The Sony Smart Eyeglass has the potential to outdo Google Glass, even though it's still a prototype.
Last week's Berlin IFA event offered plenty of reveals, and the Sony Smart Eyeglass was a novelty difficult to miss out on.
Sony's wearable tech is an improved prototype, and it aims to compete with Google Glass, which is already out on the market. The latter is as portable is gets, though, compared to Sony's bulky goggles.
Sony Smart Eyeglass falls short of expectations, but fortunately it's still a prototype. The device sits on the face like a pilot's goggles, which gets in the way of mobility. Google Glass, by comparison, is portable enough to be considered tech chic.
Sony's wearable tech previews several features which show potential, once the device is downscaled to portable size. It's practically a secondary screen for your Android smartphone; a tiny projector and hologram screen displays data which appear to hover two meters away.
Sony Smart Eyeglass also has a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass for motion tracking, integrated with a smartphone through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Application of the feature is augmented reality app Wikitude, which pinpoints landmarks through the display, adjusted to where the user is facing.
One of the standout apps previewed by the device is its ability to recognize faces, displaying names as needed. The technology comes with a tradeoff in power source, which, if installed on the eyepiece, would add to the weight and "would only last two to three hours." The device comes with a separate battery which looks like a hockey puck, also serves as a lapel microphone for voice commands.
Sony Smart Eyeglass is ten years in the making, and is in the final stages of development. Developer Hiroshi Mukawa comments on the company's plans for the device.
"We're developing some with industrial applications in mind, but our strengths are not in business so our primary focus is the mainstream consumer. Of course, that's very challenging." (theguardian.com)
