A Google Glass alternative has arrived in the form of the nerdy-looking Sony SmartEyeglass for which the latter is now asking developers to build apps. We honestly love advancements in technology just as much as the next person, but gadget designs like these are so conspicuous, we don’t see them entering commercial acceptance at any stage in the near future.
Until someone invents something less prominent such as high-tech fantasy lenses like the ones in the video called Sight (scroll down for it), we’ll have to continue grumbling about the aesthetics of the SmartEyeglass or Google Glass. Right now, Sony’s creation looks a bit clunky comparatively since it’s still in its prototype stage.
The Sony SmartEyeglass glass syncs with the user’s handset and pulls up relevant information that is beamed right into the their field of vision in the form of text, symbols or images. One really interesting difference it has as compared to the Google Glass has to do with the way content is displayed to the wearer.
If you look at the Google Glass in the picture below, there’s a small half mirror reflecting the stuff sent to it via the inbuilt nano-projector. Sony does it in a more impressive manner by use of a 85% transparent lens imbibing hologram optics technology to prevent any part of the eye-wear from obstructing your view.
Of course, the safety of having something so in your face that it’s practically like augmented reality does come into question. Would you be nearly ramming into people, lampposts, other vehicles and what not like Denzel Washington in Deja Vu? Then there’s the ugly controller with its touch sensor, mic and speaker.
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Even if the Sony SmartEyeglass is supposed to be connected to your handset sans any cables, the control pod might have to stay. The Android-dependent device also features a CMOS image sensor, Gyroscope, electronic compass, accelerometer and brightness sensor.