Meant to be Seen

Glad to see something new coming from Vuzix!

http://www.vuzix.com/consumer/products_m100.html


Display resolution: WQVGA ( 384x240) Color displays
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Field of View (Diagonal): 16 degrees, equivalent to 4 in.
mobile device screen seen at 14 in
Brightness: >2000 nits
24 bit color
Left or right eye usable Processor
OMAP4430 at 1GHz
1GB RA
Fully optimized Android ICS
4GB flash

SDK is a $1000. hmm looks neat, does the display work with glasses?

It's nice to see a direct competitor for Project (Google) Glass.
... The next step is for Apple to invent and patent augmented reality glasses.

It does have rounded edges, I'm sure Apple already has a case.

I am very much interested in this. If they can ship at a good price with good software support and I will buy for sure.

Here's a video showing a closer look at the hardware. It's a non-functional demo model so you can't see the screen or anything. It's supposed to be under $500.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKln1c-nvLc[/youtube]

I'm surprised that Vuzix put backing on the 'glass' part of the display. It seem that it would be less obtrusive without it (like Google Glass). Also interesting that the part that does the project on the M100 is positioned below the same piece on Google Glass is above the eye.

So it's a Bluetooth device for viewing smartphones... How does this and Google Glasses work exactly? I know Google Glasses are advertised as being voice activated but I don't see how that could be the end all solution for input (it would kind of defeat the purpose to have to have your smartphone out while using them).

Anyway, if a solution comes out and works then I'll be interested in getting some during the second or third generation after the price drops a bit and the kinks are worked out.

I'm still not sold on voice activation.

What we need is some sort of clever rollerball that you can control with your thumb in your pocket or something. Of course it would be best to connect it to your phone via the usb. Dual devices leeching your bluetooth is going to eat up your battery pretty quickly...

Why not just use your phone to control it...?

That kind of defeats the purpose. It would be better to be able to use it without interacting with your phone at all.

Well it has a camera. You can do basic gesture recognition like that, like they did with the PS Eye on PS2.

That kind of defeats the purpose. It would be better to be able to use it without interacting with your phone at all.

I dont think thats very practical. Try entering a URL using voice, or eye tracking, or whatever, you'll quickly see the advantages of an actual keyboard. Even a 4 way controller would probably be an improvement.

Most likely, devices like this will be able to do some common tasks without an additional interface, but you'll pair them with your phones to do anything more complex.

Or like coresnake said, a little wireless device that you can hold in your hand that can control basic things.

I agree that a keyboard is always better. As far as I know though, while the Vuzix probably smartphone dependent, Google Glasses aren't a peripheral and come loaded with Android OS and rely on natural language voice commands as their main input. I wonder if it's going to become socially acceptable to talk to oneself in public now, like it became socially acceptable to pull out your phone whenever nothing interesting is happening.

Anyway, the Vuzix will probably be an invaluable way to watch movies and read in a more comfortable way.

Device specs are rubbish.

This thing is pretty much good for receiving push notifications.

Which means it's not useless... but it's just not super duper useful.

Still, probably the most useful part of receiving push notifications is 2 fold...

a timer
a calendar.

Pair the two, and you get a time-lander. No, you get a time management system that can help you keep track of what you should be doing and how long you've been doing it for.

I think the specs are OK, for what it is. Its not meant to watch full HD movies, or for gaming. It just a simple heads-up display.