Thursday, March 26, 2009

moar Augmented Reality goggles

There's been some more movement of late in the Augmented Reality/Heads Up Display space.

Vuzix have partnered with AR company MetaIO to market an addon for their VR920 video glasses (the older, Star Trek style, non-transparent ones). The package features a USB camera that clips onto the front middle of the gogs, and a 3-axis accelerometer pointer/wand thingy for poking stuff in AR space. The camera assembly also packs some capacity to sense the users position and orientation - no mention of precisely how it does this, though given that they're prepping another addon for the as-yet unreleased (transparent) Wrap 920AV model that features accelerometers for head-tracking, I assume they're using the same hardware on the VR920 AR upgrade.
http://www.gizmotron.co.uk/2009/03/26/vuzix-augmented-reality-accessories-let-you-interact-with-virtual-worlds/



Carl-Zeiss have come to the party with a shiny looking pair of video glasses - the 'Cinemizer'. Technology wise, these basically look to be on-par with the un-upgraded Vuzix VR920's. They're non-transparent with extendable earphone arms and feature a screen similar to a 45" tv at 78" distance. Whatever that means in terms of resolution, they're not saying, though apparently it's really really good. They're going to be available in May for US$499. Though for that price you're probably better off waiting for a few months for Vuzix's Wrap 920AV's - they look better, they're transparent so you won't walk into walls and they can actually do Augmented Reality.
http://www.zeiss.com/C125679B0029303C/ContainerTitel/Cinemizer_EN/$File/index.html



In other news, I found a grinder/hacker/whatever. b.zerk is making his own sensor gloves to go with his Vuzix VR920 + Webcam that he hacked up to run with his OS X laptop. Some cool photos on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33676318@N06/3297008280/in/photostream/

1 comment:

B'Zerk said...

Thanks for the link :-D

Also, minor note: The VR920's tracker does supposedly include an accelerometer, though I haven't accessed it directly. The main means of tracking is magnetometric. I've actually been thinking of getting a second HMC6343 to mount, bluetooth style, behind my ear. I'm using one for my upper torso right now, and I have to say that it's performance, even in iron-heavy environments, has been pretty astounding. Honeywell's pricing for now, however, may preclude the HMC6343's inclusion in inexpensive packages like the Vuzix line.

Also, in all fairness, my actual work so far is more motion-capture oriented than AR, though AR is where my passions lie, and is where I want to go with it.

I'll get a link to you added soon. I've been bad about linking.

And buy the ninja boots. Always buy the ninja boots :-D

Or a pair of the original Adidas GSG9s if you can still find a pair in your size. Nothing l3373|2 than a Gibson reference on your feet =P