NEW YORK – Epson unveiled its third generation augmented reality glasses Moverio at the company’s showcase event.
The new set of Moverio BT-300 features silicon-based OLED (organic light emitting diode) digital display technology for transparent mobile augmented reality experiences. One of the new cases for the Moverio is for drone pilots who have been looking for a solution that keeps their eyes on the drone 100 per cent of the time. Currently, these drone pilots need to look down on their smart phones to control the drone in the sky leading to many crashes. The third generation Moverio is also helping drone pilots to avoid sunlight issues, said Mike Leyva, a product manager at Epson.
“The heads up display on the Moverio brings augmented reality, digital information to drone pilots providing them a visual line of sight,” he said.
The Moverio BT-300 is powered by a quad core Intel Atom X5 processor and Android 5.1, enabling the ability to render complex 3D experiences. An upgraded 5 mega pixel front-facing camera and on-board sensors enable the Moverio help drone pilots better determine the location of objects in the real world. The Si-OLED projection system can then seamlessly render and lock 3D content to these objects, with no display background or edges in the field of view.
While the Moverio is being positioned to help drone pilots; the one thing it can’t do is play Pokemon Go, Leyva said because it needs Google Maps technology.
But the product has evolved over the last half decade. Leyva told CDN that Epson back in 2011 challenged itself to miniaturize its projector technology in a smart glass type of product. What has occurred during that span of time is the price of Epson smart glasses has dropped dramatically to $750 a pair and the weight of the product as well by 80 per cent.
Leyva added that Epson has also redesigned the product, not necessarily to be a fashion item but for practicality. “People have to wear them; so while they look unique it was designed to be worn comfortably,” he said.
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Epson is also continuing to push the Moverio to channel partners specifically ISV and solution providers who want to package the Moverio in a bigger solution.
Leyva said that Epson current has 20 strategic alliances with ISVs in place today.
One of those partnerships is with Atheer, who have a flagship product called AiR (Augmented interactive Reality) for remote expert collaboration, rapid task flow deployment and on-the-go task documentation on the Moverio platform.
The Atheer AiR Suite Enterprise solution enables deskless professionals to view checklists and step-by-step procedures on the glasses with hands-free interaction using gestures and voice. In addition, the suite enables professionals to communicate with remote experts via video to resolve problems quickly. The AiR Suite also features a simple drag-and-drop authoring tool to create procedures and task flows optimized for the glasses, eliminating development time.
“The Atheer is a remote service solution for technical support in the field for oil & gas or mining sectors. Those are at rural sites and this solution can provide a point-of-view experience for repair jobs so a junior can do it with the help of a senior technician who does not need to be sent to the location. This is Skype on steroids as it can get to 50 people at once,” Leyva said.