Finally, a pair of video glasses that don't make you look like an extra on an '80s sci-fi B movie.
(Credit: Vuzix)There's little doubt that as we inch closer to the technological singularity, video-enabled glasses will play a part. Unfortunately, manufacturers have yet to produce a pair that don't make you look like a complete idiot, and bionic eye camera implants still seem a ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
With so many video glasses coming on the market, it's getting increasingly difficult for manufacturers to distinguish their wares. One of them is even offering a fashion line, which seems a bit of a stretch, to say the least.
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eMagin)
eMagin, for its part, is taking what sometimes seems to be a novel approach these days: It's focusing on the technology. The company showed its latest offering at a conference in Los Angeles, a pair of 3D glasses that create the equivalent of a 105-inch screen viewed 12 feet away. Other models have made similar claims, but its "Z800 3Dvisor" uses OLED screens--which many believe will eventually replace LCDs as the display of choice for TVs because they are paper-thin and consume far less energy.
The glasses still don't deliver high-definition resolution, but they're getting closer at 800 x 600 pixels and a 60Hz refresh speed, as well as 16.7 million colors, according to Coolest-Gadgets. This pair also includes a noice-canceling microphone and 360-degree virtual viewing allowed by a high-speed headtracker.
As with products using OLED technology, however, the biggest obstacle appears to be price: These glasses go for a cool $1,500, so we won't be doing our Geordi La Forge impersonation with them anytime soon.
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Zeiss)
There are so many makes and models of video glasses on the market that we lost count of them long ago. But one that was launched at Macworld this week may be worth mentioning, for the famous name associated with it if nothing else.
Expert photographers may debate the quality vs. hype of Carl Zeiss lenses, but the companies that use them in their products clearly think the brand packs plenty of marketing muscle--just ask Sony, which touts them every chance it gets for its cameras. So it makes sense that the German company would want to cash in on that reputation directly with its "Cinemizer."
The video glasses, which come with a wired remote, plays video from iPods and other media devices while projecting the virtual equivalent of a 45-inch screen from 78 inches away. But the best feature, as far as we're concerned, is that you can wear them over a pair of eyeglasses--turning us four-eyed individuals into six-eyed viewers. If they would just add a built-in media player, we'd be first in line.
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YelloMosquito)
Does anyone remember the ill-fated Sony Glasstron from a decade ago? YelloMosquito has taken the concept one step further with the Qingbar GP300, a pair of wireless video glasses with an integrated media player first seen on Engadget. The company claims it can simulate a 50-inch screen, while an onboard miniSD card slot takes care of MP3, WMA, DivX, JPEG, and E-book playback.
It does look reasonably compact and comfortable, weighing just over 3.5 ounces. Another nice touch is a swappable rechargeable lithium battery, which would come in handy on extended road trips. The GP300 is available for pre-order in the United States at $299 and is expected to ship in early December.
(Source: Crave Asia)
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Pink Tentacle)
This is one product that definitely benefited from more work at the drawing board. The version of the wearable "Teleglass" video lens we saw last year looked more like a Halloween mask than cutting-edge technology. But according to Japan-based Pink Tentacle, the new "Teleglass T4-N" has a pair with miniature monitors seated discreetly behind the lenses while still providing the effect of viewing a 45-inch screen from 6 feet away.
Each monitor can also be focused independently, and earphones are built into the frame to complete the all-in-one wearable system made by optical device manufacturer Scalar. And even with all this embedded equipment, there's apparently still enough room to see through the lenses "during the course of everyday activities." We pray that they don't catch on with airline pilots and bus drivers.
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Arisawa)
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Hypertrek)
Not long ago, the idea of a video lens built into a pair of eyeglasses was little more than science fiction. Now, a Japanese company wants to make it a reality and even relatively affordable.
The "Teleglass" from Arisawa Manufacturing is a quarter-inch LCD that yields an image that's the equivalent of a 21-inch screen from about a yard away, according to I4U News. That's about half the size and distance of products such as RelaxView's glasses, but the Teleglass allows you to maintain your regular field of vision at the same time. (We must insist, however, that you not use it to watch a movie while driving.)
The Teleglass, which is scheduled to go on sale in Japan next year for $429, is also less expensive than competing products. But there's one thing to keep in mind: If you wear one of these, you'll look a lot more like a Borg than Lt. Geordi La Forge.
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ezGear)
You've been playing with your video glasses and have finished boring your friends with a lame impersonation of Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge, so it's finally time to use them for their intended purpose. And let's say you're in the mood for a DVD you picked up at the last Star Trek convention. The last thing you want to do is lug around a huge player with your new headgear; that would instantly negate whatever coolness you've managed to achieve despite the "Spock Lives" T-shirt.
ezGear, known for making accessories for media players and other electronics, may be able to help with its compact "ezPlay DVD Player." The $120 player is supposedly designed to work specifically with ezGear's "ezVision Video iWear" (what a mouthful), but we'll go out on a limb and guess that it'll work with other video glasses as well.
All this assumes, of course, that people will still be using DVDs in future years, as opposed to downloaded or streamed video. But we'll leave that for another post.
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RelaxView)
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Paramount)
It's too bad that Halloween is over, or you could have gone as Star Trek's Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge with these new high-resolution video glasses from RelaxView.
Similar products have long been on the market, of course, but these weigh less than 3 ounces without the bulk of other devices. The glasses have two LCDs with 640-by-480-pixel resolution and can project a 57-inch screen at distances of about 6.5 feet. As is the case with most things tiny, however, you'll need to pay for the privilege of wearing them--to the tune of about $600.
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