" Bada bing! We get this beauty.

jonmrodriguez 12y ago
Sony has had their version working since 2008. http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080523/152287/ http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080523/152287...

eclipxe 12y ago

This is ugly yes, but this is a very different experience than Google Glass. Glass is a tiny screen in the top right of your peripheral vision, which requires a conscious effort to glance up and view. These are complete overlays on top of your complete field of vision. Google Glass can't do real AR, but these can. Ugly, but pretty neat to me!

dhagz 12y ago
And in a couple of years, they'll be slimmer and more pretty. I'm not a fan of the way the battery and touch sensor are handled, though. I don't really think there was another way to do it, though.

hagope 12y ago

A look at the specs: 419x138px monochrome green display.. so they basically attached a COG lcd display to glass frames? This actually doesn't seem to hard to hack with off the shelf components...

darkmighty 12y ago
Someone correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe it's a lot more complicated then that. Your eye can't focus on a transparent display so close to the eye, so the display light must be highly converged, while incoming light is undisturbed. I'd guess they're instead reflecting light coming from a small projector on the glass with a special coting that reflects only a narrow bandwidth around the green laser light (otherwise transmissivity couldn't be so high).

blueicelt2004 12y ago

Of course it's ugly, its a prototype. Have you ever seen prototypes of the original iPhone and Google glass? Any developer knows you make something functional then you make it practical. If you look at the tech behind the product, it looks promising and I will definitely be watching this product evolve.

azinman2 12y ago

They say kit avail, but how to buy and how much?

foobarguy 12y ago

Wow, many comments about a prototype being ugly. It is as ugly as you or your baby as a fetus. That does not mean you are ugly, does it?

abandonliberty 12y ago

Hoping to have people start developing on it while they improve the technology. Looks ugly now, but it won't in 5 years.